Nadal wins 47th in row on clay for Godo title
Defending champion Rafael Nadal defeated Tommy Robredo 6-4, 6-4, 6-0 Sunday to win the Open Seat Godo title in Barcelona, Spain, topping Bjorn Borg’s mark with his 47th straight victory on clay.
Nadal, who won his 12th consecutive final, earned praise from the 11-time Grand Slam champion.
“I congratulate Nadal,” Borg said in a statement. “He’s fun to watch and I hope he wins Wimbledon.”
Guillermo Vilas holds the Open-era record with 53 straight wins. Nadal deflected comparisons to Borg, a five-time Wimbledon winner, whom he called the greatest player of all time.
“It’s nice that he thinks I’m good to watch,” Nadal said. “I thank Borg for his kind words.”
Nadal broke Robredo’s serve in the third game of the first set and held to lead 3-1. In the second set, Nadal broke in the ninth game to go up 5-4 and served out the set.
•Daniele Bracciali of Italy upset top-seeded Nicolas Massu of Chile 6-1, 6-4 to win his first ATP singles title at the Grand Prix Hassan II in Casablanca, Morocco.
The 28-year-old Bracciali, who is ranked 68th, beat three seeded players for the clay-court title.
Miscellany
Moscow wins Euroleague title
Trajan Langdon hit two free throws with 5.8 seconds remaining to lift CSKA Moscow to a 73-69 victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv in Prague, Czech Republic, giving the Russian club its first Euroleague basketball championship since 1971.
CSKA finally succeeded in capturing its fifth championship after losing in the Final Four semifinals in each of the past three years. Having also won the title in 1961, ‘63, ‘69 and ‘71, CSKA matched Maccabi and Italian club Varese in Euroleague triumphs.
•Elizabeth Tweddle of Britain became the first gymnast to top 16 points in the new scoring system at the European Women’s Championships in Athens, Greece. Tweddle scored 16.050 in the uneven bars.
The International Federation of Gymnastics adopted a new points system this year after several judging errors at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Romania’s triple Olympic gold medalist Catalina Ponor won the balance beam with 15.800 points.
Romanian Sandra Izbasa took gold in the floor exercise with 15.550 points. Anna Grudko of Russia won the vault.
•Joseph Ngolepus won the Madrid Marathon in record time, leading an all-Kenyan finish in the top five.
The 31-year-old Ngolepus won in 2 hours, 11 minutes and 30 seconds, beating the record of 2:12:19 set by John Burra in 1991.
Banuelia Katesigwa of Tanzania won the women’s race in 2:34:54.
•Funny Car points leader Ron Capps raced to his third victory of the year and the 20th of his career, beating John Force by a hundredth of a second in the O’Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn.
Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel) and Jason Line (Pro Stock) also won their divisions in the $1.5 million event.