SPORTS DIGEST - TENNIS:Fernando Verdasco upset top seed Andy Roddick 3-6 6-4 6-4 to win the San Jose Open on Sunday and snap a 15-match losing streak against top 10-ranked players.

“I know the top 10 guys are tough and last year I was really close in a lot of matches,” the Spaniard said after clinching his fourth title and second on American soil.

“But of course this win will give me a lot of confidence beating Andy in his country. It’s special.”

The 11th-ranked Verdasco also broke a seven match losing streak to Roddick, who was bidding for his fourth San Jose title after winning in Brisbane and making the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.

“I served very well and I don’t think Andy served his best today,” said Verdasco, who notched 15 aces to Roddick’s 10.

“I tried to be aggressive, change the rhythm and play with confidence to go for the title.”

McMurray wins Daytona 500

MOTOR SPORT:Jamie McMurray won the Daytona 500 when he held off Dale Earnhardt Jr in a drama-filled Nascar season opener twice delayed by track repairs at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday.

The race was halted the first time for an hour and 40 minutes with 78 laps remaining while workers repaired a hole that developed in the track. The hole reappeared 39 laps later, forcing another 45-minute delay.

Roche shows good climbing form

CYCLING: Irish road race champion Nicolas Roche showed solid climbing form on Sunday's final stage of the Tour of the Mediterranean, placing 18th at the top of Mont Faron.

First to the summit was the Acqua and Sapone rider Francesco Masciarelli, who successfully jumped away inside the final three kilometres.

He was followed home eight seconds later by Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) and Rinaldo Nocentini (Ag2r La Mondiale), with the latter taking the overall victory. Roche finished up 48th, 15 minutes and 11 seconds back.

It was an unlucky end to the race, however, for his first cousin Dan Martin, who had started the stage four points clear in the King of the Mountains classification.

He had a flare-up of asthma in the damp, cold conditions and did not finish the stage.

Judge issues arrest warrant for Landis

CYCLING:A French judge has issued an international arrest warrant against American rider Floyd Landis for suspected hacking into an anti-doping laboratory computer, French anti-doping agency head Pierre Bordry said yesterday.

Bordy said the judge Thomas Cassuto believed Landis, whose 2006 Tour de France title was stripped after he failed a dope test, wanted to prove the laboratory where his samples were tested was wrong. “French judge Cassuto from the Tribunal de Grande Instance of Nanterre informed us that he had issued an international arrest warrant on January 28th against Floyd Landis, who tested positive for banned testosterone during the 2006 Tour de France, after our laboratory computer system was hacked,” Bordry said. “He was summoned by the judge, he didn’t come so he’s now under an international arrest warrant.” The French anti-doping agency launched legal action against unnamed persons after they found their laboratory computer system had been hacked into in 2006.

Landis, the first rider to be stripped of a Tour victory, has continually denied any wrongdoing but the Court of Arbitration for Sport has rejected his assertion that his positive test was due to procedural mistakes by the laboratory. Landis (34) was considering following fellow-American Lance Armstrongs example and riding again in the Tour de France.

South Africa rally late

CRICKET:South Africa rallied late in the day yesterday after centuries from Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar looked like destroying their chances of a first series victory in India for a decade.

Sehwag tore into the South African attack in the second and final Test with 165 from 174 balls while Tendulkar (106) extended his world record of Test centuries to 47.

The pair added 249 for the third wicket as India cruised to 331 for two at one stage before South Africa lifted their tempo in similar fashion to the first Test to trigger an Indian collapse in the final session.

India lost the century makers and Subramaniam Badrinath in the space of four runs to finish the day on 342 for five in reply to 296.

South Africa, who won the first Test by an innings, need to win the series to reclaim the world number one ranking from India. “I think those last three wickets, out of which two were really big wickets, has set us up for a good day tomorrow,” South Africa coach Corrie van Zyl said.

Murray's decision backed by ATP

TENNIS: Officials have backed Andy Murray's decision to pull out of this week's Marseille Open.

Murray was due to be top seed in Marseille but has withdrawn from the event as he continues to recover from his efforts at the Australian Open, where he lost in the final to world number one Roger Federer.

Tournament director Jean-Francois Caujolle has denied calling for Murray to be suspended for missing the tournament for the second year in succession.

And the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) have confirmed they would not have been inclined to do so anyway.

An ATP statement read: “There are clear rules and regulations in place with regard to player withdrawals and Andy Murray followed them.”