Mauresmo captures third straight Advanta title
Amelie Mauresmo rallied to win her third straight Advanta Championships, defeating Elena Dementieva 7-5, 2-6, 7-5 on Sunday in Villanova, Pa.
Mauresmo, ranked No. 4 in the world, won her third title this year and 18th overall. She came off consecutive opening-round losses at Moscow and Zurich.
Dementieva, looking for her first title this year, dropped to 4-10 in career finals.
Mauresmo is scheduled to join Dementieva, Lindsay Davenport, Patty Schnyder, Kim Clijsters, Mary Pierce, Nadia Petrova and defending champion Maria Sharapova at the WTA Tour Championships that begin Tuesday in Los Angeles.
“Unseeded Tomas Berdych upset sixth-seeded Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia in five sets to win the Paris Masters.
Ljubicic saved three match points, but Berdych held on for a 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4 victory. Berdych’s forehand winner clinched his second career title.
“Amy Frazier beat Sweden’s Sofia Arvidsson 6-1, 7-5 to win the Bell Challenge in Quebec.
MOTORSPORTS
Wilson wins Champ Car finale
Justin Wilson won the Mexico City Grand Prix, securing third place in the Champ Car season series.
Holding an 11-point lead over Canada’s Paul Tracy going into the season’s final event, Wilson took advantage of his second career pole and two good pits. He avoided big mistakes and led almost the entire race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez track.
Wilson finished the race in 1 hour, 58 minutes, 23.479 seconds, followed by his RuSPORT teammate A.J. Allmendinger in 1:58:27.415.
Tracy managed to recover from a first-lap spinoff and an early penalty to finish third in 1 hour, 58 minutes, 30.263 seconds.
Sebastien Bourdais of France, who entered the race with the season title in hand, didn’t finish after crashing with Brazil’s Cristian da Matta in the 61st lap.
It was the first time Bourdais didn’t complete a race this season.
“Gary Scelzi won the Funny Car season title and at the Auto Club NHRA finals at Pomona Raceway in Pomona, Calif.
Scelzi, a three-time Top Fuel champion, won his first Funny Car championship and joined Kenny Bernstein as the only NHRA drivers to win world titles in both nitro categories.
Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel), Tony Pedregon (Funny Car) and Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock) were race winners in their categories at the $1.7 million race, the final of 23 events in the NHRA Drag Racing Series.
Horse racing
McCann’s Mojave claims victory
McCann’s Mojave stretched out from sprints to 1 1/8 miles on one of his favorite tracks and won the $250,000 California Cup Classic horse race by a length at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif.
The victory, worth $150,000, increased McCann’s Mojave’s career earnings to $559,380, with seven wins in 15 starts.
Brite Maneuvers won the $125,000 Juvenile by three-quarters of a length over Catouttathebag.
The $175,000 Mile went to Drake’s Victory.
In other Cal Cup races, Jet West won the $150,000 Sprint, Tempting Fate won the $150,000 Distaff, Bai and Bai won the $125,000 Juvenile Fillies, Moscow Burning won the $100,000 Distance Handicap, Dream of Summer won the $150,000 Matron Handicap and Time to Honor won the $50,000 Starter Handicap.
MISCELLANY
Revolution advances to MLS finals
Clint Dempsey scored four minutes into the game to lift New England over the Chicago Fire 1-0 in Foxborough, Mass., and help the Revolution advance to the MLS finals.
The Revolution will take on the Los Angeles Galaxy in the MLS Cup on Sunday in Frisco, Texas.
Matt Reis made seven saves to record his 11th shutout of the season in the Eastern Conference finals.
“Justin McBride won the season title and a $1 million bonus in the Professional Bull Riders’ $3.2 million Built Ford Tough World Finals in Las Vegas.
McBride, from Elk City, Okla., finished the season with 13,415.25 points, and had regular earnings of $479,230.99.
Brian Herman of Victoria, Texas, won the seventh round with a 91-point ride on Classic Pro Rodeo Company’s Paleface. In the short round, Brazil’s Helton Luiz Da Silva won with a 91 on D & H and Teague Bucking Bulls’ Here’s Your Sign.