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Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
Kobe Bryant hit a baseline jump shot with 4.2 seconds left and the Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up a six-game road trip by holding on to beat the Raptors 94-92 on Sunday, their eighth victory in nine meetings with Toronto
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Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
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The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
Tessa Worley of France fought off gusting winds to win a second consecutive World Cup giant slalom Sunday in the Andorran Pyrenees. Overall leader Lindsey Vonn was more than a second behind and finished eighth.
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AP
HOUSTON - It’s been a long comeback for American Mardy Fish, and he’s not done yet.
Two wrist surgeries last year kept him from competing much, but he proved Sunday he’s finding his form, rallying from a set down to beat Jurgen Melzer 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to win the U.S. Clay Court Championship.
Next on his to-do list: making the main draw at Wimbledon in late June.
“It’s reachable now,” he said. “I need to bear down again, forget about the last two weeks and start over.”
Fish, who had lost six of seven tour finals before Sunday, came into the clay court tournament after winning a lower-tier tour event in Tallahassee, Fla., last week. He said he plans to play four more of those before Wimbledon to gain enough ATP points to get straight into the Grand Slam draw.
On Sunday, Melzer netted a high, easy backhand volley on match point and Fish fell to the ground along the baseline and lay on his back in jubilation following his second tour victory.
“It’s been an incredible week for me,” Fish told the crowd after collecting his $52,000 winner’s check. “I didn’t expect to be standing here in front of this trophy to have my name on it.”
The win avenged a lone loss to the Austrian player, who beat Fish in a 2003 three-set quarterfinal match here. The title is Fish’s first on clay. His only other tour win came three years ago in Stockholm.
“I would like to have a few of those finals back but this is definitely one I’ll remember,” Fish said later. “It was a tough year last year. It’s very rewarding to know a lot of hard work paid off on a surface that’s not even close to my best surface.”
Fish got the first of his two breaks in the deciding set early. In the third game, he went up love-40 on three errors from Melzer before the Austrian attempted a drop shot from behind the baseline that fell into the net, giving Fish a 2-1 lead.
Melzer, who also was unseeded, never threatened to break Fish’s serve for the remainder of the match. Fish won three of his four remaining service games at love, including the last game.
In the second set and down a break at 3-4, Melzer had two chances to break back on Fish’s serve. At 15-40, Fish hit a second serve that Melzer thought was long, which would have evened the match. He missed the return and asked the chair umpire to come check the mark. The umpire confirmed the serve was in.
Melzer netted a serve return on his second break opportunity and Fish closed the game out three points later to lead 5-3.
Fish had three break chances in two games in the first set but squandered them.
“He served a few of them away, which you’ve got to say ’too good.”’ Fish said. “I knew I was playing well enough to win.”
Melzer has been in the semifinals here in two of the last three years. He lost to Andre Agassi in 2003 and to Andy Roddick last year. In 2004, Roddick eliminated him in the quarterfinals.
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“I usually play good here,” Melzer told the crowd. “If I come another year, I’ll get the title next time.”
The last time two unseeded players vied for the clay court title was in 1996 in Pinehurst, N.C., when Mats Wilander lost to Fernando Meligeni.
Fish got to the final when fifth-seeded Tommy Haas retired after five games Saturday night because of pain in his right wrist.
Fish, who is coming off of two wrist operations in 2005, started the week ranked 212 and was projected to jump to No. 120 when the new numbers are released Monday.
Earlier this week, Fish got into the quarterfinals when Ranier Schuettler of Germany defaulted with a stomach ailment. Melzer beat seventh-seed Paul Goldstein to reach the final.
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
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Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
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