Safin loses and then considers retirement

Two-time Grand Slam event champion Marat Safin is considering retirement after a 6-0, 7-6 (4) loss to Juan Monaco in the first round of the Paris Masters on Monday.

Safin, a former top-ranked player and a three-time champion at the Paris tournament, wants a long break before making a decision.

“I don’t know what happened. Just couldn’t find my rhythm and couldn’t find the game,” the 28-year-old Russian said. “I need to think everything through. I have no pressure and I have nothing to prove or show. I just want to be comfortable with my decision, whatever I will take.”

Safin managed only 12 points in the first set and trailed, 2-0, in the second after only 24 minutes. In the first service game of the second set, Safin had four double faults before breaking back to 2-2.

“I need to sit down and relax and just enjoy my life without any tennis for a couple of months and then I will see,” Safin said. “If I feel like I want to continue to play, I will. If not, it will be over.”

Safin won the U.S. Open in 2000 and the Australian Open in 2005. He hasn’t won a tour title since the win in Australia.

“I’ve been struggling throughout my career with injuries left and right,” said Safin, who is ranked 31st. “It’s a little bit uncomfortable to find yourself in the top 10 for many years and to find yourself ranked 70 and 30 and 50. . . . It’s not really a comfortable position.”

Also Monday, former champion Tomas Berdych, Marin Cilic and Nicolas Kiefer all advanced to the second round in straight sets.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Sutton is out for the season

Northwestern star running back Tyrell Sutton will sit out the rest of the regular season because of a wrist injury.

Sutton, who injured the wrist in the Wildcats’ 21-19 loss to Indiana on Saturday, will have surgery today, Coach Pat Fitzgerald said.

“It’s disappointing, especially for a senior to have something like that happen to him at the end of his career,” Fitzgerald said. “Obviously, it’s tough when you lose a great player like Tyrell. It’s frustrating for him. It’s disappointing for him.”

Sutton had 776 yards and six touchdowns in 155 carries this season, giving him 3,772 yards and 31 touchdowns.

Weber State receiver/returner Bryant Eteuati is suspended indefinitely after being arrested on outstanding warrants in Ogden, Utah.

Eteuati is scheduled to appear in court Monday on charges of third-degree felony assault and a misdemeanor count of failure to remain at the scene of an accident.

Billionaire booster T. Boone Pickens will give another $63 million to Oklahoma State to finish the renovation of the football stadium that bears his name.

HOCKEY

Ovechkin ends playing streak

Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin will sit out at least one game while in Russia to visit his ailing grandfather. The NHL’s reigning most valuable player caught a flight home Monday and will sit out Washington’s game against the Nashville Predators tonight. Ovechkin had played in 203 games in a row. The Capitals were not sure when Ovechkin would return to the team.

JURISPRUDENCE

Rockies’ Vizcaino accused of DUI

Colorado Rockies pitcher Luis Vizcaino was arrested in Philadelphia on suspicion of driving under the influence. The 34-year-old reliever was bailed out of jail later in the day.

Officers said he was going 71 mph in a 45-mph zone early Monday.

Police said Vizcaino’s eyes were glassy and bloodshot and he smelled of alcohol, with a blood-alcohol level just over the legal limit.

The Rockies said they were “extremely disappointed” and have been in contact with the player and his representatives.

ETC.

Gymnasts will need a license

Beginning Jan. 1, all junior and senior gymnasts who represent their countries at international meets will need a license from the International Gymnastics Federation. The licenses will include gymnasts’ name, sex, country and date of birth, and it will serve as proof of age for their entire career.

The licensing system, approved by the FIG’s executive committee at its Oct. 15-16 meeting and announced Monday, was in the works long before the Beijing Olympics. But it got new attention after questions were raised about the ages of China’s gold medal women’s team, with media reports and online records suggesting some of the girls could be as young as 14. . . . Kentucky horse racing authorities have postponed possible action on trainer Rick Dutrow, trainer of Big Brown, over a drug test on one of his horses. . . . The Arena Football League realigned its divisions, putting two-time Eastern Division champion Dallas in the Southern Division. The Avengers will remain in the Western Division. New Orleans recently dropped out of the AFL, leading to the realignments. . . . Eastman Kodak Co. is ending its 22-year sponsorship in NASCAR and putting more sports marketing dollars into professional golf. . . . Patrick Ewing Jr. was waived by the New York Knicks, who got down to the 15-player limit by cutting the son of their career scoring leader.