BASKETBALL

Four former Red Claws open the season with NBA teams

Four former members of the Maine Red Claws will start the season with NBA teams, the Red Claws announced Tuesday.

Maurice Ager will play for the Minnesota Timberwolves after averaging 15.6 points in 22 games with the Red Claws last season.

Alexis Ajinca will be with the Dallas Mavericks, returning to the NBA following an offseason trade from the Charlotte Bobcats. He averaged 14.6 points in 22 games with the Red Claws before being sidelined by a late-season ankle injury.

Bill Walker returns to the New York Knicks for his second season following last season’s trade from Boston. He spent nine games with Portland last season, averaging 17.4 points.

Lester Hudson begins his second season with the Washington Wizards following a trade from the Celtics. He averaged 14.6 points in five games with the Red Claws last season.

A total of 63 D-League players are starting the season on NBA rosters, tying a league high.

• Gilbert Arenas of the Washington Wizards missed practice for the third straight day because of a sore right ankle.

Coach Flip Saunders said he’ll “have to see what happens in the next 48 hours” to determine if Arenas plays Thursday night in the opener against the Orlando Magic.

• Allen Iverson, who has been out of basketball since leaving the Philadelphia 76ers in March to deal with family issues, appears close to a deal to sign with Besiktas of the Turkish basketball league.

• New York Knicks center Timofey Mozgov is questionable for the opener today at Toronto because of a left hip contusion, and reserve forward Anthony Randolph will miss the game with a sprained left ankle.

• Minnesota point guard Jonny Flynn has been cleared to start practicing with the team for the first time since having hip surgery in July. There is still no timetable for when he will first play in a game.

TENNIS

WTA CHAMPIONSHIPS: Caroline Wozniacki eased past Elena Dementieva 6-1, 6-1 in the group stage at Doha, Qatar, putting her one win away from ensuring she will remain the top-ranked player for 2010.

Wozniacki needs to win two of her round-robin matches to fend off a challenge for her top ranking from No. 2 Vera Zvonareva, who defeated Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 6-0 in the opening match.

OPEN SUD DE FRANCE: Fifth-seeded John Isner of the U.S. eased into the second round with a 7-5, 6-2 win over French wild card Benoit Paire at Montpelier, France.

Isner had 10 aces and broke Paire three times to wrap up the match in 67 minutes.

Another French qualifier, Adrian Mannarino, had 15 aces and needed eight match points to beat Slovakian Lukas Lacko 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-4, and American Taylor Dent rallied from one set down to beat Romain Jouan of France, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4.

FED CUP: Teenager Coco Vandeweghe is joining Melanie Oudin, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and doubles specialist Liezel Huber on the U.S. team that will face Italy in the Fed Cup final.

With Serena and Venus Williams sidelined by injuries, U.S. captain Mary Joe Fernandez picked the 115th-ranked Vandeweghe for the Nov. 6-7 final on an indoor hard court at the San Diego Sports Arena.

The United States hasn’t won a Fed Cup title since 2000 and lost to Italy in last year’s final.

ST. PETERSBURG OPEN: American qualifier Rajeev Ram had 17 aces to beat Pablo Andujar of Spain 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3 in the opening round at St. Petersburg, Russia.

In other matches, third-seeded Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia and eighth-seeded Victor Hanescu of Romania also advanced.

The 46th-ranked Tipsarevic beat two-time semifinalist Igor Kunitsyn of Russia, 6-4, 6-2. Hanescu ousted 2009 runner-up Horacio Zeballos of Argentina 6-2, 6-0 in 54 minutes.

BANK AUSTRIA TROPHY: James Blake of the U.S. lost 6-4, 6-4 to Lukasz Kubot of Poland in the first round at Vienna.

MISCELLANEOUS

OTHER NEWS: Javier Hernandez scored his sixth goal of the season, giving Manchester United a 3-2 win over the Wolverhampton Wanderers and a berth in the English League Cup quarterfinals. … Usain Bolt is training again after missing the end of the outdoor track season in Europe because of back problems. Bolt said in a diary entry on the IAAF website that he is 100 percent healthy and looking forward to defending his 100- and 200-meter titles at the 2011 world championships in Daegu, South Korea.