IN BRIEF

NBA

Mavericks' Nowitzki captures MVP award

Forward Dirk Nowitzki has been chosen as the NBA's Most Valuable Player for leading the Dallas Mavericks to one of the best regular seasons in league history, a team official told The Associated Press on Friday.

The formal announcement will come Tuesday at a news conference, said the team official, who requested anonymity because the announcement is pending.

Nowitzki, who led Dallas in scoring (24.6 points a game) and rebounding (8.9), and the Mavericks went from a league-best 67 victories to a stunning first-round elimination by eighth-seeded Golden State. Voting was completed before the playoffs.

Nowitzki, the first Maverick to win the award, becomes the first MVP in 25 years not to win a playoff series; it last happened to Houston's Moses Malone in 1981-82. That failure is likely to be remembered more than the fact that Nowitzki is the first European honoree and the first not to have attended a U.S. high school or college.

Phoenix guard Steve Nash, Nowitzki's good friend and former teammate, had won the award the previous two years.

Also: The Mavericks exercised their option on center DeSagana Diop for the third and final year of his contract.

The 7-foot, 280-pound center averaged 18.3 minutes with 2.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 81 regular-season games, nine starts.

GOLF

Lee shoots 68, takes two-shot LPGA lead

Sarah Lee shook off some pre-round nerves and avoided the mistakes that plagued most everyone else, shooting a bogey-free, 3-under-par 68 to take a two-shot lead over Becky Morgan halfway through the Michelob Ultra Open at Williamsburg, Va.

Morgan had just one blip on her card -- a bogey from a bunker on the par-4 14th -- but followed that with four birdies in five holes. Her 65 left her at 9-under 133, two better than Amy Hung, who had a 68 after making bogeys on two of her first three holes.

Carin Koch (69) and Jimin Kang, who matched Morgan for the best round of the day with her 65 on the 6,306-yard River Course, were tied for fourth at 6 under. Henderson resident Natalie Gulbis was 5 under, and top-ranked Lorena Ochoa was 3 under after a 69.

Also: Louis Oosthuizen took a one-shot lead after the second round of the Andalucia Open in Marbella, Spain, and Lee Westwood set a course record with an 8-under-par 64.

Oosthuizen made a 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to finish his round at 5-under 67 with a total of 10-under 134. Westwood trails by two shots.

TENNIS

53rd-ranked Ukrainian tops Mauresmo, Safina

Julia Vakulenko overcame a left foot injury to beat two top-10 players -- including No. 2 seed Amelie Mauresmo -- and reach the semifinals of the German Open in Berlin.

The 53rd-ranked Ukrainian, down a set when her match with Mauresmo was suspended Thursday because of rain delays, returned Friday to win 11 of 13 games and complete a 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory over the third-ranked Frenchwoman to advance to the quarterfinals.

A few hours later, taking painkillers for her swollen foot, Vakulenko beat No. 8 seed and 10th-ranked Dinara Safina, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.

Also: Top-seeded Marion Bartoli advanced to the semifinals of the Prague Open with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Jarmila Gajdosova in Prague, Czech Republic. Bartoli will play qualifier Klara Zakopalova, and Akiko Morigami and Victoria Azarenka will meet in the other semifinal.