Sports

Briefs

With victory, Agassi shows he isn't done

By Times wire
Published August 1, 2005

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LOS ANGELES - Andre Agassi certainly didn't show his age - or sign of back trouble.

Agassi, 35, won a tennis tournament for the first time in almost a year and avenged a loss in beating Gilles Muller in straight sets Sunday to win his fourth Mercedes-Benz Cup.

Coming back from a two-month layoff caused by a chronic sciatic nerve problem, Agassi downed the young left-hander from Luxembourg 6-4, 7-5.

"It feels amazing. These moments don't happen very often anymore and I'm taking it in," said Agassi, who hadn't won a title since October in Stockholm, Sweden.

Muller, a rangy 6-foot-5, 183-pounder, beat Agassi 6-4, 7-5 in their only previous match, a semifinal in August in Washington.

BANK OF THE WEST CLASSIC: Belgian Kim Clijsters broke serve six times and took advantage of Venus Williams ' erratic play to beat the Wimbledon champion 7-5, 6-2 for the title in Stanford, Calif. The No.4 seed Clijsters defeated Williams for the third time in nine meetings and ended a three-match losing streak to the 25-year-old American.

BUDAPEST GRAND PRIX: Top seed Anna Smashnova of Israel defeated Colombia's Catalina Castano 6-2, 6-2 in Hungary for her second tournament title in July. Smashnova is 11-0 in singles finals.

CROATIA OPEN: Guillermo Coria won his first ATP title this year, beating Carlos Moya 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 in the clay-court final in Umag.

GENERALI OPEN: No.3 seed Gaston Gaudio beat Fernando Verdasco 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 to win a rain-delayed final in Kitzbuehel, Austria.

SWIMMING

Hackett first to win four in a row

Michael Phelps made his final swim of the world championships in a morning preliminary. Grant Hackett closed in more appropriate fashion - claiming an unprecedented win.

Hackett of Australia won the 1,500-meter freestyle in 14 minutes, 42.58 seconds to become the first swimmer to win the same event at four straight worlds.

Phelps' last event was the preliminaries of the 400 medley relay, an event the Americans won in the evening with their most prominent swimmer cheering from the stands. The U.S. quartet - Aaron Peirsol , Brendan Hansen , Ian Crocker and Jason Lezak - won in 3:31.85.

Jade Edmistone of Australia set a world record in the 50-meter breaststroke. She won in 30.45 seconds, breaking the mark of 30.57 set by Zoe Baker on July 30, 2002, in Manchester, England. American Katie Hoff , 16, completed a sweep of the individual medley, adding the 400 title to her earlier win in the 200. The United States led the medal count with 15 golds and 32 overall.

PRO BASKETBALL

Swift says he's headed to Houston

Free-agent forward Stromile Swift said he'll sign with the Rockets this week. He had to wait until the league completed a new collective-bargaining agreement, which happened Saturday.

WNBA: Center Ann Wauters had a career-high 24 points and nine rebounds to lead host New York past Indiana 67-53. ... Kara Braxton had 16 points and six rebounds, helping host Detroit beat Phoenix 66-63. ... Betty Lennox made a 3-pointer with 27.4 seconds left to help host Seattle defeat Los Angeles 77-72 and tie a franchise mark with six consecutive wins. ... Rebekkah Brunson had 14 points and seven rebounds to lead host Sacramento past Minnesota 67-54.

TRACK

Record-holder in 100 out of worlds

A groin injury will prevent world-record holder Asafa Powell from competing in the 100 meters at the world championships in Helsinki, Finland, his agent, Paul Doyle , said. The 22-year-old Jamaican tore a ligament in his right groin July 22 at a meet in London. The world championships begin Saturday.

FISHING

Two Bassmaster titles in five years

Kevin VanDam won his second Bassmaster Classic title in five years as Aaron Martens settled for another second-place finish. VanDam was one of two anglers to reach the five-bass limit on the third and final day of competition in Pittsburgh. His catch totaled 4 pounds, 13 ounces, giving him a three-day total of 11 bass weighing 12 pounds, 15 ounces. Martens was also the runnerup in 2002 and 2004.

ET CETERA

BOXING: Thomas Hearns won by eighth-round TKO over lightly regarded John Long in Detroit late Saturday in his first fight in five years. Th 46-year-old Hearns (60-5-1, 47 knockouts) scored a knockdown in the fifth in the cruiserweight bout. Long (19-7-1) was unable to answer the bell for the ninth.

SOCCER: Manuel Rui Costa fought off two defenders and scored in the 80th minute, rallying AC Milan to a 1-1 tie with Chelsea in an exhibition game in East Rutherford, N.J.

HORSES: Ashado beat Bending Strings by 91/2 lengths in the $250,000, Grade I Go for Wand Stakes at Saratoga. ... Greg's Gold edged Battle Won by 11/4 lengths in the $300,000 Grade I Bing Crosby Handicap at Del Mar, Calif.

MOTOCROSS: Ricky Carmichael extended his winning streak to two years, claiming the 250cc championship in Washougal, Wash. He hasn't lost since Kevin Windham beat him July27, 2003, at Washougal.

[Last modified August 1, 2005, 00:59:12]

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