Venus to return vs. Serena

MILAN - Venus Williams plans to make her comeback in an exhibition match against her sister Serena in Colombia on Wednesday after being forced to pull out of the U.S. Open because of an immune system disease. Venus tells the Gazzetta dello Sport that she has changed her diet to fill it with vegetables after being diagnosed with Sjogren's syndrome, which can cause fatigue and joint pain. The Williams sisters will play Italian pair Francesca Schiavone and Flavia Pennetta in another exhibition match in Milan on Dec. 3. The 103rd-ranked Venus tells the Gazzetta, which is sponsoring the Milan match, that she's practicing and training in the gym.

Fish thrilled to make ATP Finals

When it comes to the ATP World Tour Finals, Mardy Fish is quick to admit he's simply happy to be there. "I'm sort of taking the approach of, 'Kind of excited to be a part of this thing,'" said Fish, who will be making his debut at the season-ending tournament for the top eight men in tennis a few weeks before his 30th birthday. "I know well enough that you can't take it for granted," the American said Tuesday on a conference call with reporters. "There's no guarantee that anyone's going to be back here doing this thing again, and so I'm going to take it all in." Fish, who was born in Minnesota and now lives in California, will face 10-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal when play begins Sunday in London. Fish's other opponents in round-robin play will be Roger Federer, owner of a record 16 major singles titles, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. "There's really not too many holes there — apart from me, I think," Fish said with a chuckle. "I still don't feel like I really belong in that group. But I'll take it. I'll enjoy it for sure." The tournament's other four-man group includes No. 1 Novak Djokovic — who won the Australian Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open this season — along with Andy Murray, David Ferrer and Tomas Berdych. Fish is ranked No. 8; he reached his career-best of No. 7 in August. Before this season, he never had been better than 16th. He went 43-22 in 2011, with one title and two runner-up finishes, and reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon for the first time before losing there to Nadal. After years of playing in the shadow of former No. 1 Andy Roddick, Fish emerged as the highest-ranked American for the first time. And so the sort of question that's been posed to Roddick regularly over the past decade or so was put to Fish on Tuesday: How bleak is it for U.S. tennis at the moment? Eight years have passed since the last time an American man won a Grand Slam singles championship, Roddick at the 2003 U.S. Open. "I think we're in great shape," Fish replied. He then rattled off the names of various players, including his pal Roddick, who Fish said "can still beat anyone on any given day." Fish also mentioned Ryan Harrison and Donald Young ("Two guys that'll be around for a long time"), John Isner ("Starting to figure it out, it seems like; he's a top-10 player for sure") and Sam Querrey. Fish, though, is the one responsible for continuing the 25-year streak of having at least one American man in the tour's season-closing event. He concedes that he's not 100 percent fit, because of what he called a "small" left leg injury, and he knows that playing Federer and Nadal means dealing with "two of the best players of all time ... which sounds pretty daunting." Add in Tsonga, and Fish's combined career record against his three round-robin opponents is 2-14. Not that Fish is ready to concede a thing. "I've had a lot of top-10 wins in my career, and top-five wins, so, I mean, it's not out of the realm of possibilities to get to the semis and beyond for me. I feel like that. And I'm sure everybody will feel like that going in," he said. "These guys are all the best of the best." For the first time in his career, Fish is part of the group.

Kvitova wins player of year

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova has been honored as the WTA's player of the year for 2011. The 21-year-old Kvitova went 60-13 with six singles titles, including at the season-ending tour championships, and rose from No. 34 to No. 2 in the rankings. She helped the Czech Republic win the Fed Cup and won more than $5 million in prize money. In the awards announced Monday, Kvitova also won for most improved player and sportsmanship. Sabine Lisicki of Belgium was honored as comeback player of the year, Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania was the newcomer of the year, and the top-ranked pairing of Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik won for doubles team of the year.

Qualifying

PARIS (AP) -Tomas Berdych, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Mardy Fish filled out the last qualifying berths for the eight-man ATP World Tour Finals on Thursday. All three earned their spots for the elite London tournament after Berdych beat Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 7-5, 6-4 in the third round of the Paris Masters. Tipsarevic needed to win the title in Paris to qualify for the season-ending event, which starts on Nov. 20. Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Andy Murray and David Ferrer had already qualified. "It's just amazing," Berdych said of qualifying for the tour finals for the second year in a row. "I had a great season last year with the final of Wimbledon and semifinal in Paris and other results ... but now I'm sitting in the position that I made it again." Tsonga knew he had secured qualification before even stepping on court to defeat Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-3, 6-4. "That helped me to be more relaxed when I started the match," Tsonga said. "I'm just really happy to go there. At the beginning of the year I didn't play really well and I didn't expect to be there at the end of the season." Tsonga's win over Federer in the Wimbledon quarterfinals before losing in the next round to Djokovic, the eventual champion, gave him confidence after an average start to the season. "When I was playing well at Wimbledon, I believed already I could make it because I knew I would get back to an acceptable ranking," Tsonga said. Fish was forced to retire at the Paris Masters while leading 6-1, 6-7 (6), 2-1 against Juan Monaco of Argentina because of a hamstring injury, but he still plans to go to London. "There's no doubt about that, even if it's torn, I'm still going to play and still try to play," said Fish, who is enjoying his best season after breaking into the top 10 in the rankings for the first time. "The next two weeks are arguably the most important of my whole career. I'd just love to be close to 100 percent at the end of the year. We'll do everything we can to get there. I'll ice it five, six times a day; electric stimulate it, ultrasound, all that stuff." Federer wasn't surprised by the look of the field. "For me, that was somewhat logical after the (U.S.) Open that that was going to be the eight," Federer said. "Anything else would have surprised me. They have had the best season so far, all these players, and I think it's going to be an exciting world tour finals."

Bryans top year-end doubles ranking for 7th time

LONDON (AP) -American twins Bob and Mike Bryan will finish the year ranked as the No. 1 ATP doubles pair for a record seventh time. The 33-year-old Bryans' first-round win at the Valencia Open on Wednesday means they cannot be overtaken by No. 2-ranked pair Michael Llodra and Nenad Zimonjic. Since 2003, the Bryans have only twice failed to finish No. 1 - in 2004 and 2008. This year, they have won seven titles, including the Australian Open and Wimbledon. They've won an Open-era record 74 titles. The twins have been ranked No. 1 in the individual doubles rankings for 265 weeks and will overtake John McEnroe's record of 270 on Dec. 12. Bob said of McEnroe that "he's such a legend and to achieve something like this won't truly set in for a while."

Djokovic, Murray, Ferrer win

PARIS (AP) -Novak Djokovic rallied from a set down to beat fellow Serb Viktor Troicki 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 and reach the Paris Masters quarterfinals on Thursday. Andy Murray, Roger Federer, Tomas Berdych, David Ferrer of Spain and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France also advanced. The top-ranked Djokovic looked a pale shadow of the player who dominated the first half of the season, making 44 unforced errors compared to 28 winners. "It's obvious that I'm still not playing in the form that I had in the last 10 months," said Djokovic, who returned to action last week in Basel after a six-week injury layoff. "It takes a little bit of time to get into the rhythm." Djokovic dropped serve twice to lose the first set to Troicki. But he broke for a 4-2 lead in the second, and leveled the match when Troicki sent a bakchand wide. The Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion then raced to a 4-0 lead in the final set. Djokovic will next play Tsonga. Murray routed Andy Roddick 6-2, 6-2 and will next face 2005 champion Berdych, who beat Janko Tipsarevic 7-5, 6-4. The second-seeded Murray improved his record to 17-0 since the U.S. Open and has won 27 of his last 28 matches since mid-August. Murray outclassed Roddick, hitting 27 winners compared to only four for the American. He broke Roddick twice in each set, taking the first with a crosscourt forehand winner before clinching victory with an ace. "I started the match well, which against him is always important, because he plays his best when he's ahead," Murray said. "Because I broke him earlier, I was able to dictate a lot of what happened out there." Roddick received a warning from the chair umpire at 2-0 in the second set after smashing his racket out of frustration. Roddick will finish the season outside the top 10 for the first time since 2001. "I just need to get in better shape as far as movement, and kind of catch up a little bit," Roddick said. The fifth-seeded Berdych trailed 5-1 in the first set and 4-1 in the second, but fought back both times to clinch his spot in the eight-man ATP World Tour Finals. His victory meant Tsonga and Mardy Fish also secured spots in the season-ending tournament in London, with Tipsarevic missing out. Tipsarevic made two double-faults in a row to set up match point for Berdych. Federer downed Richard Gasquet of France 6-2, 6-4 to next meet Juan Monaco of Argentina. The third-seeded Swiss broke serve twice in the first set and took a 4-3 lead in the second on a double-fault from Gasquet before clinching victory with a forehand winner. Meanwhile, fourth-seeded Ferrer ousted Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 6-3, 6-2, and the sixth-seeded Tsonga defeated Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-3, 6-4. Ferrer will take on American John Isner, who beat Feliciano Lopez of Spain 6-4, 6-2. A double-fault from Seppi gave Tsonga a 2-0 lead and the Frenchman took the first set with a forehand winner. The 2008 champion then broke for a 4-3 lead in the second, winning the match when Seppi netted a forehand. Fish was leading 6-1, 6-7 (6), 2-1 against Monaco when a left hamstring injury forced him to retire. Fish received treatment in the final set but was forced to quit after playing one more point. "I started feeling it probably late in the second set," Fish said. "It went from sort of tightness and an uncomfortable feeling to, in that last game that I served, a lot more pain, a lot sharper." The injury was a recurrence of his hamstring problem from the Swiss Indoors in Basel last week, but Fish still plans to play in the tour finals in London.

Djokovic denies money key for playing in Paris

PARIS (AP) -Novak Djokovic denied his participation in the Paris Masters was linked to a $1.6 million bonus. The ATP bonus pool is split among the world's top dozen players at the end of the year, and No. 1-ranked Djokovic would have lost his entire share if he had not played in Paris, thus missing the last two Masters events. "It was really somehow funny for me to see how people are coming up with that story," Djokovic said on Wednesday. "I even heard that I would get on the court and play a game just to get this money. I mean, this is ridiculous. "I want to play well here. I want to get as far as possible, and then London (for next week's tour finals), which is the most important tournament in this part of the year for all of us." Nevertheless, he protected his bonus by stepping on court on Wednesday then winning his opening match against Ivan Dodig of Croatia 6-4, 6-3 in the second round. Doubts about his participation emerged when Djokovic was treated twice for shoulder pain last Saturday while losing in the Basel semifinals, only his fourth defeat this year. "I really wanted to come because I played at Basel a couple of matches, but I need more matches before London," Djokovic said. "I'm definitely intending to finish the season strong. Maybe I'm physically paying for the long season that I had, and the unfortunate injury after the U.S. Open, the Davis Cup, and everything. So I think everything is kind of catching up with me now." Djokovic stood to earn $2 million from the ATP bonus pool if he'd played in all eight Masters tournaments, but he lost $400,000 when he didn't appear in Shanghai last month because of injury. He would have lost all of it if he hadn't played in Paris. Djokovic has won five of the Masters events this year, plus three of the four majors: Australian Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open. But injuries have marred the end of his season. Before Basel, trouble in the same shoulder prompted his retirement in the Cincinnati Masters final in August against Andy Murray. In the Davis Cup semifinals, Djokovic also suffered a back injury that sidelined him for six weeks. "If I know that I'm physically good enough, in good condition to be competing, I will compete," he said. "If I don't, I will not compete. It's as simple as that."

Ivanovic wins Tournament of Champions

NUSA DUA, Indonesia (AP) -Ana Ivanovic successfully defended her WTA Tournament of Champions title with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Anabel Medina-Garigues on Sunday. The Serb gained momentum against her Spanish opponent early and was untroubled throughout in winning her first final since the same event last year. "I feel great. Very unexpected, actually," said Ivanovic. "I think I played an impeccable match today. Really I didn't do much wrong." Medina-Garigues praised her opponent's poise in the final. "In the middle of the second set I started thinking a little because I saw her, she didn't feel, I didn't feel that she felt the pressure, and she was playing very good, solid, no mistakes, hitting very hard the ball, serving good, so I think she was the player who had to win the match," Medina-Garigues said. Ivanovic celebrated her 24th birthday with the $210,000 prize and is now setting her sights on a better start to next season. "I think next year is going to be big, and I really want to sort of play tournaments that I'm ready for and really go and take my chances because you know I think especially the first half of the year I have nothing to defend and I can take my opportunities and hopefully keep the level and break the top 10," said Ivanovic. "That would be the first step, first goal, and then take it from there." Nadia Petrova of Russia took third place by defeating Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, 6-2, 5-7, 6-0. Hantuchova filled in for Sabine Lisicki, who had to pull out with a back injury.

Czechs win first Fed Cup title in 23 years

MOSCOW (AP) -The Czech Republic won its first Fed Cup title in 23 years on Sunday after Lucie Hradecka and Kveta Peschke beat Maria Kirilenko and Elena Vesnina 6-4, 6-2 in the decisive doubles match to secure a 3-2 win over Russia in the final. It was the sixth title in the competition for the Czechs but their first since 1988, when it competed as Czechoslovakia and beat the Soviet Union 2-1 in the final. The victory also caps a breakthrough season for second-ranked Petra Kvitova, who won both of her singles matches for the Czechs. Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova then beat Czech No.2 Lucie Safarova to set up the decisive doubles. "Petra won two points, but we needed one more," Czech captain Petr Pala said. "I'm glad we've managed to (get) the third one. We all won it because victory is made of small pieces you have to put together. It's team work." Russia captain Shamil Tarpischev also praised Kvitova. "The Czechs won thanks to Kvitova's superb play," Tarpischev said. "She was just great." The Russian pair broke early for a 4-2 lead, but the Czechs won four consecutive games to take the first set and then jumped to a 5-2 lead in the second. The Russians saved three match points on Vesnina's serve before she sent a shot wide on the fourth. "The Czechs played unbelievably well, they dominated the game and left us no chance," Vesnina said. "It was tough to get something going today, but we fought until the very end." Earlier on Sunday, Kvitova rallied to beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova then replaced Kirilenko and kept the Russians' hopes alive by beating Safarova 6-2, 6-4. Pavlyuchenkova won five consecutive games in the first set and broke decisively in the fifth game of the second to serve out the match at love, closing it with an ace. Pavlyuchenkova also helped Russia get out of the first round against France in February, when she won the first reverse singles to start Russia's comeback from 2-0 down. In their first ever meeting, Kvitova and Kuznetsova traded breaks three times in the first set before the Czech, 5-4 down on her serve in the 10th game, saved a set point before netting a backhand to go 1-0 down in the match. But the Wimbledon champion won five consecutive games in the second set and, trailing 3-0 in the decider, went on to win the rest of the games and close the match with a backhand winner on her second match point. "I wasn't playing my tennis in the first set, making too many mistakes, while Svetlana moved and returned very well," Kvitova said. Kvitova, who made 19 unforced errors, said she had forced herself to begin playing cross-court shots instead of her favorite flat drives in the second set and it paid off. "It was tough to come back into the match in the second set, " Kvitova said. "In the third set I was 3-0 down and I didn't think I could still win. I managed to come back on Svetlana's (Kuznetsova) serve and it was a very important moment in the match." Kvitova remained unbeaten in six Fed Cup matches this season. The victory was her 12th in a row after winning back-to-back titles in Linz, Austria, and the season-ending WTA Championships in Istanbul last weekend. "She (Kvitova) began to play much better after she fell behind 3-0 in the third set," Kuznetsova said. "I was just unlucky on some points. The difference between us today was that she had played so many such matches this season, while I rarely had such intriguing matches." Kvitova won six titles this season and moved to No. 2 in the rankings. "I played well today, but she was just a bit better on key moments," Kuznetsova said. Russia was without its top players. Maria Sharapova has an ankle injury and wasn't selected for the final, while Vera Zvonareva was forced to pull out on Friday because of shoulder injury. Tarpischev said Zvonareva's late injury forced him to make some emergency decisions and call up Kirilenko, who was already on vacation. Russia has won the Fed Cup title four times since 2004 and was unbeaten at home in 10 ties since losing to France in the semifinals in 2003.

Kvitova to face Kirilenko in Fed Cup final opener

MOSCOW (AP) -Maria Kirilenko was surprisingly picked by Russia to face Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic in the opening singles of the Fed Cup final on Saturday. Kirilenko, whose Fed Cup experience was limited to two matches five years ago, was tagged as Russia's No. 2 by captain Shamil Tarpischev in Friday's draw. Two-time Grand Slam winner Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia's No. 1, takes on Lucie Safarova in the second singles. Earlier, Vera Zvonareva, who was expected to lead the home side on an indoor hard-court at Olympic Stadium, was forced to pull out because of the shoulder injury that has been troubling her for the last two weeks. "Of course Zvonareva's absence is a big loss for us," Tarpischev said. "We would have been much stronger with her. But it was clear that in her current form and without her serve she would have been the weakest one on the team." Kvitova said it will not be easy to beat Russia even without Zvonareva. "I think they are still strong. It (the final) is still wide open, 50-50," she said. Kvitova has had a remarkable season. The Czech started the year ranked outside the top 30 but won Wimbledon for her first Grand Slam title and beat Victoria Azarenka in the WTA Championships final in Istanbul on Sunday to claim her sixth title this year and move up to No. 2 in the rankings. She has a 9-4 win-loss record in the Fed Cup, winning all four singles in two ties this season, and insisted she was not tired after the long season. "I will play 100 percent for sure and actually I'm not tired," Kvitova said. Kirilenko beat Kvitova the two times they played on the WTA tour in 2009, but both have moved up in the rankings considerably since then. "A Fed Cup match differs from the one in a tournament and she (Kirilenko) will have no advantage that she had won (before)," Kvitova said. Kirilenko said though she expected Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to be nominated to play in the opening singles, she will be motivated on Saturday. "When you know that it's the last tournament in the season you always want to play your best," Kirilenko said. In another surprise move, Tarpischev name doubles specialist Elena Vesnina to substitute for Zvonareva in the doubles. "The choice (of Vesnina) was purely tactical," Tarpischev said. "A tie is played in two days, and the second day is always really complicated. But why I've made this choice, you'd better ask me tomorrow." Kuznetsova has an impressive 21-7 Fed Cup record, and was 2-1 against Safarova, who has won only five of her 13 matches in the Fed Cup. In Sunday's reverse singles, Kvitova is set to play Kuznetsova, then Kirilenko takes on Safarova. In the doubles, Vesnina will partner Pavlyuchenkova against the Czech duo of Lucie Hradecka and Kveta Peschke. Russia has won the Fed Cup title four times since 2003. The Czechs are five-time winners, but their last final appearance was in 1988 when, as Czechoslovakia, they beat the Soviet Union 2-1.

Swiss opt for indoor clay to face US in Davis Cup

BASEL, Switzerland - Switzerland has chosen to host the United States on an indoor clay court at Fribourg in the 2012 Davis Cup. The Swiss tennis federation says the first-round series will be played Feb. 10-12 at the 7,200-capacity Forum Fribourg arena. Switzerland's biggest indoor arenas in Geneva and Zurich were unavailable to stage the match. The Swiss team did not say whether Roger Federer will play in the series, scheduled two weeks after the Australian Open. Federer has not played in the first round of the Davis Cup since 2004. The teams last met in 2009 in the first round, when the Americans won 4-1 in Birmingham, Ala.

Djokovic beats Baghdatis

BASEL, Switzerland (AP) -Novak Djokovic fought back from losing the first set to beat Marcos Baghdatis 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the Swiss Indoors quarterfinals on Friday. The top-ranked Djokovic stayed on course to meet hometown favorite Roger Federer in the final for a third straight year, after the defending champion beat Andy Roddick of the United States 6-3, 6-2. Djokovic had his serve broken twice early on before recovering to seal a victory that took his record against Baghdatis to 6-0, and raised his 2011 record to 67-3. "I started slowly, no life on the court, and he took his chances," said Djokovic, playing his first tournament after a six-week break to heal a back injury. "My body is still getting used to this competition mode. I have to stay patient." The U.S. Open, Wimbledon and Australian Open champion will play 32nd-ranked Kei Nishikori of Japan in Saturday's semifinals. Nishikori beat Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 in a match that featured 13 breaks of serve. Federer will play his 2008 Beijing Olympics gold medal-winning doubles partner Stanislas Wawrinka. The Swiss No. 2 eased past Florian Mayer of Germany 6-2, 6-2. In beating Roddick at Basel for the fourth time, Federer improved to 21-2 against the 2003 U.S. Open winner. He cruised to victory after breaking Roddick's serve to lead 5-3 in the first set. "It's great to get those big momentum shifts going sometimes. It was a good performance from my side," said Federer, who also is returning after six weeks off. Roddick's pay check this week raised his career tournament earnings over $20 million. Djokovic came to Basel having not played since Sept. 18, and was pushed to three sets for the second time in three matches. "It's nothing I didn't expect, but I'm winning matches and that is what matters most," Djokovic said. The 59th-ranked Baghdatis broke the top-seeded Serb's serve, and struck six aces in dominating the first set. Djokovic broke through for a 4-2 lead in the second after the Cypriot double-faulted. Djokovic commanded the rest of the match, sealing victory in exactly one hour less than Nishikori's two-hour, 39-minute effort. Neither Nishikori nor 113th-ranked Kukushkin could land half of their first serves, however the 21-year-old Japanese took his first match-point chance with just his second ace. With his three victories in Basel, Nishikori will rise to a career-best ranking and highest by a Japanese man. He had been No. 30 after reaching the Shanghai Masters semifinals last month. "It's a great feeling. A great experience for me," said Nishikori, who lost his only meeting with Djokovic at the 2010 French Open. "(Novak) is playing on a different level. I am going to try to be more aggressive than usual."

Nadal pulls out of Paris to focus on ATP finals

MADRID - Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the Paris Masters to focus on the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals and Davis Cup final. The second-ranked Nadal says on his Facebook page the decision to pull out of next week's event at Bercy was necessary "to prepare well for the end of this season and also for 2012." The Spaniard has not played since losing to the 23rd-ranked Florian Mayer in the second round in Shanghai three weeks ago. Nadal is one of five players already qualified for the season-ending Nov. 20-27 tournament in London, which features the year's top eight players. The French Open champion also is expected to play for Spain against Argentina in the Dec. 2-4 Davis Cup final.

Big finish

MOSCOW (AP) -Petra Kvitova will have a chance to cap her remarkable season by leading the Czech Republic to its first Fed Cup win in 23 years this weekend against a Russia team struggling with injuries. Kvitova is coming off her first WTA Championships title that lifted her to No. 2 in the world rankings, and is expected to play singles along with Lucie Safarova for the Czech team. "I know that I'm No. 1 and there will be pressure on me," Kvitova said at a news conference on Wednesday. "But still we have a great team and hopefully we will get three points. We will do our best this weekend." Kvitova started the year ranked outside the top 30 but won Wimbledon for her first Grand Slam title and beat Victoria Azarenka in the WTA Championships final in Istanbul on Sunday. Russia, meanwhile, is still trying to determine who will be its No. 1 singles player, as seventh-ranked Vera Zvonareva has inflammation in her right shoulder which could jeopardize her participation in the final. Russia also has Svetlana Kuznetsova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Maria Kirilenko in the team. Zvonareva suffered from pain in her shoulder and was close to retire before losing on the same court in the quarterfinals of the Kremlin Cup two weeks ago. In Istanbul last week, the Russian won only one of her four matches. "First of all, one's serve suffers from such an injury," Russia captain Shamil Tarpischev said. "But it's useless to play against the Czechs without a solid serve. You have to hold your serve first. And Kvitova will hold hers." Tarpischev said doctors are working with Zvonareva but "we will have to wait for the outcome." Tarpischev hopes that a slow hard court at the Olympic indoor stadium will benefit his team and slow down Kvitova's speedy game. "It will be easier to cope with her (Kvitova's) speed and vary the height of the ball's bounce," Tarpischev said. "The task will be not only to try to overplay her with the power of the shot but beat her tactically as well. If we are able to do this then not only Zvonareva can beat Kvitova." The Czechs might have one more advantage - both Kvitova and Safarova are left-handers. "I think it's always an advantage in tennis and that's the main reason why they (Kvitova and Safarova) are here," Czech captain Petr Pala said. "And hopefully it's going to work again." Kvitova won all four of her singles matches this year as the Czechs beat Slovakia and Belgium on the way to the final. But Tarpischev called up a couple of Russian lefties to practice with the team. "We were considered to be the favorites for this tie by midseason, but now chances of both teams are even," Tarpischev said. "Now we feel no pressure and it makes our task easier." A four-time champion, Russia is back on home turf for the final of the competition for the first time since routing Italy 4-0 here in 2007 for its third crown. The Czechs are five-time winners, but their last final appearance was in 1988 when Czechoslovakia beat the Soviet Union 2-1. Russia is unbeaten at home in 10 ties since losing to eventual champion France in the semifinals in 2003. "But obviously we came (here) not like underdogs, we came to win and we are going to do everything to achieve it," Pala said.

Melzer to skip 2 tourneys because of ailing back

VIENNA - Jurgen Melzer has pulled out of the Swiss Indoors in Basel and Paris Masters because of a back injury, ending his singles season and raising doubts if he can play doubles at next month's season-ending ATP Finals in London. Melzer's manager, Ronnie Leitgeb, told the Austria Press Agency on Monday that it's "a very difficult decision to probably end the season here, but it's his only chance to recover 100 percent." Leitgeb said Melzer would probably not recover in time for the Nov. 20-27 London event. Melzer was ranked a career-high eighth in April but has dropped to 26th. He lost to South Africa's Kevin Anderson on Thursday in the quarterfinals in Vienna, a tournament he had won the past two years.