Clijsters cruises to Bank of the West Classic title

Kim Clijsters won her fourth Bank of the West Classic title in six years Sunday, effortlessly beating Patty Schnyder 6-4, 6-2 in Stanford, Calif., to stay unbeaten in this event since 2002.

Clijsters overwhelmed her Swiss opponent with sharp serves, then ran her ragged with back-and-forth groundstrokes to win her 32nd career title and her second this season, following a victory in Warsaw in May.

Clijsters won the tournament in 2001 and 2003, missed the event with an injury one year later, and then repeated her title last year, beating Venus Williams.

Clijsters, ranked No. 2 in the world, advanced only to the semifinals in all three Grand Slam events this season, losing to fellow Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne at the French Open and Wimbledon.

Clijsters hopes to get back in form during the five tournaments leading up to the U.S. Open.

“Tommy Haas won his third title of the year and second Los Angeles championship in three years with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory over Dmitry Tursunov in the Countrywide Classic.

“Anna Smashnova of Israel became the first player to defend her Budapest Grand Prix title, defeating Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain 6-1, 6-3 in the final in Budapest, Hungary.

“Agustin Calleri claimed his second career title by beating Juan Ignacio Chela 7-6 (9), 6-2, 6-3 in an all-Argentine final at the Generali Open in Kitzbuehel, Austria.

Soccer

U.S. beats Canada

Abby Wambach and Natasha Kai scored goals to lead the United States to a 2-0 victory over Canada at Cary, N.C. in an exhibition game that gave the Americans a three-match sweep in July.

The U.S. controlled play throughout, improving to 9-0-3 and outshooting Canada 13-5 during a physical contest that featured three yellow cards. Twenty of the 34 fouls called were on the Canadians.

“We know what a strong, aggressive, physical team Canada is, and we had to match that today,” U.S. coach Greg Ryan said.

Earlier this month, the Americans beat Sweden 3-2 in Blaine, Minn., and defeated Ireland 5-0 last week in San Diego.

Cycling

Officials getting tough

The president of cycling’s international governing body said police may be used to help crack down on doping in the sport.

Pat McQuaid said he would conduct a full audit of the sport after Tour de France winner Floyd Landis tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone.

“We will look at all aspects, the competition, events, calendar, teams and the management of teams,” McQuaid told BBC Radio. “If we can do that then we will regain some ground and credibility.”

McQuaid said the sport wasn’t the cause of the recent scandals, but rather athletes that “are selfish and are prepared to cheat.”

“T-Mobile will replace manager Olaf Ludwig with American Bob Stapleton in November, shaking up its team in light of cycling’s doping scandals.

T-Mobile said it lacked faith in the present management to deal with the scandals rocking the sport.

Fishing

Wolak wins Bassmaster

Dave Wolak punctuated a great July with another strong performance to capture the Bassmaster American on Lake Wylie in Charlotte, N.C.

Wolak, from Warrior Run, Pa., caught five bass weighing 10 pounds, 8 ounces, for a total of 25-14 in the two-day finals. Kevin VanDam was his closest competitor in the six-angler field, with a 22-15 total.