Briefly
Top-seeded Lindsay Davenport won the Zurich Open for the fourth time Sunday, beating Switzerland’s Patty Schnyder 7-6 (5), 6-3 in Zurich, Switzerland.
Davenport, who will return to the No. 1 ranking today, lost to Schnyder in the 2002 Zurich final.
“You never get sick of winning, that could never happen,” Davenport said. “It was a struggle. It wasn’t the easiest tournament I’ve ever won.”
This was the sixth title of the year for Davenport, whose three previous matches all went to three sets.
“Rafael Nadal won the Madrid Masters before a roaring home crowd in Spain by rallying past Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia in five sets for his 11th title this year, matching top-ranked Roger Federer’s record.
The top-seeded Nadal won 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3) for his 79th victory this season, two more than the injured Federer. It also was the 19-year-old Spaniard’s fourth Masters title, tying the Swiss star.
The loss snapped a 16-match winning streak for the eighth-seeded Ljubicic, who won consecutive titles at Metz, France, and Vienna, Austria, entering Madrid.
MOTORSPORTS
Bourdais wins Champ Car title
Sebastien Bourdais won the Champ Car series title and then went out and won the Lexmark Indy 300 in Surfers Paradise, Australia, after avoiding a first-lap, first-turn crash involving pole-sitter Oriol Servia.
Bourdais needed just one point to take the championship for a second straight year. He got that simply by starting the race.
American A.J. Allmendinger was second, 9.13 seconds behind, followed by 1996 winner Jimmy Vasser in third and Canadian Alex Tagliani, driving the Team Australia entry, in fourth.
It’s the first time the Newman/Haas team, owned by actor Paul Newman and former racer Carl Haas, has had back-to-back series winners in its 23-year history.
“Tony Schumacher beat Dave Grubnic in the Top Fuel final and set division records for consecutive victories and consecutive final rounds with his eighth NHRA victory of the season and the 29th of his career at the ACDelco Las Vegas Nationals.
Ron Capps (Funny Car), Kurt Johnson (Pro Stock) and Chip Ellis (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also were winners at the $1.8 million race.
ROWING
Princeton wins Head of Charles
Princeton became the first U.S. university in more than 20 years to win the Head of the Charles Regatta championship men’s eights title in Cambridge, Mass.
Princeton trailed defending champion Cambridge University of England by eight seconds at the second checkpoint but gained 13 seconds on Cambridge in the final 750 meters to escape with a five-second win, in a time of 14:41.885.
The Royal Dutch Rowing Federation finished third.
Princeton started from the third bow and became the first American college to capture the eights title since the U.S. Naval Academy won in 1983.
Competing as a team for the first time, the U.S. National Team took an early lead in the championship women’s eights title and never let up, winning the event in a time of 16:34.633. Princeton just missed an eights sweep as its women’s team finished second in 16:50.059. Canadian entry London Training Center finished third.
The WSU women’s varsity eight finished in 10th place overall and seventh among collegiate crews with a time of 17:30.866.
A pair of British Columbia teams won the championship fours races.
Vancouver’s Thunderbird Rowing Centre easily won the men’s race, with a time of 16:19.722, despite starting from the 26th and final bow.
The University of Victoria won the women’s race in a time of 19:07.069, defeating second-place Brown University by less than 10 seconds. Massachusetts entry DeWolfe Rowing Club finished third.
MISCELLANY
U.S. women shut out Mexico
Abby Wambach, one of the national team’s rising stars, scored on two headers to lead the United States to a 3-0 women’s soccer victory over Mexico in Charleson, S.C.
Wambach scored in the 34th minute on a cross from North Carolina star Heather O’Reilly. Wambach then knocked in a header in the 40th minute off Aly Wagner’s corner kick.
Kristine Lilly, who made her 299th international appearance, opened the scoring with an unassisted goal in the ninth minute.
The U.S. women raised their record against Mexico to 16-0-0.
“Austrian Hermann Maier edged Bode Miller to capture the season-opening giant slalom in Soelden, Austria, and overtake Alberto Tomba for second place on the World Cup victory list.
Maier’s 51st World Cup victory sent him ahead of Italy’s Tomba. Sweden’s Ingemar Stenmark leads with 86, all in slalom and giant slalom.
This was Maier’s first World Cup giant slalom win since nearly losing a leg in a motorcycle accident four years ago, although he won the giant slalom world title last year.
“Chad Hedrick broke a nearly 6-year-old track record, and Jennifer Rodriguez won her third race at this U.S. long track speedskating competition in West Allis, Wis.
Hedrick of Magnolia, Texas, won the 5,000 meter race in 6 minutes, 24.5-seconds. Rodriguez won the 3,000 in 4:18.51.
The races came on the third of four days of competition in a World Cup qualifier to determine U.S. teams for international competition.
“Matt Franco, Saburo Omura and Lee Seung-yeop homered in the sixth inning, leading manager Bobby Valentine’s Chiba Lotte Marines over the Hanshin Tigers 10-0 for a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 Japan Series in Tokyo.