James Blake gets a good win in Washington

U.S. veteran James Blake upset defending champion David Nalbandian, 6-2, 6-4, on Tuesday to reach the third round of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic at Washington.

Once ranked as high as No. 4 in the world, Blake won the hard-court U.S. Open tuneup in 2002 and was the runner-up in 2005. But beset by a series of injuries, most recently a bad right knee, he dropped to 173rd in the rankings in March and began this week at 90th.

His victory over the eighth-seeded Nalbandian, who had a first-round bye, allowed Blake to get to the third round for only the second time in 10 tournaments this season.

Earlier Tuesday, two young Americans named Ryan — Ryan Harrison and Ryan Sweeting — won first-round matches.

The 19-year-old Harrison extended his strong showing on the U.S. summer hard-court circuit by overcoming 10 double-faults to beat Mischa Zverev of Germany, 6-4, 1-6, 6-1. Sweeting, 24, defeated Alex Bogomolov Jr., 6-2, 6-4, in an all-American matchup.

ETC.

Hopkins to fight in L.A.

Bernard Hopkins will put his WBC light-heavyweight title on the line less than five months after earning it.

The 46-year-old Hopkins (52-5-2, 32 knockouts) will face Chad Dawson (30-1, 17 knockouts) on Oct. 15 in a title fight at Staples Center.

A news conference early next week will officially announce the pairing, a Golden Boy Promotions spokeswoman said.

—Douglas Farmer

Former middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik withdrew from Saturday’s 10-round fight against Darryl Cunningham for unknown reasons.

Pavlik was scheduled to fight in his hometown of Youngstown, Ohio, with the bout to be televised nationally on Showtime.

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The Associated Press reported that Danica Patrick still could drive in the Indianapolis 500 even if she makes a full-time move to NASCAR.

Two people familiar with Patrick’s 2012 plans say she is in the final stages of a deal to run a full-time Nationwide Series schedule with JR Motorsports and limited Sprint Cup Series races with the team owned by Tony Stewart. The people spoke to AP on condition of anonymity because the deal won’t be finished until she secures a release from Andretti Autosport.

One of the people said the talks also include her continuing to compete in the Indianapolis 500.

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Former world and Olympic 400-meter champion Jeremy Wariner will miss the world championships this month in Daegu, South Korea, because of a torn ligament in his left foot.

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Three-time WNBA most valuable player Lauren Jackson signed a multiyear extension that probably will allow her to end her career with the Seattle Storm, the only franchise she has played for.

The Storm did not release terms of the deal.

Jackson, 30, has sat out much of this season after tearing cartilage in her hip and undergoing surgery. Seattle is hopeful Jackson may be able to return at the end of the regular season.