IN BRIEF

TENNIS

U.S. falls behind 2-0to Italy in Fed Cup final

Alexa Glatch and Melanie Oudin lost in straight sets Saturday to give Italy a 2-0 lead over the United States in the Fed Cup final in Reggio Calabria, Italy.

Glatch lost to Flavia Pennetta 6-3, 6-1, and Francesca Schiavone rallied after a two-hour rain delay to defeat Oudin 7-6 (2), 6-2 on the outdoor clay court.

Reverse singles and doubles were scheduled for today in the best-of-5 series.

The Americans are without Serena and Venus Williams, who opted not to play after meeting in the season-ending tour championships last weekend in Doha, Qatar.

Also: Top-ranked Roger Federer will play Novak Djokovic in the Swiss Indoors final in a bid for a fourth straight title in his hometown tournament.

Federer defeated childhood friend Marco Chiudinelli 7-6 (7), 6-3 in one semifinal, and Djokovic saved three match points in rallying to beat Radek Stepanek 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-2 in Basel, Switzerland.

Top-ranked Serena Williams will most likely receive a “significant” fine but no suspension for her U.S. Open tirade, the president of the International Tennis Federation said.

Grand Slam administrator Bill Babcock is expected to give his recommendation to the Grand Slam committee, which probably will announce the sanction Monday or Tuesday.

BASEBALL

Twins pick up optionon outfielder Cuddyer

The Minnesota Twins picked up outfielder Michael Cuddyer’s $10.5 million option for 2011.

Cuddyer hit a career-high 32 home runs to lead the team. He also had 94 RBIs and was sixth in the American League with 73 extra-base hits. The option is part of a contract Cuddyer signed in 2008. He will make $8.5 million in 2010 and be paid $33.5 million over the life of the four-year deal.

If the Twins had declined the option, they would have owed Cuddyer a $1 million buyout.

Also: New York Mets reliever J.J. Putz and Twins pitcher Carl Pavano filed for free agency.

Putz became a free agent one day after New York declined his $9.1 million option and chose to pay a $1 million buyout.

MISCELLANEOUS

UNLV men’s swimmers roll over Arizona State

The UNLV men’s swimming and diving team routed Arizona State 189-105, and the women’s team lost 188.5-108.5 in Tempe, Ariz.

Kier Maitland (500- and 1,000-yard freestyle), Andrew Morrell (100, 200 breaststroke), Steven Nelms (50, 100 freestyle) and Nick Blank (200 backstroke, 200 individual medley) each won two events for the Rebels.

Brittany Ozar (1,000 freestyle), Ana Dangalakova (200 IM) and the 200 freestyle relay squad posted wins for the women’s team.

Also: The UNLV men’s soccer team lost to New Mexico 2-0 in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match in Albuquerque, N.M. UNLV finished the regular season 7-6-4 overall, 1-4-2 in the MPSF.

The Wranglers lost to the Bakersfield Condors 4-2 in an ECHL game in Bakersfield, Calif. Mick Lawrence scored twice for Las Vegas (5-5-0).

New York Islanders defenseman Radek Martinek is out for the season with a knee injury. The 33-year-old Martinek tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee Friday in a 2-1 loss at New Jersey.

Detroit Red Wings forward Jason Williams could miss two months after fracturing his right fibula in a 5-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Canada coasted past the United States 5-1 in the Four Nations Cup women’s hockey final in Tikkurila, Finland.