TENNIS: Murray advances at Aussie Open

Andy Murray moved into the Australian Open quarterfinals today without dropping a set, beating No. 11 Jurgen Melzer 6-3, 6-1, 6-1. The 2010 finalist gets a surprising opponent for his next match after 22-year-old Alexandr Dolgopolov stopped fourth-seeded Robin Soderling‘s eight-match winning streak with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 victory.

On the women’s side, No. 2-ranked Vera Zvonareva continued her roll toward a third consecutive Grand Slam final with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Iveta Benesova. Zvonareva, who lost the Wimbledon final to Serena Williams and the U.S. Open final to Kim Clijsters last year, moved into a quarterfinal match against No. 25 Petra Kvitova, who rallied to beat No. 22 Flavia Pennetta 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Andy Roddick‘s 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 fourth-round loss to 19th-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka yesterday means there’s no Americans in the men’s or women’s quarterfinals. The eighth-seeded Roddick was the last American man standing. The women were out before the third round ended. Roddick’s ouster came on a day when Roger Federer equaled Jimmy Connors‘ Open era mark by reaching his 27th straight quarterfinal at a major, and Francesca Schiavone won the longest women’s match in Grand Slam history — a 6-4, 1-6, 16-14 victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova that took 4 hours, 44 minutes.

NFL: Man of Year nominees named

Former Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, Bears defensive lineman Israel Idonije and Vikings safety Madieu Williams are the nominees for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award. The award, announced at the Super Bowl, is the only league honor that recognizes a player’s community service as well as his playing excellence. The most recent winners have been Brian Waters, Kurt Warner and Jason Taylor. The three finalists were chosen from among 32 team nominees for the award. A panel, including NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, pared the field to three.

NBA: Big game for ‘Melo

Carmelo Anthony, with a career-high six 3-pointers, scored 36 points in the Nuggets’ 121-107 victory over the Pacers, who lost their fifth straight. Nene added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets.

SOCCER: U.S. women victorious

In Beijing, the United States beat Canada 2-1 at the Four Nations tournament, a warmup for this summer’s Women’s World Cup in Germany. In the other game, China defeated Sweden 2-1. All four teams in the tournament have a win and a loss. The top-ranked Americans won on a long shot by Lindsey Tarpley in the 70th minute. Lauren Cheney of the U.S. opened the scoring in the 54th minute.

BASEBALL: O’Day, Rangers agree

Right-hander Darren O’Day and the Rangers have agreed to terms on a $1.25 million, one-year deal, avoiding salary arbitration for the side-arming reliever. O’Day was 6-2 with a 2.03 ERA in a club-high 72 appearances for the AL champion Rangers last season. He walked only 12 in 62 innings. With that deal, AL MVP Josh Hamilton and right-hander Frank Francisco are the only Texas players still eligible for arbitration.