Clijsters avenges loss, captures J&S Cup

Top-seeded Kim Clijsters defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 7-5, 6-2 Sunday to win the clay court J&S Cup in Warsaw, Poland.

The victory avenges a semifinal loss to Kuznetsova in last year’s J&S Cup.

“She’s a very, very good clay-court player,” Clijsters said. “I was very aggressive and tried not to give her the opportunity to play her own game.”

Kuznetsova, ranked No. 10, lost for the third straight year in the J&S Cup final.

•Olivier Rochus defeated unseeded Kristof Vliegen 6-4, 6-2 in the all-Belgian final at the BMW Open in Munich, Germany.

Rochus took advantage of numerous errors by Vliegen, who looked nervous in only his second career final. The 30th-ranked Rochus won his second career title in five finals. He captured the title at Palermo in 2000.

The match was the first pitting two Belgian men against each other since the Open Era began in 1968.

•Top-seeded David Nalbandian beat Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 6-4 to become the third two-time winner of the Estoril Open in Oeiras, Portugal.

Nalbandian – who won in 2002 – joins Carlos Costa of Spain (1992, ‘94) and Thomas Muster of Austria (1995-96) as two-time winners.

Earlier, sixth-seeded Zheng Jie of China won the women’s final when eighth-seeded Na Li retired with leg cramps after two sets.

MISCELLANY

U.S. advances at hockey worlds

The United States beat winless Denmark 3-0 in Riga, Latvia, with goals from Andrew Alberts, Yan Stastny and Richard Park to reach the second round at hockey’s world championships along with Canada, Finland and the Czech Republic.

Canada routed Norway 7-1 behind Sidney Crosby’s goal and three assists, joining the United States in the next round from Group D with 2-0 records with one game left. The Americans finish first-round play against Canada on Tuesday.

The Czech Republic held on for a 5-4 win over Slovenia after taking a 4-0 first-period lead, and Finland shut out host Latvia 5-0 in Group A games.

•Abby Wambach scored three goals to lead the United States over Japan 3-1 in Kumamoto, Japan, in the opener of a two-game women’s soccer exhibition tour.

Wambach has 54 goals in 71 international appearances. It was her fourth game of three goals or more.

Japan has never beaten the United States, which is No. 2 in the FIFA rankings and holds a 15-0-3 record against the Asian power.

The Japanese women are 11th in the FIFA rankings. The teams meet again Tuesday at Osaka.

•Robbie McEwen won the second stage of the Giro d’Italia cycling race in Charleroi, Belgium, edging Olaf Pollack and Olympic champion Paolo Bettini in a group sprint at the finish line.

Defending champion Paolo Savoldelli, who celebrated his 33rd birthday on Sunday, retained the overall leader’s pink jersey by finishing in the main group in the same time as the winner.

The Giro was in Belgium for the second of four stages. The race will head to Italy for the fifth stage on Thursday.

•Davy Hite pulled in a limit of 15 pounds, 11 ounces to easily capture the CITGO Bassmaster Elite Series event at Clarks Hill Lakes in Appling, Ga. It was the seventh BASS victory for Hite, who claimed the $100,000 first prize on a lake only 40 miles from his home.