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Top 10 players lead Russia in Fed Cup play MADRID, Sept. 12 (UPI) — Russia sends Top 10 players Vera Zvonareva and Svetlana Kuznetsova into singles competition this weekend as it tries to defend its Federation Cup championship.
The Russian team travels to Madrid to meet Spain in the Fed Cup title series. Russia has won three of the last four Fed Cup championships, including last year’s. Spain owns five Fed Cup titles, with the most recent coming in 1998.
Zvonareva, ranked ninth in the world, is to meet Spain’s Ana Medina Garrigues to open the best-of-five series Saturday, a draw Friday determined. World No. 7 Svetlana Kuznetsova is to play Carla Suarez Navarro in the second singles match. Medina Garrigues is ranked 29th and Suarez Navarro is 49th.
The players have reverse singles scheduled for Sunday. The potentially deciding fifth match is in doubles where Russians Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova play Spaniards Nuria Llagostera Vives and Virginia Ruano Pascual.
Spain has opted to have the matches played on clay.
Russia is 4-1 all-time against Spain in Fed Cup play, with the last meeting coming in Moscow in the opening round of the 2007 tournament. The Russian won that series 5-0.
East Carolina fined for celebration IRVING, Texas, Sept. 12 (UPI) — Conference USA has fined East Carolina $10,000, saying the on-field celebration after its upset of West Virginia violated league sportsmanship policies.
The crowd of 43,610 at East Carolina’s Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium stormed the field at the end of the Pirates’ 24-3 win over West Virginia. That came on the heels of East Carolina’s win over Virginia Tech.
C-USA officials said the actions at the at the end of the West Virginia game were "clearly in violation" of conference rules that state "spectators should not be permitted on the field of play until the visiting team and officials have made safe transition to the locker room."
In imposing the $10,000 fine, the league said additional violations could cause East Carolina University to be barred from being the host school for conference championships.
Davydenko cleared in gambling probe LONDON, Sept. 12 (UPI) — Nikolay Davydenko, ranked No. 6 in the world, was cleared in an investigation into betting patterns on a match in which he lost to a lower-ranked opponent.
The ATP started its investigation after Davydenko lost to Martin Vassallo Arguello, who was ranked 87th at the time, on Aug. 2, 2007. Vassallo Arguello was ahead 2-6, 6-3, 2-1 when Davydenko retired from the match, saying he had an injured foot.
An online gambling site said some $7 million was bet on the match, with most of the bets on Vassallo Arguello even after Davydenko won the first set. The gambling site said the amount was about 10 times the usual wagered on such a match.
ATP officials on Friday said they found no evidence of wrongdoing by Davydenko or anyone else involved in the match. They said the investigation was closed.
The ATP has threatened a lifetime ban on players found to have fixed a match on the tour.
Report: No added violations at Fla. State TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Sept. 12 (UPI) — The NCAA has found no additional rules infractions at Florida State University, the Tallahassee Democrat reported Friday.
The newspaper reported earlier this year that the Atlantic Coast Conference school submitted a document to the collegiate governing body, noting that 60 student-athletes may have been involved in an academic misconduct case, primarily connected to an online music course and a former tutor.
Athletic Director Randy Spetman said Florida State’s response wouldn’t be different from the one delivered to the NCAA in February in a 30-page report.
The school placed itself on two years’ probation and planned to reduce scholarships in several sports.
A specific recommendation for scholarship reductions wasn’t made by the university, but it is expected to occur over a two-year period.
The NCAA’s Committee on Infractions will have a hearing on Oct. 18 in Indianapolis.