http://sportscastsnow.com Sports news from every angle Sun, 05 Feb 2012 05:42:19 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Serena Williams was back in the Fed Cup on Saturday for the first time in five years, giving the United States a strong lineup. Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka was hoping to provide a similar lift for Belarus, but she was sidelined by a lower back injury. The Americans capitalized with straight-set ... http://sportscastsnow.com/serena-helps-put-us-up-2-0-on-belarus-ap Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova won opening singles matches Saturday to give Russia a 2-0 lead over Spain in the first round of the Fed Cup. Sharapova routed Silvia Soler-Espinosa 6-2, 6-1. Kuznetsova then downed Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3, 6-1. After an early exchange of breaks, Sharapova won four consecutive ... http://sportscastsnow.com/sharapova-wins-russia-leads-spain-2-0-ap Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova rallied to outlast Julia Goerges 3-6, 6-3, 10-8 Saturday, giving defending champ Czech Republic a 2-0 lead over Germany in the first round of the Fed Cup. In the first match of the best-of-five series, Iveta Benesova also had to come from behind to beat Sabine ... http://sportscastsnow.com/kvitova-rallies-czechs-up-2-on-germany-ap Defending champion Gael Monfils saved a match point to edge Gilles Simon 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4 in an all-French match Saturday and reach the Open Sud de France final. Monfils will meet top-seeded Tomas Berdych, who beat Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-3, 6-4. Berdych is going for his first title ... http://sportscastsnow.com/monfils-saves-match-point-to-reach-final-ap Lukas Lacko of Slovakia reached his first ATP final when he ousted 2007 champion Marcos Baghdatis 7-5, 7-6 (3) in the Zagreb Indoors semifinals on Saturday. Lacko, playing on the main tour since 2007, will face third-seeded Mikhail Youzhny, who is seeking his eighth title in his 18th career final. ... http://sportscastsnow.com/lacko-to-face-youzhny-in-zagreb-final-ap Jared Sullinger wore out Wisconsin. Then William Buford put the Badgers away. No. 3 Ohio State wasn't going to give No. 19 Wisconsin a shot at another comeback. Sullinger scored 24 points and Buford hit a critical 3-pointer down the stretch, helping the Buckeyes beat the Badgers 58-52 on Saturday. ... http://sportscastsnow.com/no-3-buckeyes-get-rare-win-at-wisconsin-ap Fab Melo returned just in time to help Jim Boeheim reach another milestone. Melo scored a career-high 14 points in his first action after a three-game absence and Boeheim tied Dean Smith for third place on the victory list with win No. 879 as No. 2 Syracuse dominated St. John's ... http://sportscastsnow.com/melos-return-sparks-syracuse-in-rout-ap Notre Dame coach Mike Brey thought his team took big strides in its development Saturday. Freshman Pat Connaughton had 23 points and 11 rebounds as Notre Dame made 11 3-pointers and beat No. 15 Marquette 76-59. "I told them in one of the last media timeouts, `I feel like I'm ... http://sportscastsnow.com/surging-irish-knock-off-no-15-marquette-ap Marcus Denmon hit three 3-pointers in the final 2:05, the last for the go-ahead points, as No. 4 Missouri fought off No. 8 Kansas 74-71 in Game 1 of what could be the schools' final border showdown on Saturday night. Denmon scored 29 points, two off his career best, and ... http://sportscastsnow.com/denmons-late-3s-rally-mizzou-by-kansas-ap Tony Parker scored 42 points and broke the San Antonio Spurs franchise record for career assists, leading a 107-96 win over the NBA-best Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night. The Thunder (18-5) nearly suffered their first blowout loss before closing the gap late, while the convincing win was just the ... http://sportscastsnow.com/parkers-42-power-spurs-over-thunder-ap