IN BRIEF

HORSE RACING

Three-year-old rivals among Eclipse finalists

Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense, Breeders' Cup Classic winner Curlin and Derby runner-up Hard Spun were among the Eclipse Award finalists announced Friday.

The three rivals were nominated for 3-year-old male of the year honors. Curlin's other victories last year were in the Arkansas Derby and the Jockey Club Gold Cup.

Curlin defeated Street Sense and Hard Spun in the $5 million Classic, most likely leading to Horse of the Year honors. Finalists for Horse of the Year will be announced when the awards are presented Jan. 21 in Beverly Hills, Calif.

TENNIS

United States captures fifth Hopman Cup title

Serena Williams and Mardy Fish beat Jelena Jankovic and Novak Djokovic 7-6 (5), 6-2 to give the United States its fifth title in the Hopman Cup mixed team tennis tournament in Perth, Australia.

An upper right leg injury to Jankovic -- and subsequent walkover by Williams in the opening women's singles -- had given the Americans a 1-0 lead over top-seeded Serbia hours before the scheduled start of the final. Djokovic, despite receiving treatment for a sore right shoulder, then beat Fish 6-2, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4) to keep Serbia in contention.

Also: Lindsay Davenport won her third title in four events since returning to play after the birth of her first child, beating France's Aravane Rezai 6-2, 6-2 in the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand.

Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova will meet in the final of the JB Group Classic exhibition tournament in Hong Kong -- a warm-up for the Australian Open. Williams defeated Elena Dementieva 6-3, 6-3 in the semifinals, and Sharapova beat Anna Chakvetadze, 6-4, 6-2.

Top-seeded Rafael Nadal beat fellow Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3, 6-2 in the Chennai (India) Open to set up a semifinal match against two-time champion Carlos Moya. Moya, also from Spain, beat France's Florent Serra, 6-3, 6-4. Mikhail Youzhny of Russia and Marin Cilic of Croatia will meet in the other semifinal.

Andy Murray defeated top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko 6-4, 6-3 to reach his second straight Qatar Open final in Doha. The Scot will play Stanislas Wawrinka, who upset defending champion Ivan Ljubicic, 7-6 (1), 6-4.

France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga ended Lleyton Hewitt's chances of winning his hometown Australian men's hardcourt championships for a third time, beating the top-seeded star 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals at Adelaide, Australia. Australia's Joe Sirianni, France's Michael Llodra and Finland's Jarkko Nieminen also advanced to the semifinals.

MISCELLANEOUS

Skating icon Hamill, 51, being treated for cancer

Olympic figure skating gold medalist Dorothy Hamill is undergoing treatment for breast cancer.

Hamill, 51, said in a statement she is being treated at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. The prognosis is favorable, but Hamill, who won the 1976 Olympic gold medal, said she will miss some of the "Broadway on Ice" tour while she is having treatment.

Also: Japanese right-hander Hideo Nomo agreed to a minor league contract with the Kansas City Royals and was invited to spring training next month. The 39-year-old hasn't pitched in the majors since 2005 and made seven starts in the Venezuelan Winter League in 2006.

Infielder Aaron Miles, 31, remained with the St. Louis Cardinals, agreeing to a $1.4 million, one-year contract.

Gerry Staley, an All-Star who pitched for six major league teams from 1947 to 1961, died Wednesday of natural causes at his home in Vancouver, Wash. He was 87.

Three-time defending champion Canada beat the United States 4-1 and will face Sweden in the final of the world junior hockey championships in Pardubice, Czech Republic. Sweden edged Russia, 2-1.