Tennis
FEDERER STRUGGLES: Roger Federer struggled through a second set that was riddled with unforced errors before beating Novak Djokovic 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 Monday in the first round of the Monte Carlo Masters.
The top-ranked Swiss had 37 unforced errors in the match, only two fewer than his Serbian opponent.
Federer, who is 29-1 this year and has won four of five title matches, is hoping to extend his finals streak to 12 and match the record set by John McEnroe in 1984.
The seven-time Grand Slam champion dropped serve twice in the second set and struggled to find his form against the 18-year-old Djokovic.
"I never underestimate my opponent, that's not the way I play," Federer said. "It is never easy when you are playing your first match (of the season) on clay."
Federer made his Monte Carlo debut with a first-round exit in 1999, and lost to French teenager Richard Gasquet last year.
Auto Racing
FIRST LADY OF RACING DIES: Louise Smith, the first woman inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1999, has died. She was 89.
Smith, remembered as "the first lady of racing," was on the NASCAR circuit from 1945-56. Known for her fearless style, she won 38 modified events.
"It was hard on me," she told The Associated Press in an interview in 1998. "Them men were not liking it to start with and they wouldn't give you an inch."
Smith died Saturday, and the family was to receive friends and hold funeral services Monday, according to the Westville Funeral Home in Greenville. Smith had battled cancer and been in hospice care, one of her nieces, Dora E. Owens, told the Greenville News.
She got her start in racing when young promoter Bill France was looking for a way to get people to the track. He asked about female drivers, and someone mentioned Smith.
France started NASCAR on the road to its dynasty in part by sending Smith to tracks in the Northeast and Canada.
"We didn't think this was going anywhere," Smith said. "If we went out of state, it was like we went to heaven."
Benny Parsons, a longtime NASCAR star, former series champion and now a TV analyst, said Smith's death was like losing a piece of history. Parsons said it's been hard for racing to find female drivers, noting the hype Danica Patrick brought to open-wheel racing last year when she became the first woman to lead a lap at Indianapolis and was the race rookie of the year.
"If we could find a Louise Smith here in 2006 to get in there and finish fourth in the Daytona 500, imagine what that would do for NASCAR Nextel Cup racing," Parsons said.
Smith was married to the late Noah Smith, a junkyard owner who didn't approve of her job. Her father and brothers were mechanics. She never had children of her own.
Smith was a barnstormer who ran for $100 to $150 in first prizes and some extra appearance money. She mixed with Curtis Turner, Ralph Earnhardt, Bill Snowden, Buddy Shuman and Buck Baker.
Hockey
MAIR DONE FOR YEAR: Buffalo Sabres center Adam Mair will miss the rest of the season because of post-concussion symptoms.
Mair sustained concussion Jan. 12 during a collision with Phoenix forward Tyson Nash and missed 31 games before returning to play earlier this month. He played two games before having more symptoms.
"He just doesn't feel right," coach Lindy Ruff said Monday. "Until we get him through that, he won't be skating."
Mair finishes the year with two goals and seven points in 40 games.
Meanwhile, Sabres forward Jochen Hecht continues to make progress after spraining a ligament in his left knee April 3 against Toronto. Hecht joined 12 players in Monday's optional practice.
He remains day-to-day, and will miss Buffalo's season-finale Tuesday night in Carolina. -->
College football
IOWA STATE LB OFF TEAM: Iowa State linebacker Matt Robertson will not be allowed to play his senior season with the Cyclones after he tested positive for a banned nutritional supplement.
School officials said Monday that Robertson, who started all 12 games as a junior last season, must sit out one season under NCAA rules. His only option to play next season is to transfer to a non Division I-A program.
"I take full responsibility for taking an over-the-counter supplement that is banned by the NCAA," Robertson said in a statement released Monday. "I am paying a heavy price for a very bad decision, as I will never again wear an Iowa State uniform. I hope my example will serve as a warning to others contemplating use of dietary supplements."
WNBA
SEATTLE RE-SIGNS JACKSON: Former WNBA MVP Lauren Jackson signed a multiyear deal to remain with the Seattle Storm on Monday.
Terms of the deal were not released, though Jackson is expected to make the league maximum, reportedly $91,000 a year. Jackson has also signed to play for a team in South Korea following the 2006 WNBA season and the World Championships in Brazil.
NBA
HOIBERG RETIRES: The fear of playing with a surgically repaired heart wouldn't let Fred Hoiberg return to the NBA.
His doctors weren't preventing him from playing. But the risk — no matter how small — was still there, and the gnawing doubt was enough for the 33-year-old to retire.
"It came to the point," Hoiberg said, "where one day I would say, 'All right, I'm doing it. I'm coming back.' . . . The next day I'd be out running and feeling my heart was going to jump out of my chest and I would say, 'What am I thinking? I'm stupid for trying to do this.'
"So it kind of had become a daily battle for me. I wanted to think I could do it. The next day I didn't think I should be out there."