November 14, 2004 in City

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Davenport edged out of WTA Championships by Myskina

Lindsay Davenport rallied for a 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 victory over Serena Williams in the WTA Championships on Saturday in Los Angeles, although her No. 1 ranking in women’s tennis was in jeopardy after she failed to reach the semifinals.

Davenport owns a 351-point lead over No. 2 Amelie Mauresmo, who could regain the top spot she held for five weeks after the U.S. Open if she wins the tournament.

Mauresmo defeated Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova 7-5, 6-4 to extend her 11-match winning streak, including titles in Austria and Philadelphia the last two weeks.

Davenport was knocked out when French Open champion Anastasia Myskina beat Elena Dementieva 6-3, 6-3. Myskina and Sharapova were the only two of five Russians in the eight-woman tournament to advance.

Davenport and Myskina finished round-robin play in the Red Group with 2-1 match records. The deciding factor was Myskina’s 5-2 record in sets won; Davenport was 4-3.

Mauresmo and Sharapova advanced to the semifinals out of the Black Group. Mauresmo had a 3-0 record; Sharapova was 2-1.

In today’s semifinals, Mauresmo will play Williams, and Myskina takes on Sharapova. The championship is Monday.

Figure skating

Slutskaya wins Cup of China

Irina Slutskaya won the Cup of China in Beijing, keeping the crowd cheering from start to finish in her return to skating after an extended break because of illness.

Jeffrey Buttle of Canada won the men’s title, easily holding his lead from the short program with a seemingly effortless free skate. Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto of the United States captured the ice dancing.

Olympics

Phelps tells fans he erred

Michael Phelps made his first public appearance since being arrested on drunken driving charges and acknowledged he made a mistake.

The 19-year-old swimmer, who won eight medals at the Summer Olympics, faced fans at a health expo in the Baltimore Convention Center to sign autographs.

“It can happen to anybody,” Phelps said. “Anybody can make this mistake, and I just really want to reach out to every individual who even possibly thinks about making this mistake and make sure that they make the right decision.”

Speedskating

American trio cruise at World Cup

KC Boutiette, Chad Hedrick and Derek Parra of the United States set an unofficial world record in the team pursuit at the World Cup speedskating season opener.

Skating on the Viking Ship oval built for the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics, the American trio covered the eight laps in 3 minutes, 48.56 seconds. The team pursuit is on the World Cup schedule for the first time this season although it already is on the Olympic and world championship program.

Luge

German wins World Cup opener

Germany’s Anke Wischnewski won the luge World Cup season opener in wind and snow in Altenberg, Germany, for her first victory on the circuit. Wischnewski finished her two heats in 1 minute, 50.009 seconds. In men’s doubles, Austria’s Andreas Linger and Wolfgang Linger won in 1:28.002.

Hockey

U.S., Canada in Nations Cup final

Krissy Wendell had a hat trick in the United States’ 6-3 victory over Sweden in Lake Placid, N.Y., that put the Americans into the gold medal game of the Four Nations Cup international women’s hockey tournament.

Canada, which defeated Finland 4-1, will battle the Americans for gold today. Finland and Sweden will play for bronze, also today.

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