Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt won his second Laureus Sportsman of the Year award Wednesday and American tennis player Serena Williams won the women’s prize for the third time. Bolt won three gold medals at last year’s athletics world championships and set world records in the 100 and 200-meter races.
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Kim Clijsters’ first full season back on the tennis tour is presenting new challenges: figuring out a balanced schedule, needing more rest than she used to, traveling with her 2-year-old daughter Jada. “Days are totally different now. In the past … everything is kind of based around you,” Clijsters said.
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Britain promises “swift and decisive” action regarding its Davis Cup team following a 3-2 loss to Lithuania. The loss was Britain’s fifth in a row under captain John Lloyd and it now has to beat Turkey to avoid dropping to the lowest tier of the competition. Britain, playing without Andy Murray, lost in Vilnius on Sunday to a country with only three players ranked in the top 1,000.
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Chile has secured a spot in the Davis Cup quarterfinals after Fernando Gonzalez defeated Dudi Sela of Israel 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 to give the South Americans an unbeatable 3-1 lead in their first-round series. Chile will face the Czech Republic in the next round. The Davis Cup series in Chile started a day late after the Israeli team had problems arriving in the country following the earthquake that hit…
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The WTA Tour and Sony Ericsson reached a contract extension that continues their relationship through the end of 2012 but drops the mobile phone company as the title sponsor of the women’s tennis tour. In 2005, Sony Ericsson became the global title sponsor for the WTA Tour under a six-year, $88 million deal due to expire at the end of 2010.
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Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia defeated Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova 1-6, 6-1, 6-0 for her first WTA title at the Monterrey Open on Sunday The 28-year-old Pavlyuchenkova came back from a set down to overwhelm Hantuchova in the final of the hard-court tournament. Pavlyuchenkova also defeated Hantuchova earlier this season in a hard-court match in Dubai.
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Israel’s doubles team of Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram defeated Chile’s Paul Capderville and Jorge Aguilar on Sunday, narrowing Chile’s lead to 2-1 in the best-of-five Davis Cup tie. Erlich and Ram won 6-7 (5), 7-6 (9), 2-6, 6-1, 6-0 to set up the key reverse singles matches Monday. Fernando Gonzalez faces Dudi Sela and Nicolas Massu plays Harel Levi.
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The Davis Cup run for the United States is over in the first round. Novak Djokovic withstood 24 aces and outlasted John Isner 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-4 on Sunday, giving Serbia a clinching 3-1 lead against an American team looking for its 33rd Davis Cup title. In the last rubber, Sam Querrey beat Viktor Troicki 7-5, 6-2 to make the final score 3-2.
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Third-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia defeated Anastasia Sevastova of Latvia 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 to reach the final of the Monterrey Open. The match was washed out Saturday by heavy rain. Pavlyuchenkova will face second-seeded Daniela Hantuchova in the final later Sunday. Hantuchova came from a set down to defeat fellow Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 on Saturday.
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Serbia has knocked the U.S. out of the Davis Cup with Novak Djokovic outlasting John Isner 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-4 to give Serbia an insurmountable 3-1 lead in the first-round match. Djokovic’s victory on Sunday came after Isner and Bob Bryan got the U.S. within 2-1 by defeating Nenad Zimonjic and Janko Tipsarevic in doubles Saturday.
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