In brief: Davydenko downs Nadal to win Sony Ericsson

Nikolay Davydenko’s grunts became a little louder in the last game Sunday at Key Biscayne, Fla., and the extra effort helped him finish off Rafael Nadal in the final of the Sony Ericsson Open.

With a 6-4, 6-2 victory, Davydenko became the first Russian to win the Key Biscayne men’s championship.

The title is Davydenko’s first this year while playing under the cloud of an ATP investigation into heavy wagering on a match he lost last August at an obscure tournament in Poland. He retired in the third set, citing a foot injury, and says he did nothing wrong. For months he has accused the ATP of dragging out the investigation.

There was no question about his effort against Nadal. Davydenko broke at love to take the lead for good at 4-3 in the first set, and in the second set he lost only two of 19 points on his serve.

When the No. 4-seeded Davydenko belted one final forehand winner on championship point, he grinned and shook his fists, then punched the air. Davydenko overcame a match point in each of his first two matches and became the fourth ATP player in 2008 to win a title after facing match point. College basketball

Hilltoppers hire coach

Texas assistant coach Ken McDonald will take over as men’s head coach at Western Kentucky.

McDonald replaces Darrin Horn, who left last week to become the head coach at South Carolina.

McDonald previously worked as an assistant at Western Kentucky under Dennis Felton from 1998-2003.

“Jim Engles, an assistant at Columbia, Rider and Wagner the last 18 years, will take over the New Jersey Institute of Technology men’s team.

HOCKEY

U.S. women roll

Angela Ruggiero assisted on three goals to help the U.S. women’s beat Switzerland 7-1 in its second and final preliminary-round game in the World Women’s Hockey Championship at Harmin, China.

The United States, the Group B winner, will open championship bracket play Tuesday night against Group C winner Finland.

Miscellany

U.S. closes in

Natasha Kai scored twice and Abby Wambach added a goal in the U.S. women’s soccer team’s 3-1 victory over Mexico at Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

The win moved the Americans within a victory of securing a spot in the Beijing Olympics. The U.S. will play Costa Rica on Wednesday.

“Five runners sprinted toward the finish line of the Carlsbad 5000 in Carlsbad, Calif., and Alan Webb wasn’t among them.

The American mile record holder dropped out about a half mile before the finish of the 3.1-mile road race, his legs dead and hurting too much to even jog in.

Terefe Maregu Zewdie of Ethiopia sprinted the final 50 meters to win in 13 minutes, 34 seconds.

Among the women, Vivian Cheruiyot led a 1-2-3 Kenyan finish. She won in 15:14.

“Ethiopia’s Tsegaye Kebede and Kenya’s Martha Komu won the Paris Marathon in the rain and wind, with several runners wearing stickers on their jerseys to protest China’s crackdown in Tibet.

Kebede finished in a personal best of 2 hours, 6 minutes, 40 seconds. Komu won in 2:25.33.

“Michael Phelps, the eight-time medalist at the Athens Olympics was second in the 100-meter freestyle – an individual event he seldom swims – yet his time of 48.41 seconds at the Columbus (Ohio) Grand Prix was the third-fastest ever by an American.

“Two-time Olympic gold medalist Natalie Coughlin won the 100-meter backstroke at the Stanford Grand Prix in 59.44 seconds in Stanford, Calif.

“Paul Elias shattered the four-day BASS heavyweight catch record, finishing with more than 130 pounds in the Bassmaster Elite Series’ Lone Star Shootout on Falcon Lake in Zapata, Texas.