Evgeny Korolev defeated sixth-seeded Dominik Hrbaty 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-3 Monday in the first round of the Dutch Open. The Russian broke Hrbaty once in the first set and again in the third. Also, Nicolas Devilder of France defeated Agustin Calleri of Argentina 6-3, 6-1, Mariano Zabaleta of Argentina downed Kristof Vliegen of Belgium 6-3, 6-3, and Gilles Simon of France defeated Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo of…

The Tennis Channel added Wimbledon to its Grand Slam coverage by agreeing to a six-year rights deal with the All England Club. The contract, announced Monday, starts in 2008 and includes a four-hour, prime-time show nightly during the tournament. The Tennis Channel began French Open coverage this year and will start airing part of the Australian Open in January.

Despite 14 Grand Slam titles, it’s a loss in the 1992 U.S. Open final that sticks with Pete Sampras. “That’s always the first match that comes to my mind,” said Sampras, who recalled the turning point in his career Saturday before his induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame along with Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Sven Davidson and photographer Russ Adams.

Tatiana Golovin beat Tathiana Garbin 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 Saturday to give France a 1-0 lead over defending champion Italy in the Fed Cup semifinals. In the first meeting between the two players, the 19th-ranked Golovin closed out the first set by breaking Garbin’s serve when the Italian’s backhand sailed wide.

Venus Williams will play Nadia Petrova, and Vania King will face Anna Chakvetadze in Fed Cup semifinal play Saturday between the United States and Russia. King and Lisa Raymond will play Petrova and Elena Vesnina in doubles. Serena Williams, who injured her left thumb and calf at Wimbledon, won’t play in the Fed Cup.

Tathiana Garbin will open the Fed Cup semifinals for defending champion Italy, facing France’s Tatiana Golovin on Saturday. In the second singles match on red clay at Nova Yardinia, Italy’s Francesca Schiavone will play two-time Grand Slam winner Amelie Mauresmo. After Sunday’s reverse singles, Italy’s Mara Santangelo and Roberta Vinci will face Nathalie Dechy and Severine Bremond in doubles.

Retired tennis star Kim Clijsters and U.S. basketball player Brian Lynch were married Friday in a secret early morning ceremony. The civil ceremony was officiated by Jaak Gabriels, the Bree town mayor who confirmed to local media that the ceremony had taken place at 6 a.m. “This has been organized on the request from Kim, to keep the ceremony as low key as possible,” Gabriels told VRT radio.

An injured Serena Williams was officially dropped from the United States’ roster Thursday, and Svetlana Kuznetsova was taken off Russia’s team ahead of the Fed Cup semifinal this weekend. Williams, who hurt her left thumb and calf at Wimbledon after being picked for the U.S. squad, was replaced by Meilen Tu.

Serena Williams is pulling out of the United States’ Fed Cup semifinal against Russia at Stowe, Vt., this weekend because she injured herself during Wimbledon, The Associated Press learned Wednesday. The eight-time Grand Slam singles champion will be replaced on the U.S. roster by Meilen Tu, who flew to Vermont on Wednesday to join the rest of the squad, a person at the U.S.

The men’s and women’s singles champions will get a record $1.4 million apiece at this year’s U.S. Open and the total prize money will top $19 million for the first time. The overall payout of $19.6 million is $1 million more than in 2006, the largest single-year jump in U.S. Open history, the U.S. Tennis Association announced Wednesday.

Russia’s Fed Cup captain was still waiting Wednesday for a visa to travel to this weekend’s semifinals in the United States, and the Foreign Ministry isn’t happy about the delay. In a sharply worded statement posted on its Web site, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it repeatedly had raised the issue of captain Shamil Tarpishchev’s visa with U.S.

Serena Williams has withdrawn from next week’s Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open due to a hand injury she suffered at Wimbledon, tournament officials said Tuesday. Bruce Flory, director for the women’s open in this Cincinnati suburb, said Williams told officials Tuesday that she regretted she would not be able to play in the open.

Spain’s David Ferrer defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2, 6-1 Tuesday in the first round of the Swedish Open. Ferrer is the top-seeded player remaining in the tournament after defending champion Tommy Robredo made an early exit Monday to Peru’s Luis Horna. In other action Tuesday, former Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson advanced by beating Oscar Hernandez of Spain 6-4, 6-4, while…

Belgium’s Kristof Vliegen sent struggling Gaston Gaudio to another loss Monday, beating the 2004 French Open champion 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-4 in the opening round of the Swiss Open. Guadio won the Swiss Open in 2005. The Argentine, once a top-10 player, is now ranked No. 103 and his record this year is 6-13.

Venus Williams moved back into the Top 20 in the rankings for the first time in a year Monday, rising to No. 17 thanks to her fourth Wimbledon singles title. Runner-up Marion Bartoli moved from No. 19 to a career-high No. 11, while Amelie Mauresmo, whose title defense ended in the fourth round, dropped from No.