BRIEFLY FED CUP TIED UP.

Byline: Daily News Staff and Wire Services

French Open champion Anastasia Myskina pulled Russia into a 1-1 tie with defending champion France at the Fed Cup final Saturday after U.S. Open winner Svetlana Kuznetsova lost the first singles match in Moscow.

Nathalie Dechy gave France a big lift in the opener of the best-of-five series by defeating Kuznetsova 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 8-6. Myskina then made sure Russia didn't entirely squander the first day, beating Moscow-born teenager Tatiana Golovin 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) at Krylatskoye Ice Palace.

Russia, bidding for its first Fed Cup title, was close to winning the first match. But Dechy rose to the moment and beat Kuznetsova for the second time this year. Kuznetsova, ranked No. 4, was rattled and committed 77 unforced errors.

``Everyone is fighting hard against me after the U.S. Open,'' Kuznetsova said. ``I knew it would depend only on me to win or lose this match.''

Russia and France surged into the finals with 5-0 sweeps of Austria and Spain, respectively. France is playing in its third Fed Cup final, having won the previous two. Russia is in its fifth final but has never won.

FIGURE SKATING: Evgeni Plushenko and Irina Slutskaya delighted the home crowd by winning the Cup of Russia in Moscow with superb free skating programs.

Plushenko, competing for the first time this season, had a quad and seven triples in sending U.S. champion Johnny Weir to his first loss of the Grand Prix season. Zhang Min of China was third.

Slutskaya took another strong step in her comeback from a knee injury, making an array of jumps in a nearly perfect performance. The Olympic silver medalist and 2002 world champion was an easy winner over current world champion Shizuka Arakawa of Japan.

``I am very happy with my skating today, first of all because I finally managed to get together all the difficult elements I practiced for such a long time,'' Slutskaya said.

The pairs event went to Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao of China. In ice dancing, Russians Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov led after the original dance.

WINTER SPORTS: Bode Miller of the United States won the opening World Cup downhill race of the season in Lake Louise, Canada, finishing in 1 minute, 42.75 seconds to claim the first World Cup downhill victory of his career.

-- Chad Hedrick of the United States won a 1,500-meter speedskating race in Heerenveen, Netherlands, with a personal best and moved into first place in the World Cup overall standings.

SWIMMING: Ryk Neethling won two events for the second night in a row at a World Cup short-course swim meet at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Center in Australia.

The South African finished first in the 50-meter butterfly and the 200- meter freestyle.

Australian Olympian Libby Lenton also won two events for the second successive night, finishing first in the 50-meter freestyle and the 100-meter butterfly.

Neethling, who won the 100-meter freestyle and the individual medley over the same distance Friday, finished the 50 butterfly in 23.44 seconds ahead of Russian Nikolay Skvortsov.

Neethling finished ahead of American Nick Brunelli in the 200 freestyle, the South African in 1:43.79 and Brunelli nearly two second behind.

SOCCER: The United States finished third at the FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship in Thailand as Kerri Hanks, Megan Rapinoe and Angie Woznuk scored goals in a 3-0 victory over Brazil in the bronze-medal match. Germany beat China 2-0 in the championship game.

OBITUARY: Tom Haller, a former catcher and general manager for the San Francisco Giants, has died. He was 67.

Haller died Friday in Los Angeles after being hospitalized for a type of viral infection in August, his son, Tom Haller Jr., said. He declined to comment further on the illness.

``We lost not only a great player, but a great man who gave a lot to the Giants and Baseball,'' said Peter Magowan, Giants' president and managing general partner, in a statement.

Haller had a 12-year career in the major leagues, playing as a catcher with San Francisco, the Dodgers and Detroit. In a major-league first, Haller was a catcher at Detroit in 1972 while his brother, Bill Haller, was the umpire behind the plate.

The left-handed hitting catcher batted .257 in his 12 seasons with 134 home runs and 504 runs batted in. The highlight of his career was in 1962 when he homered and drove in three runs for the Giants in a World Series game against the New York Yankees.

Haller was a coach with the Giants in 1978 and 1979 and served as their general manager in 1981 to 1985.

He is survived by his wife, two sons and two siblings. A memorial service is planned for this Friday in Palm Desert, Calif.

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American Johnny Weir performs a jump Saturday at the Cup of Russia in Moscow.

Mikhail Metzel/Associated Press