TENNIS

Wozniacki wraps up No. 1, winning match at WTA

Caroline Wozniacki wrapped up the women’s tennis year-end No. 1 ranking Thursday after rallying to beat Francesca Schiavone of Italy 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 at the WTA Championships at Doha, Qatar.

The 20-year-old Wozniacki is the 10th woman to end the season on top and the youngest since Martina Hingis in 1997. Wozniacki replaced the injured Serena Williams at the top earlier this month and has won more titles (six) and more matches (61) than any other player in 2010.

“It’s really great, that is something I’ve dreamed about since I was a little girl,” she said of the No. 1 ranking. “I’m really happy, really proud about what I’ve achieved this year.”

In other matches, Elena Dementieva rallied to beat Samantha Stosur 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4) for her first group-stage win at the event.

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ST. PETERSBURG OPEN: Top-seeded Mikhail Youzhny advanced to the quarterfinals by rallying past qualifier Evgeny Donskoy 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 at St. Petersburg, Russia.

Eighth-seeded Victor Hanescu advanced by beating qualifier Rajeev Ram, 7-6 (1), 3-6, 6-3.

OPEN SUD DE FRANCE: Defending champion Ivan Ljubicic overcame a slow start to beat Taylor Dent 7-5, 6-4 in the second round at Montpellier, France.

Jarkko Nieminen, Albert Montanes and Gilles Simon also advanced to the quarterfinals.

BANK AUSTRIA TROPHY: Third-seeded Nicolas Almagro, No. 4 Marcos Baghdatis and No. 8 Juan Ignacio Chela reached the quarterfinals at Vienna. Unseeded Michael Berrer also advanced.

SKIING

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FREESTYLE MOGULS: Jeremy Cota of Carrabassett Valley and David DiGravio of Farmington were among 18 skiers named to the U.S. freestyle moguls ski team.

Cota, 22, won a silver medal in the singles and gold in the duals at the U.S. championships last year; DiGravio, 24, took bronze in the duals.

AUTO RACING

NASCAR: DuPont announced a three-year extension as sponsor of Jeff Gordon’s race car.

DuPont has been with Gordon since his Sprint Cup debut in 1992, but the company is scaling back its commitment starting next year. It will be Gordon’s primary sponsor in 14 races.

The announcement came a day after the AARP Foundation picked up a large portion of DuPont’s previous races. AARP will be the primary sponsor for Gordon in 22 events with its Drive to End Hunger campaign.

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Pepsi Co., another of Gordon’s longtime sponsors, is expected to keep its sponsorship of two races.

FORMULA ONE: A judge has ordered Google Brasil to pay $118,000 to Brazilian driver Rubens Barrichello for failing to remove from the social-networking site fake profiles that mocked him.

The judge said Google took too long to remove the profiles after being notified by Barrichello. The decision by a tribunal court in Sao Paulo was announced Monday.

GOLF

EUROPEAN PGA: Spain’s Pablo Larazabal shot a 5-under 66 to take the first-round lead in the Andalucia Masters at Sotogrande, Spain.

Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland and Damien McGrane of Ireland were tied for second at 68.

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NATIONWIDE TOUR: Joe Affrunti, James Hahn and Brendan Steele shot 6-under 66s to share the first-round lead in the Nationwide Tour Championship at Charleston, S.C. The tournament is the last chance for all three to earn 2011 PGA Tour cards through the developmental circuit money list.

MISCELLANEOUS

OTHER NEWS: Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver was retired because of concern over bone bruises in his legs and will become a stud horse. Tests last month revealed the bruises, WinStar Farm racing manager Elliott Walden said. He anticipated a full recovery. … Olympic gold medalist Steven Holcomb made the U.S. World Cup bobsled team, along with women’s drivers Erin Pac, the 2010 Olympic bronze medalist; Shauna Rohback, the 2006 silver medalist; and returning Olympian Bree Schaaf.

 

 


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