In Brief

TENNIS

Djokovic, Clijsters set to defend
major titles at Australian Open

After taking three of the four majors and gaining the No. 1 ranking last season, Novak Djokovic is going for prizes beyond Grand Slams in 2012.

An Olympic gold medal, he thinks, would go nicely in his collection.

"It's one of the biggest priorities this year, Olympic Games," Djokovic told a news conference Saturday in Melbourne, Australia, as he prepares for the Australian Open.

The tournament begins today Pacific time, with Djokovic the defending men's champion and Kim Clijsters the reigning women's champ. Clijsters, injury-plagued lately, enters the tourney ranked 11th and will be in the first batch of matches today, taking on Maria Joao Koehler of Portugal.

Djokovic, ranked No. 1 after finally grabbing the top spot from longtime rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, gets to wait another day before his opener against Italian Paolo Lorenzi.

Women's No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki opens against Australian Anastasia Rodionova in a match set for early Monday PST.

Also: UNLV women's tennis player Lucia Batta, coming off an upset of 16th-ranked Patricia Skowronski of Oregon, lost to No. 19 Zoe Scandalis of Southern California 7-5, 5-7, 6-1 in the quarterfinals of the Freeman Memorial Championships at the Fertitta Tennis Complex.

Batta and Aleksandra Josifoska lost their doubles quarterfinal match 8-3 to 12th-ranked Robin Anderson and Skylar Morton of UCLA.

BASEBALL

Rangers president Ryan: Talks
with Fielder 'very preliminary'

Texas Rangers president Nolan Ryan described the team's discussions with free-agent slugger Prince Fielder as "very preliminary."

Ryan publicly acknowledged that he and other Rangers officials had an initial meeting with Fielder and his agent, Scott Boras.

During a question-and-answer session with fans at the team's annual winter FanFest, Ryan said the meeting Friday was to try to get a true feel for what Fielder and Boras are thinking. Ryan said it was far too early to know if something might work out between the American League champion Rangers and the 27-year-old first baseman.

MISCELLANEOUS

Maggert shoots 64, shares
lead with Every in Sony Open

Jeff Maggert played bogey-free in relatively calm conditions for a 6-under-par 64 that left the 47-year-old Texan in a tie for the lead with Matt Every after three rounds of the Sony Open in Honolulu.

Maggert is coming up on the six-year anniversary of his last win, and he missed a big chunk of last year after surgery on his right shoulder.

Every stalled on the back nine, then birdied the last hole for a 68 to join Maggert at 12-under 198.

There were 16 players within four shots of the lead, including Steve Stricker, who is trying to become the first player since Ernie Els in 2003 to sweep the two Hawaii events.

Also: Oregon quarterback Darron Thomas is skipping his senior season to enter the NFL Draft.

Thomas' announcement caught many by surprise. He follows Oregon running back LaMichael James, who announced last week that he would skip his final year of eligibility. If Thomas doesn't hire an agent, he has until Wednesday to reconsider his decision.

The junior passed for 2,761 yards and a school-record 33 touchdowns last season, when the Ducks finished 12-2, with losses to Louisiana State and Southern California before beating Wisconsin 45-38 in the Rose Bowl.

Meb Keflezighi won the U.S. Olympic men's marathon trial in Houston to qualify for his third Games. Ryan Hall was second and Abdi Abdirahman third to also make the team that will represent the U.S. in London.

Keflezighi finished in a personal-best 2 hours, 9 minutes, 8 seconds. Shalane Flanagan won the women's trial in 2:25:38, also qualifying for her third Olympics. Desiree Davila finished second and Kara Goucher third.

Italian veteran Daniela Merighetti won a World Cup race in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, despite a broken thumb, and American Lindsey Vonn finished second in one of the season's biggest downhills.

Merighetti was timed in 1 minute, 33.17 seconds. Vonn, the overall World Cup leader, was 0.21 seconds behind.

Robert Stieglitz retained the WBO super middleweight title with a unanimous decision over German countryman Henry Weber in Offenburg, Germany.

Las Vegas driver B.J. Baldwin won the overall and Trophy Truck titles at the season-opening SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge. Baldwin covered eight laps on the 6.25-mile desert course in 53 minutes, 45 seconds.

The season's second event is today, capping the weekend in Laughlin.

Bonanza High product Jason Zucker scored two power-play goals to lead host Denver to a 3-2 win over Bemidji State in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association game.