In brief: Davenport advances to Bali Open final
Lindsay Davenport advanced to the final of the Bali Open in Nusa Dua, Indonesia, in her first singles tournament since having a baby in June.
Davenport cruised past Sara Errani 6-1, 6-3 Saturday. In the final today, she will face second-seeded Daniela Hantuchova, who defeated qualifier Sorana Cirstea 7-5, 6-1.
Davenport played doubles at the Pilot Pen in late August and returned to singles play for the first time since having son, Jagger, this summer.
“With Maria Sharapova cheering from the bench, Russia moved within one victory of its third Fed Cup title. Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Mara Santangelo of Italy 6-1, 6-2 to the put the Russians ahead 2-0 in the top team event in women’s tennis. Anna Chakvetadze struggled past Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in the opener.
Soccer
Brazil stuns China
There’s fast, and then there’s Marta.
The FIFA player of the year shimmied a loose ball past a diving goalkeeper and whipped another shot behind two defenders to lead Brazil to a 4-0 win over host China in the Women’s World Cup in Wuhan.
China coach Marika Domanski-Lyfors seemed convinced of Brazil’s chances, calling her eighth-ranked opponents “the best team in the world” during a postgame news conference.
“If before we thought we should beat Brazil, yeah, that was a dream of course,” she said.
Horse racing
Rags to Riches loses
The filly phenom can be beaten after all.
Lear’s Princess overtook Belmont Stakes winner Rags to Riches in the stretch and pulled off an upset in the $250,000 Gazelle Stakes at Belmont Park in New York.
Rags to Riches, one of racing’s most popular stars after becoming the first filly in 102 years to win the Belmont, was sent off as the 2-5 favorite by the small crowd of 7,361. .
“The Green Monkey sure didn’t look like a $16 million horse in his greatly anticipated debut at Belmont Park. The most expensive horse purchased at auction started slowly and never mounted a serious threat, finishing third in a six-furlong maiden special weight.
The Green Monkey, named for a golf course in Barbados, was sent off as the 2-5 favorite despite taking on five experienced rivals. Roi Maudit won.
Basketball
Spain reaches final
Spain beat defending champion Greece and Russia defeated Lithuania to reach the final of the European basketball championship today in Madrid, Spain.
Pau Gasol of the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies scored 23 points and Jose Calderon made some big plays down the stretch in Spain’s 82-77 victory in the first semifinal.
In the second, Andrei Kirilenko had 29 points and three blocks, and Russia withstood 30 points from Ramunas Siskauskas for an 86-74 win that put the Russians in their record 19th final.