Davydenko eliminates top-ranked Federer in semifinals of ATP World Tour Finals

Top-ranked Roger Federer was eliminated from the ATP World Tour Finals in London on Saturday, losing to Nikolay Davydenko, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, in the semifinals.

Federer, who was broken three straight times in the first set, came within two points of winning while leading, 5-4, in the third set. But Davydenko held on and then broke Federer to take a 6-5 lead before serving out the win.

Davydenko will face U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro in today’s final. The 21-year-old Argentine advanced by beating Robin Soderling, 6-7 (1), 6-3, 7-6 (3).

FOOTBALL

Roethlisberger will sit

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is expected to sit out tonight’s game at Baltimore because of a concussion, an unexpected development that apparently means inexperienced Dennis Dixon will make his first NFL start. Roethlisberger practiced all week despite suffering his fourth concussion since 2006 during a 27-24 overtime loss in Kansas City on Sunday. . . . Indianapolis Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney will miss today’s game against the Houston Texans because of an abdomen injury.

Memphis officials have scheduled a news conference for today and, according to several reports, will announce the hiring of Louisiana State assistant Larry Porter as the Tigers’ coach. . . . Louisville fired Coach Steve Kragthorpe after finishing the year at 4-8, the school’s worst season in more than a decade.

BASKETBALL

Iverson may rejoin 76ers

Allen Iverson is talking about a comeback. And the Philadelphia 76ers are at least discussing the idea of bringing back their former franchise superstar. A person with knowledge of the talks said the 76ers have been approached about signing the recently retired guard, and team management has held internal discussions about bringing Iverson back.

The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because talks have not been made public, says Iverson is among the free-agent candidates the 76ers are considering to replace injured point guard Louis Williams, who’s expected to miss eight weeks after jaw surgery.

Former NBA All-Star Antoine Walker is apologizing for “unacceptable” living conditions at Chicago buildings owned by his companies. Walker told the Chicago Tribune he wants to “humbly apologize” to everyone who’s been affected by the failings of his companies, Walker Ventures LLC and AW Realty LLC.

WINTER SPORTS

Cuche wins downhill

Didier Cuche of Switzerland won the season-opening downhill on the World Cup circuit in Lake Louise, Canada. Cuche, third in last season’s overall standings, earned his 11th World Cup victory.

He was timed in 1 minute 50.31 seconds. He was followed by Italy’s Werner Heel in 1:50.75 and Switzerland’s Carlo Janka in 1:50.93.

Kathrin Hoelzl of Germany won a giant slalom in Aspen, Colo., for her first World Cup victory. The 2008 world champion in the GS led after the first run and used that advantage to edge runner-up Kathrin Zettel of Austria. Federica Brignone of Italy was third. Hoelzl finished the two runs in an unofficial total time of 2 minutes 9.63 seconds.

ETC.

Massa returns to the track

Formula One driver Felipe Massa returned to competition for the first time since his life-threatening accident four months ago, finishing third in a charity karting event won by Michael Schumacher in Florianopolis, Brazil.

UCLA will host UC Santa Barbara in a third-round NCAA men’s soccer playoff game at 5 p.m. today at Drake Stadium. The Bruins are 11-3-4 this season but undefeated -- 7-0-2 -- at home. Santa Barbara is 17-4-2.