TENNIS

Murray beats Djokovic to win Italian Open

Andy Murray celebrated his 29th birthday by beating Novak Djokovic on clay for the first time to win the Italian Open title Sunday in a match that Djokovic argued should have been stopped because of rain.

Gaining a measure of revenge for his loss to Djokovic in the Madrid Open final a week ago, the third-ranked Murray defeated the top-ranked Djokovic 6-3, 6-3.

STRASBOURG INTERNATIONAL: Qualifier Alla Kudryavtseva rallied to upset ninth-seeded Alize Cornet 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the first round of the clay-court event in Strasbourg, France.

Fourth-seeded Kristina Mladenovic needed three sets to outlast Madison Brengle of the United States, 6-4, 2-6, 7-5.

HOCKEY

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: Germany beat the United States 3-2 on a last-minute goal by Korbinian Holzer at St. Petersburg, Russia, putting American qualification for the quarterfinals in doubt.

Finland’s 5-0 rout of Slovakia later in the day relaxed the pressure on the U.S., which will now qualify if it does not lose in regulation to Slovakia on Tuesday and France does not beat Canada on Monday.

AUTO RACING

FORMULA ONE: Dutch teenager Max Verstappen, 18, pulled off a stunning victory at the Spanish Grand Prix, taking advantage of a first-lap crash by Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg to become Formula One’s youngest winner only a few days after being promoted by his Red Bull team.

CYCLING

GIRO D’ITALIA: Italy’s Gianluca Brambilla retained the overall lead after the ninth stage as Primoz Roglic of Slovenia won a rainy individual time trial at Greve, Italy, for his first Grand Tour stage victory.

TOUR OF CALIFORNIA: World champion Peter Sagan of Slovakia unleashed his powerful sprint at the last possible moment, overcoming Dutch riders Wouter Wippert and Dylan Groenewegen to win the opening stage in San Diego.

BOXING

WBA: Heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder’s title defense against Alexander Povetkin has been postponed by the WBC after the Russian challenger failed a drug test, and Wilder’s promoter says it could be canceled altogether.

The WBC says the May 21 fight in Moscow is off with no backup date.

FOOTBALL

NFL: Former Australian Rugby League star Jarryd Hayne’s football experiment is over, as he announced his retirement from the San Francisco 49ers in order to join the Fiji Rugby Sevens team for the Rio Olympics.

A 6-foot-2, 220-pound running back, the 28-year-old Hayne was a surprise to make the initial 53-man roster out of training camp last year with San Francisco.

OLYMPICS

RIO DE JANEIRO: Sebastian Coe, head of the world governing body of athletics, visited the track for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics but declined to speculate if Russia will be allowed to compete there.

Russia was suspended by the international track and field federation in November following a WADA panel report that found state-sponsored cheating.

n Russia’s sports minister, Vitaly Mutko, said the track and field powerhouse has a “problem” with doping and is “very sorry” that its cheating athletes were not caught sooner.

– From news service reports