The Cincinnati Enquirer

Jesse Palmer is not so popular with New York Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi.

The Giants backup quarterback stars in ABC's The Bachelor, and Accorsi said he would prefer Palmer spend his free time on other things besides choosing a possible bride from 25 bachelorettes.

"I would have been much happier if he was studying tape the last six weeks instead of getting involved with this thing," Accorsi told Sporting News Radio.

Bjorkman gives Swedes 1-0 lead in Davis Cup

Mardy Fish failed to hold an early lead and lost to Jonas Bjorkman 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 Friday, giving Sweden a 1-0 lead over the United States in their best-of-5 Davis Cup quarterfinal at Delray Beach, Fla.

Bjorkman, 32, improved to 34-14 in Davis Cup singles and doubles, including 6-0 against Americans. His experience proved valuable against Fish, 22, playing just his fourth Davis Cup singles match. The Swede shrugged off a disputed call on the next-to-last point in the opening set. He dominated at the net and returned better as the match progressed, despite 19 aces by Fish.

Because of three rain delays totaling almost three hours, the match took nearly six hours to play.

Andy Roddick was to play Thomas Enqvist in the second singles match later Friday night. Brothers Bob and Mike Bryan take on Bjorkman and Thomas Johansson in doubles today.

BAUSCH & LOMB: Serena Williams, the No. 2 seed, made 42 unforced errors and lost to seventh-seeded Petrova 6-2, 6-3 in 77 minutes at Amelia Island, Fla. The loss ended the Williams' eight-match winning streak. Also advancing to the semifinals were No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne, Amelie Mauresmo and Lindsay Davenport.

Local hockey

DUCKS IN PLAYOFFS: Ilya Bryzgalov recorded his sixth shutout of the season to lead the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks to a 4-0 AHL victory over the Houston Aeros Friday at Cincinnati Gardens.

Bryzgalov turned away 13 shots in the first period and 30 overall in the win for the Ducks, who snapped a four-game winless (0-1-3-0) and moved into a tie with Houston for fourth place in the West Division.

Mike Mottau, Tony Martensson, Joel Perrault and Alexei Smirnov scored for Cincinnati, which qualified for a postseason berth for the fourth time in franchise history.

Kyle Kettles surrendered all four goals on 21 shots in the loss for the Aeros, who are winless in their last four games (0-2-2-0).

The Ducks will play Houston in a best-of-3 qualifying round series next week. The teams both play their final regular-season games tonight. Should they end up tied for fourth the Ducks would host the series at the Gardens due to having more wins than Houston.

College basketball

KENTUCKY: Matt Heissenbuttel, a former walk-on who finished his playing career last month, was arrested Thursday night in Lexington and charged with driving under the influence.

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS: Illinois assistant Chris Lowery, 31, was hired as SIU coach, one day after Matt Painter left for Purdue.

WOOODEN TO BEARD: Three-time All-American Alana Beard of Duke won the inaugural women's John R. Wooden Award, given to the country's top player.

Auto racing

BUSCH SERIES: Martin Truex shattered the Nashville Superspeedway track record with a lap of 166.515 mph, then earned a trip to the back of the 43-car field by crashing in practice. Truex crunched the right front corner of his Chevrolet after hitting the wall, was treated and released from the infield care center. He didn't appear injured as he worked with his crew to prepare his backup car before the final practice session ended.

Boxing

SPINKS-JUDAH BOUT: Undisputed welterweight champion Cory Spinks (32-2, 10 knockouts) fights Zab Judah tonight in a dangerous yet attractive 147-pound title fight that should top a card. But heavyweights rule, and Wladimir Klitschko's fight with Lamon Brewster will be the featured bout (HBO, 9:45 p.m.) in Las Vegas.