Rodriguez opts out of his Yankees contract

Alex Rodriguez opted out of his $252-million, 10-year contract with the Yankees on Sunday in what appears to be the end of his career with New York.

Rodriguez’s decision, announced by agent Scott Boras during Game 4 of the World Series, makes him eligible to become a free agent.

Rodriguez loses the final $72 million in guaranteed salary in the contract, of which $21.3 million was to be covered by payments from the Texas Rangers to the Yankees, and becomes eligible for free agency. New York had said it would not attempt to re-sign Rodriguez if he opted out.

Boras said during a telephone interview that Rodriguez made his choice because he was uncertain whether Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte would return to the Yankees.

Boras said he attempted to talk to Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman about the decision Sunday but couldn’t reach him, so he left a voice mail.

Rodriguez batted .314 this year and led the major leagues in home runs and runs batted in.

TENNIS

Federer is No. 1 for fourth year in a row

Roger Federer beat Jarkko Nieminen, 6-3, 6-4, to win his second straight Swiss Indoors at Basel and clinch the No. 1 ranking for the fourth consecutive year.

Federer joins Pete Sampras, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl as the only men’s players to end the season ranked No. 1 four or more times since the inception of the ATP rankings in 1973.

Second-seeded Andy Murray won the third title of his career, beating sixth-seeded Fernando Verdasco, 6-2, 6-3, in the final of the St. Petersburg Open in Russia.

Murray also helped his chances of qualifying for the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup next month featuring the top eight players in the Champions Race.

Murray (326 points) is 11th, three behind No. 8 Tommy Haas, who is followed by Tommy Robredo (328 points) and James Blake (327).

Verdasco (380) is seventh.

Second-seeded Daniela Hantuchova defeated Patty Schnyder, 6-4, 6-2, to win the Generali Ladies at Linz, Austria, her second WTA Tour title of the season and third overall.

Sebastien Grosjean won the Lyon Grand Prix in France for his first title in five years, beating Marc Gicquel, 7-6 (5), 6-4, for the fourth title of his career.

WINTER SPORTS

Svindal overcomes Ligety

in giant slalom opener

Aksel Lund Svindal began defense of his World Cup overall and giant slalom titles with a victory at the season-opening race at Soelden, Austria, with Ted Ligety finishing second.

Svindal had the fastest final run to make up a 1.17-second deficit and won with a combined time of 2 minutes 17.87 seconds. Ligety led after the first leg of a World Cup race for the first time but finished 0.32 of a second back.

Kalle Palander was third.

GOLF

Chopra, two others tied when play suspended

Shigeki Maruyama and Fredrik Jacobsen took advantage of Daniel Chopra’s unraveling on the back nine to tie him at 18 under when play was suspended by darkness at the Ginn sur Mer Classic, setting the stage for a potentially chaotic finish this morning at Port St. Lucie, Fla.

Chopra, on 16, had a four-shot lead at the turn before bogeying two of the next four holes.

Tied for the lead with Laura Davies after a bogey on 17, Suzann Pettersen won despite blowing a seven-stroke edge by eagling the par-five final hole to win by a stroke at the Honda LPGA Thailand at Pattaya.

Pettersen’s one-under 71 left her at 21-under 267, good enough for her second straight LPGA Tour victory and third in four weeks.

Jim Thorpe repeated his title in the Charles Schwab Championship at Sonoma, Calif., birdieing the final four holes to win the Champions Tour’s season-ending event for the third time in five years.

Thorpe shot a six-under 66 to finish at 20-under 268, three strokes ahead of Denis Watson and Fred Funk.