It’s Federer and Williams again in Cincy
Tennis: Roger Federer jutted his right index finger toward the summer-blue sky to celebrate his latest Cincinnati title. He would have needed both hands to count all of them.
Might as well just rename it the Federer Open. Or maybe subtitle it the Djokovic Heartbreak.
Federer remained perfect in Cincinnati finals, winning an unprecedented seventh championship on Sunday while denying Novak Djokovic the one title that always eludes him. Federer never faced a break point during a 7-6 (1), 6-3 victory at the Western & Southern Open.
Serena Williams got her name on the Rookwood trophy for the second time on Sunday, beating third-seeded Simona Halep 6-3, 7-6 (5) for back-to-back Cincinnati titles.
She heads off to the U.S. Open trying to become the first player since Steffi Graf in 1988 to pull off a calendar Grand Slam sweep.
“I’m ready,” Williams said. “I don’t care if I win or lose or break even. I’m ready to start it, get it over with, and be done and go on to the next event. But I’m so ready for New York. Let’s go, right?”
It took Williams six tries before she got her first Cincinnati title. Federer has never failed.
The Swiss star is 7-0 in the finals, which always brings out the best in him. He loves the fast-playing courts and the small-town atmosphere in suburban Cincinnati heading into the big-city pressure of the U.S. Open.
“I don’t know how many years I can come back, but I’ll try my best to be here many more years to come,” Federer said.
No surprise there. Federer is the undisputed king of this court.
“He’s very good on this center court,” Djokovic said. “He’s more confident each year.”
Halep was the runner-up at Toronto a week earlier and was hoping to beat Williams for the second time in less than a year – she upset her at the WTA Finals in October. Halep broke Williams’ serve to open the match, but couldn’t sustain it.
Williams won four of the last six points in the tiebreaker, finishing it when Halep sliced a backhand shot into the net. And then, the talk about the Grand Slam sweep began.
“I know you can do four,” Halep told her during the trophy presentation.
• Tennis instructor Jimmy Evert, father of Chris, dies: Jimmy Evert, a highly regarded tennis instructor whose students included his Grand Slam champion daughter, has died at age 91 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Evert was the city of Fort Lauderdale’s tennis director for 49 years and taught a wide range of top junior players. All five of his children reached at least the final of a national junior championship, and daughter Chris became one of the greatest players ever, winning 18 major titles and finishing No. 1 for seven years.
Evert also worked with Jennifer Capriati, who went on to the No. 1 ranking, and Frank Froehling, Brian Gottfried and Harold Solomon, who became top players.
Evert, who died Friday, was an All-American player at Notre Dame in the 1940s and reached No. 11 in the U.S. rankings.
Rohan Dennis takes USA Pro Challenge
Cycling: Australia’s Rohan Dennis won the USA Pro Challenge in Denver, finishing in the main pack to take the overall title by 40 seconds over teammate Brent Bookwalter of the United States.
The 25-year-old Dennis won two stages and finished second in two stages.
American Kristin Armstrong, the two-time Olympic time trial gold medalist who’s in her second comeback, earlier captured the three-stage women’s race.
• Colombian Chaves wins second stage of Spanish Vuelta: Esteban Chaves of Colombia won the second stage of the Spanish Vuelta in Caminito Del Rey, Spain.
Chaves beat Dutch Tom Dumoulin in the sprint at the final summit to take the overall leader’s red jersey. It was the first stage that counted toward individual times.
•Texas beats California in LL World Series: Little League: Ben Gottfried hit a two-run homer and threw 4 2/3 innings of three-hit ball and Pearland, Texas, beat Bonita, California, 8-4 to improve to 2-0 in the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
Pearland advanced to play Lewisberry, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday. The winner goes to Saturday’s U.S. title game.
• Pennsylvania gets past South Carolina: Jaden Henline hit a two-run double in the sixth inning to give Lewisberry, Pennsylvania, a 9-8 victory over Taylors, South Carolina.
Lewisberry, two hours from Williamsport, scored three runs in the sixth after squandering a 6-0 fourth-inning lead.
Taylors will play an elimination game today against Bowling Green, Kentucky.
• Venezuela advances over Uganda: Luis Castillo pitched a one-hit shutout and also hit a two-run home run as Venezuela beat Uganda 7-0 to advance to the International winner’s bracket final at the Little League World Series.
Venezuela will play Wednesday against Japan. Uganda plays today against Taiwan in the elimination bracket.
• Japan uses homer to knock off Mexico: Pinch-hitter Fukutaro Kiyomiya homered in the bottom of the fifth inning, and Tokyo pitchers Nobuyuki Kawashima and Daiki Fukuyama shut down Mexicali, Mexico, 3-1.
The Kitasuna Little League from Tokyo also represented Japan in winning 2001 and 2012 LLWS titles, with return trips in 2007 and 2014.
Mexico dropped into the elimination bracket to face Sydney, Australia, today.
Richie Crampton leads record day at NHRA
Auto racing: Richie Crampton raced to his fourth Top Fuel victory of the season to close out a record-setting day at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd, Minnesota.
Top Fuel and Funny Car teams took advantage of cool, overcast conditions at Brainerd International Raceway to break all four national records in those categories.
Crampton beat Brittany Force in the final round with a 3.695 at 325.30.
Robert Hight won in Funny Car, Erica Enders in Pro Stock, and Eddie Krawiec in Pro Stock Motorcycle.
• Hamilton wins Belgian Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton won the Belgian Grand Prix in Francorchamps, Belgium, from the pole, holding off Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg and padding his lead in the Formula One championship standings.
The defending champion was two seconds ahead at the finish line for his sixth victory of the season in 11 races.