Broncos Coach John Fox will undergo heart surgery

Denver Broncos Coach John Fox needs heart surgery and will miss several weeks, team spokesman Patrick Smyth confirmed Saturday night.

Fox, 58, will undergo aortic valve replacement surgery early next week at a hospital in Charlotte, N.C. The Broncos did not immediately name an interim head coach.

Fox had been told earlier about his heart condition and was hoping to put off the operation until February. As part of his trip to North Carolina over the Broncos’ off week, he met with his cardiologist and was told to seek medical attention immediately if he felt any discomfort. On Saturday, Fox became dizzy playing golf near his off-season home and was taken to a hospital, where tests revealed he couldn’t wait any longer to have the surgery.

The Chicago Bears agreed to a one-year contract with former Dallas Cowboys Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jay Ratliff.

The NFL Players Assn. is looking into Jonathan Martin’s situation in Miami but has not launched an investigation into possible harassment of the offensive tackle by his Dolphins teammates.

The Dallas Cowboys have placed guard Brian Waters on injured reserve, ending his season.

New England Patriots defensive tackle Tommy Kelly will sit out the rest of the season because of a right knee injury.

ETC.

Ferrer upsets No. 1 Nadal

David Ferrer stunned top-seeded Rafael Nadal, 6-3, 7-5, and second-seeded Novak Djokovic defeated fifth-seeded Roger Federer after being a set and a service break down in the Paris Masters semifinals on Saturday.

Djokovic prevailed, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, for his 16th consecutive match victory. Ferrer, seeded third, had lost nine straight times to Nadal, including in this year’s French Open final, but he hit 29 winners to 19 for Nadal and won 14 of 18 points at the net.

Top-seeded Simona Halep rallied from a set down to beat Ana Ivanovic, 2-6, 6-1, 6-3, and fourth-seeded Samantha Stosur outlasted Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3, in the semifinals of the Tournament of Champions at Sofia, Bulgaria.

Roberta Vinci and Sara Errani prevailed in the opening singles matches for a 2-0 lead against Russia in the Fed Cup at Cagliari, Italy.

The International Tennis Federation banned Tunisia from the 2014 Davis Cup after one of Tunisia’s players was ordered not to compete against an Israeli opponent at a tournament last month.

Starting the third round of the HSBC Champions at Shanghai with a five-shot lead, Dustin Johnson blasted his way to 10 birdies, but two late double bogeys dropped him to a 66 for a three-shot lead over Ian Poulter heading into the final round. Johnson was at 18-under 198 overall.

Fred Couples extended his lead to five strokes after the third round of the Champions Tour’s season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship at San Francisco. Couples shot a three-under 68 to reach 15-under 198 at TPC Harding Park.

Gennady Golovkin retained the WBA and IBO middleweight titles, stopping Curtis Stevens at the end of the eighth round at Madison Square Garden in New York. Stevens (25-4) appeared to have little to counter Golovkin (28-0, 25 knockouts).

Minnesota Timberwolves center Ronny Turiaf is out indefinitely after fracturing his right elbow during a victory over Oklahoma City on Friday night.

The NBA fined Brooklyn center-forward Andray Blatche $15,000 for making an obscene gesture near the end of the Nets’ win over Miami on Friday.

Brad Keselowski raced to his sixth NASCAR Nationwide victory in his last eight starts, leading 106 of 200 laps at Fort Worth to give Roger Penske’s No. 22 car the lead in the owners’ standings. For the drivers’ title, Sam Hornish Jr. overcame being a lap down early in the race to finish third and narrow his gap behind Austin Dillon from eight points to six with two races left in the season. Dillon finished fifth.

In Formula One racing, driver Mark Webber overcame his Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel to take pole position for the Grand Prix at Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Webber clocked 1 minute 39.957 seconds. Vettel timed 1:40.075.

The San Francisco Giants declined to exercise left-hander Barry Zito’s $18-million contract option for next season. Zito will get a $7-million buyout.

Johnny Kucks, who pitched a three-hitter for the New York Yankees in Game 7 of the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers, died. He was 81.