Sunday's sports briefs

Last update: November 30, 2009 - 12:28 AM

Nikolay Davydenko won the first big tournament of his career Sunday, running down just about every ball and using a consistent serve to beat U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro 6-3, 6-4 and win the ATP World Tour Finals.

"Maybe I had good concentration. I was surprised," Davydenko said.

Del Potro had three chances to break Davydenko, but the Russian saved them all, completing a sweep of all three of this year's Grand Slam champions at the season-ending tournament. He beat Roger Federer (Wimbledon, French Open) in the semifinals and Rafael Nadal (Australian Open) in the round-robin phase.

"He's very fast," Del Potro said. "He plays like PlayStation."

• In the doubles final, Bob and Mike Bryan beat Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram 7-6 (3), 6-3 and claimed the year-end No. 1 ranking for the fifth time.

PRO FOOTBALL

Alouettes win Grey Cup with rally

Damon Duval kicked a 33-yard field goal with no time left -- after getting a second chance because of a Saskatchewan penalty -- in the Grey Cup to give the Montreal Alouettes a 28-27 victory over the Roughriders in Calgary, Alberta.

Duval missed moments earlier from 43 yards, but the Roughriders were penalized for having 13 men on the field.

Montreal, coached by St. Louis Park native and former Vikings assistant Marc Trestman, overcame a 16-point deficit with two touchdowns in the final 7:05.

SKIING

U.S. downhiller fractures neck

U.S. skier TJ Lanning suffered a fractured vertebrae in his neck and a dislocated left knee from a crash during the season-opening World Cup downhill in Lake Louise, Alberta.

U.S. Ski Team spokesman Tom Kelly said Lanning, 25, has full movement but that his injuries are "clearly season-ending." The team's medical director said the injuries don't require surgery.

• Canada's Manuel Osborne-Paradis won the season-opening super-giant slalom Sunday, in 1 minute, 32.93 seconds. Ted Ligety was the top American, finishing eighth in 1:33.87.

LUGE

Benshoof finishes 10th

Luger Tony Benshoof of White Bear Lake, fighting a back injury, finished 10th in a World Cup race in Igls, Austria. He was the top U.S. finisher.

Armin Zoeggeler edged Wilfried Huber by 0.097 seconds, giving Italy a 1-2 finish.

Zoeggeler finished in a combined time of 1 minute, 37.988 seconds. Benshoof finished in 1:38.255.

Canada won the team relay after favorite Germany was disqualified for not hitting the stop button at the finish. The American team of Bengt Walden, Erin Hamlin, Matt Mortensen and Preston Griffall finished fourth.

AROUND THE HORN

Golf: Italian brothers Francesco and Edoardo Molinari shot a 4-under 68 in an alternate-shot final round and won the World Cup of Golf in Shenzhen, China. They finished a stroke ahead of teams from Sweden and Ireland.

Nordic combined: Finland's Hannu Manninen overtook Germany's Tino Edelmann and won the season's second World Cup Nordic combined event by 1.2 seconds in Kuusamo, Finland, finishing in 25 minutes, 33.7 seconds.

Cross-country skiing: Norway's Petter Northug won the men's 15-kilometer classic style World Cup race in Kuusamo, and American Kris Freeman finished a career-best fourth.

Boxing: Challenger Koki Kameda of Japan defeated compatriot Daisuke Naito by unanimous decision and won the WBC flyweight title in Saitama, Japan. The judges scored the bout 116-112, 117-111, 117-111. Kameda, who has been criticized in Japan for his brash behavior in and out of the ring, improved to 22-0. Naito is 35-3-3.

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