Sports in Brief: U.S. tops Czechs, advances in world tennis

The United States beat the Czech Republic, 2-1, at the World Team Tennis Cup in Dusseldorf, Germany, yesterday, despite having to use another doubles team because of an undisclosed injury to top-ranked

Bob

and

Mike Bryan

.

The Bryan brothers were replaced by

James Blake

and

Wayne Odesnik

, who rallied past

Tomas Berdych

and

Pavel Vizner

, 0-6, 7-5, 10-8.

Andy Roddick

also withdrew after the shoulder injury that forced his retirement in the Rome Masters semifinals flared again following several days of practice. The sixth-ranked American will miss the French Open but expects to play at Wimbledon.

Saying tennis is "potentially at a crossroads," an independent review panel found 45 matches that merit further investigation because of irregular betting patterns and offered a host of recommendations to the sport's leaders for combating corruption.

The panel's 66-page report, prompted in part by suspicions surrounding a match last year involving fourth-ranked

Nikolay Davydenko

, was released yesterday by the International Tennis Federation, the ATP, the WTA Tour, and the four Grand Slams.

The 45 unidentified matches, from the last five years, were among 73 examined by the panel, which warned of "inside information."

The review was prompted by a series of events connected to gambling in tennis.

Most prominent, an online betting site, in an unprecedented move, voided all bets on a match involving Davydenko last year because of suspicious gambling patterns.

Elsewhere:

Australian Open runner-up

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

of France defeated

Albert Montanes

of Spain, 6-4, 7-6 (10), in the first round of the Grand Prix Hassan II tournament in Casablanca, Morocco, a clay-court tune-up for the French Open.

Defensive end

Andre Civil

of New York became Rutgers' fourth oral commitment for the Class of 2009, according to Scout.com.

The 6-foot-3, 238-pound Civil, from Sheepshead Bay High, also had offers from Georgia Tech, Clemson, Connecticut and Syracuse.

Elsewhere:

Guard

Tony Freeman

, Iowa's leading scorer from last season, announced he will transfer to Southern Illinois. . . . IUPUI coach

Ron Hunter

and his players are going to Nigeria in July to deliver some of the nearly 200,000 pairs of shoes that were donated after he went barefoot during a basketball game to help poor children. . . . Florida State receiver

Preston Parker

will have to sit out the first two games of the 2008 season after pleading guilty to two misdemeanor charges. . . . Suspended Clemson linebacker

Cortney Vincent

will not return for the 2008 season, coach

Tommy Bowden

said.

Canadian wheelchair racer

Jeff Adams

, a six-time world champion, was cleared by the highest tribunal of sports after testing positive for cocaine, his lawyer said.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled unanimously from Geneva, Switzerland, according to lawyer

Tim Danson

, who said the three-judge panel concluded there was no prohibited substance in Adams' system at the time of the competition or at the time he was drug-tested.

Adams was suspended for two years for his failed drug test at the 2006 Canadian wheelchair marathon championships in Ottawa.

Olympic 10,000-meter champion

Xing Huina

, 24, of China, has a thigh injury that will prevent her from competing in the Beijing Games.

A photographer got a little too close to the action at the Utah state high school track championships and was speared through the leg by a javelin.

Ryan McGeeney

of the Standard-Examiner of Provo was spared serious injury Saturday, and even managed to snap a photo of his speared leg while others tended to him. McGeeney is a 33-year-old who saw action in Afghanistan as a Marine.

Elsewhere:

The Soul waived defensive end

Derrick Strong

. . . .

Tiger Woods

, who hasn't played since arthroscopic knee surgery in April, said he would play in the Buick Open in late June.