In brief: Serena Williams beats Errani in clay tuneup
Tennis: Serena Williams thought she was ready for the clay-court season.
As it turns out, the top-ranked player still has a long way to go toward finding the form that could propel her to a 20th Grand Slam title at the French Open.
“Today has been a big eye opener,” Williams said after coming back from a set down to post a windy, error-filled 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-3 win over Sara Errani on Sunday in a Fed Cup playoff against Italy in Brindisi, Italy.
Brindisi-born Flavia Pennetta then routed 65th-ranked Christina McHale 6-1, 6-1 and Pennetta and Errani beat Williams and Alison Riske 6-0, 6-3 in the decisive doubles match to give Italy a 3-2 win.
“I need to go home and really train,” Williams said. “I’m totally not as ready for clay-court season as I thought I was. … Next time I’ll be really, really ready and I’ll know what to expect. Now I’m in the mindset of, ‘You know what, I’m not on hard court.’ I’m playing like I’m on hard court and I’m not. So I have to play and be ready to hit a thousand shots if necessary.”
Italy returns to the World Group and can compete for the Fed Cup trophy next year while the U.S. is relegated to World Group II.
It was Williams’ first career loss in the Fed Cup, dropping to 16-1 – 13-0 in singles and 3-1 in doubles.
• Djokovic wins Monte Carlo Masters: Top-ranked Novak Djokovic won the Monte Carlo Masters for the second time in three years by defeating sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in Monoco.
Djokovic, who has lost only two matches in 2015, became the first player in tennis history to win the first three Masters tournaments of the year after completing the Indian Wells-Miami sweep this spring.
With his 23rd Masters title, Djokovic extended his winning streak to 17 matches.
• Russia, Czech Republic to meet in Fed Cup final : Russia reached the Fed Cup final, sealing victory at home over Germany in the last doubles rubber in Sochi, Russia.
Elena Vesnina and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova won 6-2, 6-3 against Andrea Petkovic and Sabine Lisicki to stop a German comeback that had seen them bounce back from 2-0 down in the best-of-five tie after Saturday’s play.
Russia’s win sets up a match with defending champion the Czech Republic.
Czech Republic reached the fourth Fed Cup final in five years by defeating France after Petra Kvitova won the first reverse singles in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
In a match of two big-hitting players, fourth-ranked Kvitova beat 29th-ranked Caroline Garcia 6-4, 6-4 for an insurmountable 3-0 lead in the semifinals.
The final will be played in the Czech Republic on Nov. 14 and 15 because Moscow hosted the last meeting between the teams, when the Czechs won the 2011 final 3-2.
The Czechs have won the Fed Cup in three of the last four years, while Russia is without a title since 2008.
Davis returning to Bucknell as men’s basketball coach
Miscellany: Nathan Davis is returning to Bucknell as the Bison’s men’s basketball coach.
The school said that Davis, a Bucknell assistant under Pat Flannery from 2003-08, will be formally introduced Tuesday.
Davis replaces Dave Paulsen, who left last month to coach George Mason.
Davis spent the past six seasons as head coach at Randolph-Macon, his alma mater. He led the Yellow Jackets to a 28-3 record last season and was 141-39 at the NCAA Division III school.
• Utah’s Dabritz win uneven bars: Utah’s Georgia Dabritz has a national championship on uneven bars, just not another perfect 10 to go with it.
The senior won her best event in the individual finals at the NCAA women’s gymnastics championships in Fort Worth, Texas, scoring a 9.9625 after getting 10s each of the first two days at the national meet. Dabritz had five 10s on bars this season.