Spurs' Ginobili to miss 3-4 weeks
SAN ANTONIO, April 1 (UPI) -- Guard Manu Ginobili will miss 3-4 weeks because of a hamstring injury, the San Antonio Spurs said Monday.
Ginobili suffered a strain in his right hamstring in the first quarter of the Spurs' game Friday against the Los Angeles Clippers. He then missed San Antonio's game Sunday against Miami.
Subsequent examinations indicated the strain and doctors projected a 3-4-week recovery. The NBA regular season ends April 17.
Ginobili is averaging 11.9 points, 4.6 assists and 3.4 rebounds a game this season.
The San Antonio team also said Tim Duncan and Kawhi Leonard, who both have sore left knees, will miss Monday's game against Memphis.
The Spurs, at 55-18, have locked up a playoff spot. The record leads the NBA Western Conference by 1 1/2 games over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Williams No. 1; hot streak continues
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., April 1 (UPI) -- Serena Williams' win at the Sony Open in Miami, her ninth WTA title in the past year, tightened her hold on the No. 1 ranking in women's tennis.
Williams heads to Charleston, S.C., this week to defend her title at the Family Circle Cup. It was that tournament a year ago that turned out to be the springboard that helped propel her back to the No. 1 ranking.
Starting with Charleston last year, Williams is 67-6 with nine tournament titles, including a win Saturday over Maria Sharapova in the final at Miami. That marked her 48th WTA championship, which is sixth most all-time. She's been No. 1 for 130 weeks, which is also sixth on the all-time list.
Williams has 11,115 rankings points while Sharapova sits in second with 10,015. Victoria Azarenka is third with 9,325 and Agnieszka Radwanska, who lost to Williams in the semifinals in Miami, comes in fourth with 6,845.
Li Na remains in the No. 5 spot in the rankings with 5,880 points, followed by the tightly bunched group of sixth-ranked Angelique Kerber (5,475), No. 7 Sara Errani (5,405) and eighth-ranked Petra Kvitova (5,225).
Samantha Stosur (3,865) moves past Caroline Wozniacki (3,706) and into the ninth place in the rankings, relegating Wozniacki to 10th.
Waste problem at Sochi Olympic site denied
SOCHI, Russia, April 1 (UPI) -- Allegations that Russia isn't properly disposing of waste as it builds facilities for the 2014 Winter Olympics were dismissed by a senior government official.
"All measures to realize the Zero Waste principle have been implemented, and are being implemented," Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak said.
The comments came in response to a complaint last month to the International Olympic Committee by the environmental activist group Greenpeace, which said Russia is failing in its obligations to meet Zero Waste principles in constructing facilities in Sochi, RIA Novosti reported Monday.
Kozak said buried waste will later be processed at a recycling facility in Belorechensk, still under construction.
"He seems to be confused because Zero Waste has nothing to do with the waste removal he is talking about," said Ivan Blokov, Greenpeace Russia campaign director.
The Zero Waste concept is impossible to accomplish without waste separation, a program the government is reluctant to initiate, said Rashid Alimov, Greenpeace Russia's toxic waste program director.
Siem just outside Masters invitation
VIRGINIA WATER, England, April 1 (UPI) -- Marcel Siem picked up a European Tour title and jumped in the men's world golf rankings but ended up just short of an invitation to the Masters.
Siem was a wire-to-wire winner at the Trophee Hassan II event in Morocco, but Russell Henley posted a 4-under-par 68 that boosted him to a tie for 20th in the PGA Tour's Shell Houston Open -- just enough to keep him in the Top 50 while Siem, who opened the week ranked 72nd, is now 51st.
Henley's ranking point average is 2.37 while Siem's rounds out to 2.35.
Players ranked in the Top 50 are invited to the Masters, which begins April 11. Last week's tournaments marked the final chance for players to reach that threshold.
The only change in the Top 10 this week has Phil Mickelson getting the No. 10 ranking, passing Keegan Bradley despite the fact that Bradley tied for 10th in Houston and Mickelson was a stroke back tied for 16th.
D.A. Points won the Houston tournament, getting his second PGA title and going from 195th to No. 70 in the rankings.
Tiger Woods is No. 1 for a 624th week. He has a rankings points average of 11.75. Rory McIlroy (10.87) is ranked No. 2. Justin Rose (7.01) comes in third with Luke Donald (6.69) fourth and Brandt Snedeker, at 6.29, ranked fifth.
Louis Oosthuizen has an average of 6.06, which is sixth highest. Adam Scott's average of 5.70 is No. 7, ahead of Steve Stricker (5.69) and Matt Kucher (5.30). Mickleson's average is 5.25 and Bradley's is 5.22.
