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In brief
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 21, 2003
AMELIA ISLAND -- No.10 seed Elena Dementieva won her first WTA Tour title, defeating Lindsay Davenport 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 at the Bausch & Lomb Championships Sunday.
The final was a 2-hour, 6-minute struggle against No.2 Davenport who was, by her estimation, playing some of the best tennis of her career.
"It feels amazing, like a dream come true," said Dementieva, who will move into the world's top 15 today. "I've been waiting for this moment all my life."
MONTE CARLO MASTERS: Defending champion Juan Carlos Ferrero beat Guillermo Coria 6-2, 6-2 in a weather-shortened final (best of three sets) in Monaco. It is Ferrero's eighth career title.
BUDAPEST GRAND PRIX: Magui Serna won her second straight WTA Tour title, beating Alicia Molik 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 in Hungary.
The top-seeded Florida women won their 12th SEC tennis tournament, sweeping Georgia 4-0 at Knoxville, Tenn. The Gators, who received a bid into the NCAA Tournament on May9-11, have advanced to the SEC final 15 of 16 years. The top-seeded men fell to Vanderbilt 4-0 in Oxford, Miss. It was Vandy's first title. ... The FSU men fell 4-3 to Clemson in an ACC semifinal in Raleigh, N.C. Duke topped the Tigers 4-1 in the final. The Blue Devil women also won, beating North Carolina 4-2.
GOLF: Florida freshman Aimee Cho won the SEC individual title, shooting 216 in Lexington, Ky. The Gators finished two behind Auburn (903). Clearwater's Amanda Dick (227) was 12th and Bradenton's Jeanne Cho (232) tied for 18th. ... Duke (877) won its eighth straight ACC women's championship in Clemmons, N.C. FSU was fifth (909). Clemson (865) rallied from nine down over the final six holes for the men's title. FSU finished eighth (917).
The $100,000 Distance Classic, which was canceled because of kennel cough before Round 3, will resume Saturday night at Derby Lane in St. Petersburg with a field of 16. Semifinals are April30 and the final May3. Friday matinees will be added for the rest of the season beginning this week. Bay area members of the AGTOA All-America team -- Talentedmrripley, Dodgem By Design, Kiowa Sweet Joe and Ben Awhile -- will be honored Thursday at the Hall of Fame in Abilene, Kan.
BASEBALL: Brian Garcia pitched a three-hitter as the St. Petersburg Titans beat South Florida 4-1 to win the Amateur Athletic Union state title, qualifying for the national tournament in July at Sarasota. Shortstop Jose Ramos and Daniel Leal were MVPs.
BOXING: Floyd Mayweather Jr. retained his WBC lightweight title with a unanimous decision over Victoriano Sosa on Saturday in Fresno, Calif. Sosa is the cousin of the Chicago Cubs' Sammy Sosa.
CYCLING: Lance Armstrong finished eighth in the Amstel Gold Race at Maastricht, Netherlands, the fourth leg of the World Cup. Kazakhstan's Alexander Vinokourov won the 157-mile event.
HOCKEY: Canada beat the defending champion United States 2-1 in overtime in the International World Under-18 Championship in Yaroslavl, Russia. Canada faces Slovakia for the championship; the U.S. team plays Russia in the bronze-medal game Tuesday.
HORSES: Bob Baffert sent out 43 winners for his record seventh consecutive training title at Santa Anita, topping the six he shared with Red McDaniel (1949-55).
SOCCER: Two people were killed and 17 injured when fans from rival clubs River Plate and Newell clashed at a highway toll booth outside Buenos Aires, Argentina, police said. One man was shot to death and the other stabbed.
SURFING: Six-time world champ Kelly Slater finished with the highest point total (18.17) after the second round of the Rip Curl Pro in Bells Beach, Australia. Indian Rocks Beach brothers Shea (14.4) and Cory Lopez (13.77) won their respective heats.