TENNIS
Venus downs Serena
Venus Williams defeated Serena Williams 6-7 (2), 6-2, 6-3 on Saturday for the first victory against her sister in more than five years and advanced to the final of the Rogers Cup at Montreal. The 34-year-old Venus hadn't beat her 32-year-old sister in five matches going back to Dubai in 2009. Top-ranked Serena still leads the all-time series 15-11. Unseeded Venus started with strong serving and took a 3-1 lead before Serena tied it 3-3. The younger Williams prevailed in the tiebreaker, taking a 4-0 lead. The second set was all Venus, who earned two service breaks while Serena struggled with unforced errors. She made two errors and dropped serve to trail 4-2 in the third set. Venus -- who dropped serve only once in the match -- served for the victory at 5-3. Venus hit a rocket serve on her third match point that Serena returned into the net. Serena had 19 aces and nine double-faults, while Venus had six aces and two doubles-faults. On the men's side, France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga followed his string of upsets and advanced to the final with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over seventh-seeded Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria. Tsonga, seeded 13th, beat top-ranked Novak Djokovic on Thursday and eighth-seeded Andy Murray on Friday to reach the semifinals in the hard-court event. In the second semifinal, second-seeded Roger Federer faced Spain's Feliciano Lopez.
• France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga followed his string of upsets and advanced to the final with a 6-4, 6-victory over seventh-seeded Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria in the Rogers Cup at Toronto. Tsonga, seeded 13th beat top-ranked Novak Djokovic on Thursday and eighth-seeded Andy Murray on Friday to reach the semifinals in the hard-court event. In the second semifinal, sec ond-seeded Roger Federer faced Spain’s Feliciano Lopez.
• An American tennis player who served a 12-month ban after getting caught with human growth hormone has earned a wild card into the U.S. Open. Wayne Odesnik of Florida and ranked 168th, hasn't played in the U.S. Open's main draw since 2009. He got a spot from the U.S. Tennis Association for this year's tournament based on results at USTA Pro Circuit events. Odesnik, 28, was off the tour from April 2010 to August 2011 after pleading guilty in an Australian court to importing HGH into that country in January 2010. Odesnik has denied using HGH; he never tested positive. The International Tennis Federation originally banned him for two years. The ITF later cut that in half, saying Odesnik cooperated with its investigators.
GOLF
Wie out of Championship
Michelle Wie has a finger injury that forced her to withdraw from the LPGA Championship next week at Monroe Golf Club and will sideline her at three to five weeks. IMG Golf said Saturday that Wie has a stress reaction in a bone in her right index finger. The U.S. Women's Open champion withdrew from the Meijer LPGA Classic on Thursday in Michigan after playing nine holes in the first round. IMG said she was examined by hand surgeon Dr. Tom Graham of the Cleveland Clinic. Graham also worked with Wie in 2007 when she broke her wrist. He said that injuries of this severity typically require about three to five weeks of limited practice and play before returning to competition. "Michelle has developed an 'acute-on-chronic' injury influenced by the volume in which she practices and plays," Graham said. Wie won the U.S. Women's Open on June 22 for her second victory of the year and fourth on the LPGA Tour. She also will miss the Canadian Women's Open on Aug. 21-24, an event she won in 2010.
HORSE RACING
Enterprising wins at Del Mar
Enterprising won the $150,000 La Jolla Handicap for 3-year-olds by 1 1/4 lengths as turf racing resumed at Del Mar on Saturday. Ridden by Hall of Famer Mike Smith, Enterprising ran 1 1/16 miles on the turf in 1:41.31 and paid $5, $3.80 and $2.80. I'll Wrap It Up returned $10 and $4, while Sammy Mandeville was another half-length back in third and paid $4.20 to show. Turf racing had been suspended for six days after the deaths or injuries to several horses. It resumed with three races on Saturday. Serious, a 4-year-old filly who broke bones in her left front foot on July 31, is recovering. She was injured in a 5-furlong turf sprint, forcing the seaside track to suspend turf races while it worked on the recently installed course.
• Seek Again edged Grand Arch by a neck Saturday in the Grade 2 $500,000 Fourstardave at Saratoga Race Course. Ridden by Joel Rosario for Hall of Famer Bill Mott, the 4-year-old son of champion sprinter Speighstown ran a mile on the inner turf course in a track-record 1:33.25, surpassing the previous mark of 1:33.42 set by L'Oiseau d'Argent on Aug. 5, 2004. Seek Again, owned by Juddmonte Farm, paid $6.70, $3.80 and $3.10. Grand Arch returned $8 and $3.70, and Jack Milton paid $2.90 to show. Dorsett, Sayaad and Silver Max, the 3-2 betting favorite who set the pace for a half-mile before dropping back, completed the order of finish.
• Cassatt took the lead early on and drew off in the stretch to win the $100,000 Monmouth Oaks at Monmouth Park on Saturday afternoon. Ridden by Kerwin Clark and trained by Larry Jones, the 3-year-old filly ran the 1 1/16 miles over a fast track in 1:44.2 and returned $5.40, $4.40 and $4. She finished 3 3-4 lengths ahead of Aqua Regia, who was disqualified to third for interference with Saintly Joan around the far turn. Saintly Joan, who had finished 1 1/4 lengths behind Aqua Regia, paid $22 and $12.60, while Aqua Regia returned $9.80. The win in the Grade III race was the third consecutive victory for Cassatt, who has now earned $115,400 overall.
BOXING
Chudinov defends title
Russian middleweight Dmitry Chudinov successfully defended his WBA interim title Saturday, stopping Mehdi Bouadla in three rounds. In front of a motorbike festival crowd in the Russian-speaking Crimean peninsula, annexed by Russia in March, Chudinov knocked down his French opponent in every round before the referee stopped the bout. Chudinov stayed unbeaten with 14 victories and two draws, while Bouadla dropped to 30-6 for his career. The fight was part of a festival in Sevastopol organized by the Night Wolves, a Russian biker group with whom Russian President Vladimir Putin has ridden in the past.
OLYMPICS
Rio sailing a 'success'
Organizers said Saturday the sailing competition that marked the first test event for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro was "a great success." Organizers said all objectives were "successfully reached" in the seven-day event that ended Saturday. Nearly 330 athletes from 35 countries participated in the regatta, the biggest ever held in Brazil. In a statement, local organizers made no direct reference to water pollution at the bay, a topic that has attracted a lot of negative attention after officials admitted they will not be able to completely clean the site until 2016. The sports director of the local organizing committee, Rodrigo Garcia, said the games' first test came to a close "with a sense of mission accomplished." The regatta was the first in a series of 45 national and international test events.
Sports on 08/10/2014