Nadal outlasts Federer, defends Rome title

Rafael Nadal still has the edge against Roger Federer. The gap is closing, though.

In a showdown between the world’s top two players, Nadal beat Federer in a fifth-set tiebreaker Sunday to successfully defend his Rome Masters title and tie Guillermo Vilas’ record 53-match winning streak on clay in the Open era.

Nadal, a 19-year-old Spaniard ranked No. 2, won 6-7 (0), 7-6 (5), 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (5) in 5 hours, 5 minutes. He improved to 5-1 against the No. 1-ranked Swiss.

Federer dropped to 39-3 this year, with his only losses coming to Nadal. Nadal also won a matchup at Dubai in March.

In the Monte Carlo final last month, Nadal beat Federer in a fourth-set tiebreaker. Both tournaments are clay-court warmups for the French Open, which starts in two weeks.

•Second-seeded Nadia Petrova won her third straight clay-court title, beating third-seeded Justine Henin-Hardenne 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 in the German Open final in Berlin.

The Russian, who ran her clay-court winning streak to 15 matches, fought back and leg injuries in a match lasting nearly three hours in a key tuneup for the French Open, which starts May 28.

•Top-ranked Amelie Mauresmo and No. 3 Maria Sharapova withdrew from the Italian Open, an important clay-court tuneup for the French Open.

Mauresmo, the two-time defending champion in Rome, said she had a cold and fever. Sharapova has a bruised bone in her right ankle.

•Shahar Peer of Israel won her second WTA Tour title, beating Samantha Stosur of Australia 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the Prague (Czech Republic) Open final.

Miscellany

Jones returns to track in fine form

After an 11-month absence from the track, Marion Jones made an impressive return to competition.

The former Olympic champion ran the second-fastest women’s 100 meters of this young season while winning a race Saturday night at the Gala Banamex Veracruz 2006 in Jalapa, Mexico. Her time of 11.06 seconds was 0.02 off the fastest of the season, set in mid-April by Allyson Felix.

•Jaroslav Balastik’s goal snapped a third-period tie and gave the unbeaten Czech Republic a 6-4 win over previously perfect Canada at the World Hockey Championship in Riga, Latvia.

Olympic champion Sweden also lost for the first time, falling 5-2 to Slovakia.

Earlier, Russia beat Switzerland 6-3 and Finland maintained its unbeaten record with a 3-0 win over Norway.

•Courtney Mathewson scored from 10 meters away with a second remaining to give UCLA its second straight NCAA women’s water polo title with a 9-8 victory over top-seeded Southern California. UCLA was won the championship four times in the six years since the NCAA started sanctioning the event.

•Reggie Bush’s strained left hamstring limited his involvement in the New Orleans Saints’ rookie mini-camp for the second straight day.

•Ivan Basso of Italy took the overall leader’s pink jersey in the Giro d’Italia by winning Sunday’s eighth stage.

Basso entered the day in sixth place overall. He finished in 4 hours, 4 minutes, 19 seconds in winning his first stage this year.

Today, riders face a mainly flat, 79-mile ninth stage from Francavilla al Mare to Termoli. The 21-stage race ends May 28 in Milan.