IN BRIEF

TENNIS

Murray whips Roddick in Qatar Open final

Andy Murray downplayed talk that he's the favorite heading into the Australian Open after his successful defense of the Qatar Open title in Doha, Qatar.

The fourth-ranked Murray defeated No. 8 Andy Roddick 6-4, 6-2 Saturday to win his first ATP title of the year and ninth overall.

En route to the title, the Scotsman beat Roger Federer in the semifinals. He also defeated Federer and top-ranked Rafael Nadal last week in an exhibition tournament.

With the Australian Open starting in Melbourne on Jan. 19, Murray heads into the first major of 2009 in fine form.

Also: Venus Williams dominated Russia's Vera Zvonareva 6-2, 6-2 to give Team Americas a 3-1 victory over Russia in a team tournament in Hong Kong, finishing her only warm-up event before the Australian Open without dropping a set in singles play.

The seven-time Grand Slam singles champion also beat top-ranked Jelena Jankovic and Russia's Anna Chakvetadze in straight sets during the tournament.

Second-seeded Victoria Azarenka won her first WTA Tour title, overpowering Marion Bartoli 6-3, 6-1 in the final of the Brisbane International in Brisbane, Australia.

HOCKEY

Wranglers come up short against Grizzlies

The Wranglers gave up three goals in the first period and three in the third, losing to the Utah Grizzlies 6-4 in an ECHL game in West Valley City, Utah.

Las Vegas (15-15-3) rallied from a 3-1 first-period deficit to tie the score at 3 early in the third period on a Peter Ferraro goal, but Utah followed with two goals 11 seconds apart to go up 5-3 midway though the period.

Tyler Mosienko made the score 5-4 with about three minutes left, but the Grizzlies got an empty-net goal a minute later.

Utah scored three goals in a 2:07 stretch to go up 3-1 in the first period.

Also: Just two weeks shy of his 40th birthday, Brendan Shanahan is headed back to where it all started.

The all-but-certain Hall of Fame forward agreed in principle to a deal with the New Jersey Devils -- the team that chose him with the No. 2 pick in the 1987 NHL Draft.

Shanahan hasn't played since finishing his second season with the New York Rangers last spring.

Boston Bruins coach Claude Julien will be behind the Eastern Conference bench, and San Jose Sharks coach Todd McLellan will guide the Western Conference squad at the NHL All-Star Game in Montreal.

The game will be played Jan. 25 at the Bell Centre.

Boston Bruins forward Marco Sturm could miss the rest of the season because of a left knee injury.

Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli said Sturm will undergo knee surgery to repair meniscus and possibly the anterior cruciate ligament.

The United States won the world women's under-18 hockey championship in Fussen, Germany, defeating Canada 3-2 in overtime.

MISCELLANEOUS

Boston signs reliever Saito to one-year deal

Takashi Saito agreed to a one-year deal with Boston, giving the Red Sox another veteran arm in their bullpen.

Saito, who had 18 saves and a 2.49 ERA last season despite being limited by an elbow injury, became a free agent when the Los Angeles Dodgers failed to offer him a contract by the Dec. 12 deadline.

Also: Four months after a car accident nearly killed Don Meyer, the Northern State coach passed Bob Knight for most career wins in men's college basketball.

Northern State's 82-62 win over Mary in Aberdeen, S.D., gave Meyer his 903rd victory.

Karoly Balszay of Hungary earned a unanimous decision over Denis Inkin of Russia to win the WBO super middleweight championship in Magdeburg, Germany.