SAFINA UNLOADS ON BIG
GUNS IN GERMAN OPEN
Dinara Safina pulled off her third upset of a Top 10 player in a week at the German Open in Berlin yesterday, defeating ninth-ranked Elena Dementieva 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the final.
The 17th-ranked Safina also beat No. 1 Justine Henin and No. 8 Serena Williams at the clay-court event.
The 22-year-old Russian overcame a slow start and dropped the first set – just like in her two other upsets – before her shots began to find the lines.
Safina claimed her sixth WTA Tour crown and first this year at the warmup for the French Open. She won $197,000 on Mother's Day.
“My mother can buy anything she wants,” said Safina, whose mother watched from the stands.
“She can walk into any store and I will pay for it.”
The tournament's field included six of the world's top seven players but failed to produce a French Open favorite. The Grand Slam tournament starts May 25.
Safina, the sister of two-time Grand Slam winner Marat Safin, has beaten Top 10 players 11 times. She will fly to Rome today for the Italian Open.
MORE TENNIS
Having already displayed his prowess on hard courts this season, Novak Djokovic is showing he's capable of dominating on clay, too.
Djokovic won the 10th title of his career yesterday, rallying to beat unseeded Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 at the Rome Masters.
The tournament was an important warmup for the French Open.
The third-ranked Djokovic won the Australian Open in January for his first Grand Slam tournament title, then captured the Masters Series event in Indian Wells in March.
Djokovic's third victory of 2008 will move him within 310 points of second-ranked Rafael Nadal in the ATP rankings.
HORSE RACING
Million Dollar Run won her first career race in the $100,000 Railbird Stakes at Hollywood Park.
Making just her second career start, Million Dollar Run and jockey Joel Rosario were second in the field of eight 3-year-old fillies for most of the 7-furlong stakes. She took the lead coming out of the turn and beat Tasha's Miracle by 2¼ lengths in 1:20.66.
She paid $31.40, $13.20 and $6, while Tasha's Miracle paid $6.40 and $3.60. The favorite, Lethal Heat , was third and paid $2.60 to show.
CYCLING
Riccardo Ricco won the second stage of the Giro d'Italia in a sprint finish, and Franco Pellizotti took the overall lead in the three-week race.
Ricco, who rides for the Saunier Duval team, finished the 129-mile leg from Cefalu to Agrigento, Sicily, in 5 hours, 48 minutes, 35 seconds.
Christian Vandevelde , the leader after the first stage, finished 10 seconds behind Ricco and fell into second in the overall standings, 1 second behind Pellizotti. Vandevelde was the first American to wear the Giro's pink leader's jersey in two decades.
HOCKEY
Mikko Koivu scored with less than four minutes remaining to give Finland a 3-2 come-from-behind win over the United States at the world hockey championships in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in a contest that was marred by a postgame brawl.
After Koivu scored with 3:50 left, the United States' Adam Burish was ejected for butt-ending a Finland player.
As the final horn sounded to end the game, U.S. forward Dustin Brown drilled a Finnish defenseman into the boards with a hit to the head, touching off a melee that featured a fight between David Backes of the U.S. and Amsso Salmela of Finland.
In Quebec City, Andres Ambuhl and Sandy Jeannin scored early to help Switzerland beat Denmark 7-2.
SOCCER
Taylor Twellman scored in the 59th minute of his season debut to lift the New England Revolution to a 2-1 win over Chivas USA in MSL action in Carson.
David Beckham was named to England's squad for friendly games against the United States and Trinidad and Tobago.
England coach Fabio Capello picked the Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder for his squad of 31 to face the Americans at Wembley on May 28 and at Trinidad on June 1.
Manchester United won its 10th Premier League title in 16 years in Wigan, England, getting a penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo and another goal from Ryan Giggs to beat Wigan 2-0 on the final day of the season.
MARATHON
Kenneth Mburu Mungara won the Prague International Marathon, leading a top-five sweep for Kenya. Mungara crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 11 minutes, 6 seconds.
In the women's race, Nailya Yulamanova of Russia successfully defended her title by winning in 2:31:43.
DIVING
China did not reign supreme at the USA Diving Grand Prix in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., giving hope to the other nations preparing for the Beijing Olympics.
On the final day of competition, the Australians took home two gold medals and a silver, with Russia winning the only other gold medal awarded.
The Chinese were shut out of gold for the first time in the four-day event but still managed to lead all countries in the medal count with seven – three gold, two silver and two bronze.
Australia and United States each finished with five medals overall, with the U.S. capturing four silver medals.
Matt Mitcham and Matt Helm of Australia went 1-2 in the men's 10-meter platform, and Sascha Klein of Germany grabbed the bronze medal.
Helm teamed with countryman Robert Newberry to win the men's synchronized 10-meter platform, holding off Americans David Boudia and Thomas Finchem. China's Liguang Yang and Hu Jia captured the bronze.
Russia's Yulia Pakhalina won her second gold medal of the weekend in the women's 3-meter springboard.
RACE WALKING
Denis Nizhegorodov set a world record in the men's 50-kilometer walk at a World Cup meet in Cheboksary, Russia, shaving 1 minute, 34 seconds off the old mark. The Russian finished in 3 hours, 34 minutes, 13 seconds on a course alongside the Volga River.
The previous record of 3:35:47 was set by Nathan Deakes of Australia at Geelong, Australia, on Dec. 2, 2006.
Nizhegorodov, who won silver at the 2004 Athens Olympics, also qualified for the Beijing Games.
– FROM NEWS SERVICES
