Monfils reaches Open de Moselle final

Top-seeded Gael Monfils reached the Open de Moselle final with a 6-4, 6-3 win over fellow Frenchman Richard Gasquet on Saturday at Metz, France.

Monfils will face second-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany, who ousted Paul-Henri Mathieu of France 7-6 (5), 6-4.

The 13th-ranked Monfils will play his second final in Metz after losing to Ivan Ljubicic in 2005. He is chasing his second ATP title after a win at Sopot, Poland, in 2005.

Kohlschreiber reached his first final on the ATP tour since finishing runner-up to Roger Federer last year in Halle, Germany.

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Local favorite Akgul Amanmuradova upset top-seeded Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan, 6-4, 7-6 (3), to advance to the Tashkent Open final at Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Amanmuradova will play second-seeded Shahar Peer of Israel, who beat Olga Govortsova of Belarus 7-6 (5), 6-2.

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Tennis legend Jack Kramer was remembered Saturday in a memorial service at Straus Stadium at the Los Angeles Tennis Center at UCLA.

Kramer died of cancer at age 88 on Sept. 12. Considered by many the most influential person in tennis in the last 60 years, Kramer won the Wimbledon title in 1947 and won U.S. Championships, the forerunner of today’s U.S. Open, in ’46 and ’47.

Several hundred people attended the service, which was hosted by Times columnist Bill Dwyre and tennis Hall of Fame member Pam Shriver.

PRO FOOTBALL

Lewis, Dawson out for Browns

The Cleveland Browns will be without running back Jamal Lewis and kicker Phil Dawson today against Baltimore.

Lewis sat out practice all week because of a hamstring injury, and Dawson was added to Cleveland’s injury report on Friday because of an injured right calf.

To replace Dawson, the Browns signed Billy Cundiff, who spent four seasons with the Dallas Cowboys and one in New Orleans. He was released by Detroit on Sept. 5.

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Carolina Panthers linebacker Na’il Diggs was declared out of Monday night’s game against Dallas after missing his third straight practice because of bruised ribs.

BASKETBALL

Timberwolves promote Hoiberg

The Minnesota Timberwolves have promoted Fred Hoiberg to vice president of basketball operations and demoted assistant general manager Jim Stack to a scout.

Hoiberg has been an assistant general manager for the last three seasons. The team said he will oversee day-to-day operations and report to David Kahn, the president of basketball operations.

Stack will become one of the team’s six regional scouts.

In other moves, assistant coach Jerry Sichting became the director of pro player personnel.

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The Denver Nuggets have signed veteran forward Joey Graham to their training camp roster.

SOCCER

Germany defeats the U.S., 3-0

Germany easily beat the United States, 3-0, at the Under-20 World Cup at Ismailia, Egypt, and Ghana, Cameroon and Uruguay also won their opening games.

Semih Aydilek put the Germans ahead with a penalty kick in the 30th minute. Florian Jungwirth added another two minutes later, firing the ball past keeper Brian Perk from the edge of the area.

In the 72nd minute, Manuel Schaeffler secured the Group C game by completing the scoring after taking a cross from substitute Cihan Kaptan.

Cameroon’s Andre Akono Effa and Germain Tiko scored for a 2-0 win in Group C over South Korea.

In Group D, Ghana came from a goal down to beat Uzbekistan 2-1, and Uruguay defeated England, 1-0.

ETC.

Dunne loses his WBA title

Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym of Thailand has stopped Bernard Dunne of Ireland in the third round to win the WBA super-bantamweight title at Dublin, Ireland.

The Thai landed a trio of powerful left hooks in the third round, each time sending Dunne to the mat. The referee stopped the fight after the third knockdown as blood flowed from the Dubliner’s nose and left ear.

The 28-year-old Poonsawat (39-1) had waited 18 months for his shot at the title. The 29-year-old Dunne (28-2) captured the WBA title on March 21 with an 11th-round knockout of Panama’s Ricardo Cordoba.

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Anze Kopitar scored on a penalty shot in the third period to help the Kings beat the Colorado Avalanche, 5-3, in front of 11,263 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

The Kings also assigned defenseman Joe Piskula to Manchester (N.H.) of the American Hockey League.

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The Buffalo Sabres signed restricted free-agent forward Mark Mancari to a one-year contract.