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Tennis

McEnroe's win-loss mark is still intact

John McEnroe is happy to keep this record.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion had been waiting for Roger Federer to beat his win-loss record of 82-3 and finish the calendar year with a higher winning percentage than McEnroe's .965 in 1984.

However, Federer was sidelined for six weeks with an injured right ankle, meaning he had a chance to only equal the record at the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, China. Federer then lost to David Nalbandian in the final Sunday.

"It was nice to see how hard he was trying to beat my record because perhaps now people will realize that it's not easy as it looks to go 82-3," McEnroe said Thursday. "Roger has had a phenomenal year, he came up one short. But while it would have been nice to be tied with him, it is still sort of cool that I still have one record."

Federer finished 2005 with a 81-4 record, winning 11 titles, including his third consecutive Wimbledon and his second consecutive U.S. Open title. His loss to Nalbandian ended a 35-match winning streak. In 1984, McEnroe won 14 titles, including Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

"It puts into perspective how good my year was in '84, that he put in that sort of effort when he probably shouldn't have played," McEnroe said. "People are now going to start believing Roger is human."

McEnroe is competing in the Champions Masters, the finale on the seniors tour. The tournament starts Tuesday at Royal Albert Hall.

Baseball

Cuba's Castro takes shot at defectors

In Havana, President Fidel Castro criticized Cuban baseball players who have left the country for multimillion-dollar contracts in the major leagues, saying the island always finds better players to replace them.

During a five-hour appearance on state television, Castro remarked on those players "who cannot resist the millions of the major leagues" and acknowledged that baseball "is the sport in which we have been beaten the most" when it comes to defections.

Still, the 79-year-old leader insisted Cuban baseball has always survived the losses.

"When one leaves, another 10 better players emerge," he said.

Among those who have left are pitchers Orlando Hernandez and Jose Contreras of the world champion Chicago White Sox.

Hockey

Pound's allegations disputed by the NHL

The president of the World Anti-Doping Agency said he suspects as many as a third of the NHL's 700 players might take some form of performance-enhancing substances.

"I spoke with Gary (NHL commissioner Gary Bettman) and he said, 'We don't have the problem in hockey,' " Dick Pound told the London Free Press on Thursday in an interview for a story to be published Friday. "I told him he does. You wouldn't be far wrong if you said a third."

Asked if he meant performing-enhancing drugs, the Montreal lawyer replied, "Yes."

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly took exception to Pound's comments.

"I would respectfully suggest that Mr. Pound's comments have absolutely no basis in fact," Daly told The Canadian Press. "I find it troubling, to say the least, that he would find it necessary to comment on something he has absolutely no knowledge of.

"Perhaps Mr. Pound would be better served to limit his comments to topics as to which he has knowledge, instead of speculating on matters as to which he has none."

The NHL introduced random tests for performance-enhancing drugs in its new collective bargaining agreement. Players are subject to a minimum of two tests a year without warning. A first-time offender gets a 20-game suspension, a second offense calls for a 60-game suspension, and a third offense results in a lifetime ban.

"The NHL has reached a deal with their players that looks as though they found an early copy of the baseball policy on the floor somewhere," Pound said Thursday.