Thrashers fire Hartley as coach after NHL’s worst start at 0-6

Bob Hartley was fired Wednesday as coach of the Atlanta Thrashers, who have lost their first six games and are the only winless NHL team.

General Manager Don Waddell will be the coach until a replacement is found. He has no timetable for a hiring.

“We felt after six games the direction we were going was not the direction we wanted to go,” Waddell said. “We couldn’t let it go any further.”

Waddell already has one stint as an interim coach, following his firing of Curt Fraser during the 2002-03 season.

Hartley, 47, who won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2001, was 136-123-32 in five seasons with Atlanta.

The Thrashers won the Southeast Division last season.

TENNIS

Nadal stops Baghdatis in his return from injury

Playing for the first time since the U.S. Open, second-seeded Rafael Nadal showed no signs of the knee problems that had hampered him, beating Marcos Baghdatis, 6-4, 6-4, in his opener at the Madrid Masters in Spain.

Sixth-seeded James Blake made it four trips to Madrid without a win, losing, 6-3, 6-4, to Mario Ancic. Earlier, 13th-seeded Guillermo Canas, who defeated top-seeded Roger Federer twice in March, ousted Agustin Calleri, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, to set up a match with Federer.

Eighth-seeded Amelie Mauresmo was upset by Alona Bondarenko, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, in the second round of the Zurich Open in Switzerland. Nicole Vaidisova defeated third-seeded Jelena Jankovic, 6-4, 6-4.

GOLF

Cabrera rallies to win Grand Slam of Golf

U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera recovered from a triple bogey on the opening hole that put him five shots behind with a birdie-eagle finish for a two-under 68, and he beat British Open champion Padraig Harrington on the third playoff hole to win the PGA Grand Slam of Golf at Tucker’s Town, Bermuda.

Cabrera finished at four-under 136 and earned $600,000 from the tournament restricted to major champions. Jim Furyk, the replacement for PGA champion Tiger Woods, finished third (138) and Masters champion Zach Johnson was last (139).

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Boeheim assistant has deal to succeed him

Syracuse assistant Mike Hopkins confirmed that he has reached an agreement on a plan to succeed Coach Jim Boeheim, 63, when he retires.

Senior forward Scott Cutley will probably be lost to the Cal State Fullerton until December after fracturing his right ankle in practice Saturday.

JURISPRUDENCE

MSG, Thomas seek to reduce jury award

Madison Square Garden and New York Knicks Coach Isiah Thomas have asked a judge to reduce the $11.6 million in punitive damages a jury awarded to former team executive Anucha Browne Sanders following a three-week trial over sexual harassment and her firing.

Thomas also asked that a jury’s finding that he aided and abetted the hostile environment be tossed out, or that a new trial be ordered.

A woman has accused New Jersey Nets guard Jason Kidd of harassing and groping her Oct. 10 at a Manhattan nightclub.

Investigators were reviewing security video and interviewing possible witnesses but had not questioned Kidd, an official said.

Kidd spokesman Scott Miranda called the accusation “a complete fabrication.”

MISCELLANY

James, Cavaliers lose in ‘China Games’

In the first of the NBA’s three “China Games,” LeBron James scored 17 points in 28 minutes, but his Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the Orlando Magic, 90-86, at Shanghai.

Commissioner David Stern was on hand to explain the league’s expansion plans in China, saying they call for setting up “the second NBA, the NBA of China.”

Sacramento Kings owner Joe Maloof will stage a six-event, three-day skateboarding festival at the Orange County Fairgrounds on July 11-13 that will offer more than $400,000 in prize money. The competition has been sanctioned as the national championship by World Cup Skateboarding.

International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge warned Europe not to break away from the World Anti-Doping Agency following the withdrawal of former French sports minister Jean-Francois Lamour as a candidate for president of the body.