Monday’s results

ATHLETICS

SPANISH MARATHON

Making his first attempt at a marathon, Kenyan farmer Daniel Rono won the men's event in Madrid yesterday while Larissa Malikova, of Russia, broke the women's race record.

Rono clocked 2h 12m 29s, just 10s behind the race record of 2h 12m 39s set 14 years ago by John Burra, of Tanzania.

Malikova, who ran 2h 32m 16s in Hamburg last year, took the women's record in 2h 33m 27s, the third year in a row that the record has been broken.

Rono withstood the challenge of seven countrymen who followed him across the finish line. African runners took the first 10 places. Spain's Jose Antonio Casajus was 11th.

The African men were in a class apart and led from the beginning when Abel Chimukoko from Zimbabwe ran ahead of Kenya's James Moiben.

At the 34km mark, Saina Kiptoo, of Kenya, took the lead, but was overtaken 3km later by Rono and fellow Kenyan runners John Kirui and Willy Cheruiyot.

Looking comfortable in the final stages and cheered on by crowds of onlookers, Rono put on an impressive final burst of speed and finished one minute ahead of second-placed Kirui.

Cheruiyot was third, 5s behind Kirui.

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AUSSIE RULES

AFL

Round five: Essendon 11.17 (83) Collingwood 10.9 (69).

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BASEBALL

MAJOR LEAGUE

New York Yankees 11 Texas Rangers 1, Atlanta Braves 4 Philadelphia Phillies 0, Florida Marlins 1 Cincinnati Reds 2, Toronto Blue Jays 1 Baltimore Orioles 7, New York Mets 4 Washington Nationals 11, Kansas City Royals 3 Chicago White Sox 4, St Louis Cardinals 8 Houston Astros 5, Tampa Bay Devil Rays 3 Boston Red Sox 11, Chicago Cubs 5 Pittsburgh Pirates 2, Colorado Rockies 6 Los Angeles Dodgers 8, Seattle Mariners 9 Cleveland Indians 1, San Francisco Giants 5 Milwaukee Brewers 8, Arizona Diamondbacks 8 San Diego Padres 6, Los Angeles Angels 1 Oakland Athletics 0.

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BASKETBALL

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Hawkes Bay 88 (D. Rychart 23, D. Moore 16, P. Henare 15) Nelson 82 (J. Holmes 21, E. Book 18, M. Vukona 15) after overtime. HT: 46-46. FT: 72-72.

NBA

Eastern Conference: Miami 116 New Jersey 98 (Miami lead best-of-seven series 1-0), Chicago 103 Washington 94 (Chicago lead 1-0).

Western Conference: San Antonio 87 Denver 93 (Denver lead 1-0), Phoenix 114 Memphis 103 (Phoenix lead 1-0).

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CRICKET

THIRD TEST

WEST INDIES

First innings 296

Second innings

C. Gayle c Smith b Ntini 5
W. Hinds c Gibbs b Nel 11
R. Sarwan c Gibbs b Ntini 0
B. Lara lbw b Nel 13
S. Chanderpaul lbw b Nel 31
D. Bravo c Boucher b Kallis 6
R. Hinds c Kallis b Boje 15
C. Browne c Dippenaar b Nel 68
D. Powell lbw b Nel 5
F. Edwards c Ntini b Nel 2
R. King not out 3
Extras (1b, 2lb, 4nb) 7
-- Total (54.2 overs) 166
Fall: 1/17, 2/17, 3/17, 4/54, 5/63, 6/71, 7/107, 8/130, 9/143.

Bowling: Nel 16.2-3-32-6, Ntini 11-2-40-2 (1nb), Zondeki 8-3-43-0 (3nb), Boje 11-1-33-1, Kallis 6-3-7-1, Smith 2-0-8-0.

SOUTH AFRICA

First innings

G. Smith c W. Hinds b Gayle 104
A. Villiers c Browne b King 178
B. Dippenaar run out 71
J. Kallis b W. Hinds 78
H. Gibbs c Bravo b Gayle 8
A. Prince c Bravo b Gayle 23
M. Boucher b Powell 28
N. Boje not out 20
M. Zondeki c Chanderpaul b Powell 2
M. Ntini c Bravo b Powell 16
A. Nel not out 4
Extras (1b, 2lb, 13nb) 16
-- Total (for 9 wkts dec, 177.5 overs) 548
Fall: 1/191, 2/334, 3/392, 4/410, 5/450, 6/496, 7/502, 8/504, 9/542.

Bowling: Edwards 32.5-3-112-0 (5nb), King 30-5-80-1 (6nb), Powell 31-2-103-3 (1nb), Bravo 29-3-73-0 (1nb), R. Hinds 18-1-67-0, Gayle 27- 3-85-3, W. Hinds 9-2-18-1, Sarwan 1-0-7-0.

ENGLISH COUNTY

One-dayers. -

First division, at Bristol: Northamptonshire 202-7 bt Gloucestershire 193-8 by nine runs.

At Lords: Middlesex 210-9 bt Lancashire 141 by 69 runs.

Second division, at Riverside: Durham 224-8 bt Surrey 86 by 138 runs.

At Canterbury: Leicestershire 214-8 lost to Kent 150-4 by six runs (Duckworth-Lewis system).

At Hove: Sussex 254-8 bt Derbyshire 202 by two runs (Duckworth-Lewis system).

At Headingley: Somerset 209-9 lost to Yorkshire 213-5 by five wickets.

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CYCLING

TOUR OF GEORGIA

With his focus firmly on the Tour de France, Lance Armstrong was just another cyclist in the peloton helping to ensure that a team-mate won the Tour de Georgia yesterday.

Tom Danielson was surrounded by his Discovery Channel team as he maintained his 4s advantage over Levi Leipheimer, content to cruise across the line behind stage winner Gord Fraser, of Canada.

Armstrong, wearing No 1 on the back of his jersey, settled for 22nd place on the day and fifth overall. He was 1m 42s behind Danielson.

The 27-year-old former mountain biker, who joined the team this season, grabbed the lead on Sunday during a grueling climb up Brasstown Bald - the highest point in Georgia.

Aware that he had no chance of winning, Armstrong joined the rest of the team in a supporting role, ensuring that the yellow-shirted Danielson stayed out of trouble and close enough to the front to guard his narrow lead over Leipheimer.

Fraser beat a huge pack of riders to the finish line, edging Health Net team-mate Greg Henderson, of New Zealand.

Leipheimer was 18th and Danielson 29th, but it didn't matter. The top 75 riders all were credited with the same time - 4h 59m - for the 200km stage from Blairsville to Alpharetta, a suburb north of Atlanta.

"Lance is preparing for the Tour de France in July," Danielson said. "He came to this race motivated to get in some good training for winning his seventh Tour de France. Whether he won or another Discovery Channel guy won, he would be just as happy."

Armstrong has won the Tour de France six years in a row, and he plans to retire after one final ride down the Champs-Elysees in July.

Danielson, who was motivated to get into road cycling after seeing an advertisement featuring Armstrong in 1994, faces the inevitable burden of being called the next great American hope.

Armstrong announced his retirement last week, hinting that the Tour de Georgia could be his last race in the United States. However, team officials said he would probably add another American race to his training schedule next month, most likely in Colorado.

Even so, Armstrong got a rock-star send-off in Georgia, where his trailer was surrounded by fans standing 30-deep in places after the race - some of them balancing on top of vehicles so they could get pictures and video of the star.

GALLIPOLI CUP

A strong ride from Whangarei's Sean Wright saw him power to victory in the 80km handicap event on the Ardmore-Clevedon- wilight Rd circuit yesterday.

Wright and three others were the only riders to stay out of reach of a scratch bunch which started 28 minutes after the limit riders, in the first major race of the local road season.

Strong winds blew many bunches apart, but fifth-placed Gordon McCauley, who gained fastest time, came within 20s of catching the leaders as he won the bunch sprint for the minor places.

Open 80km: S. Wright (Whangarei) 1, C. Gibbons (Whangarei) 2, G. Grieve (Counties Manukau) 3, J. Black (Counties Manukau) 4, G. McCauley (Counties Manukau) 5, J. Kerr (Hamilton) 6, L. Hampton (Morrinsville) 7, M. Yates (Counties Manukau) 8.

Fastest time: McCauley 1, Kerr 2, Yates 3. Women: P. Walker (Nth Harbour).

Under-17, 25km: S. Weston (Whangarei) 1, B. Aldrich (Nth Harb) 2, J. Kuysten (Tokoroa) 3.

Fastest time: C. McMurray (Akarana).

Under-15, 15km: S. Prosser (Akarana) 1, G. Prosser (Akarana) 2, J. Sodo (Counties Manukau).

Fastest time: Sodo.

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GOLF

JOHNNIE WALKER CLASSIC
(Beijing, China)

Leading final-round scores (par 72). -

270: A. Scott (Australia).

273: R. Goosen (South Africa).

275: M. Campbell (NZ), H. Stenson (Sweden), R. Sterne (South Africa).

276: E. Els (South Africa), C. Montgomerie (Britain), B. Rumford (Australia).

277: L. Donald (Britain).

278: S. Drummond (Britain), S. Garcia (Spain), S. Luna (Spain), S. O'Hara (Britain).

279: D. Park (Britain) G. Rusnak (United States).

280: S. Dyson (Britain) G. Havret (France), T. Jaidee (Thailand), T. Price (Australia).

281: T. Immelman (South Africa), W. Ormsby (Australia), U. Park (Australia).

282: E. Canonica (Italy), KJ Choi (South Korea), K. Ferrie (Britain), P. Marksaeng (Thailand), G. Paddison (NZ), T. Pilkadaris (Australia), A. Wall (Britain).

283: T. Bjorn (Denmark), D. Bransdon (Australia), P. Casey (Britain), S. Collins (Australia), M. Doyle (Australia), S. Hansen (Denmark), P. Hanson (Sweden), M. Lafeber (Netherlands).

284: C. Cevaer (France), K. Felton (Australia), S. Gardiner (Australia), A. Hansen (Denmark), P. Lawrie (Ireland), R. Moir (Australia), P. Senior (Australia), M. Tunnicliff (Britain), S. Wakefield (Britain), Ter-Chang Wang (Taiwan).

285: B. Lane (Britain), J. M. Lara (Spain), Wen-Ko Lin (Taiwan), J. Nitties (Australia), R. Schmidt (Australia).

286: A. Groom (Australia), Paul Lawrie (Britain), Wen-Chong Liang (China), S. Yates (Britain).

287: Yuan-Chi Chen (Taiwan), M. Fraser (Australia), P. O'Malley (Australia), P. Sjoeland (Sweden).

288: P. Fowler (Australia), C. Plaphol (Thailand).

289: M. Both (Australia), C. Gray (Australia), A. Kang (South Korea), E. Loar (United States), J-F Lucquin (France), W. Perske (Australia), Lian-Wei Zhang (China).

290: K. Barnes (Australia), P. Hedblom (Sweden), M. A. Jimenez (Spain), R. Lee (NZ).

292: C. Rodiles (Spain).

293: M. Cain (Australia).

294: G. Simpson (Australia).

HOUSTON OPEN

Leading final-round scores (par 72, US unless stated). -

275: V. Singh (Fiji) 64 71 70 70, J. Daly 68 67 73 67. Singh won on the first hole of a playoff.

277: J. M. Olazabal (Spain) 70 67 70 70.

278: D. Clarke (Britain) 71 69 71 67, G. Owen (Britain) 67 69 70 72.

279: J. Ogilvie 68 67 73 71.

280: L. Glover 70 71 72 67, B. Van Pelt 69 68 73 70, B. Davis (Britain) 71 69 70 70, J. Maggert 67 68 74 71, K. Jones 70 71 68 71, G. Coles (Australia) 65 69 71 75.

281: D. Barron 72 70 71 68, C. Warren 73 68 71 69, C. Paulson 67 70 74 70, B. Andrade 69 69 73 70.

282: C. Howell 70 70 69 73.

283: R. Pampling (Australia) 69 74 71 69, T. Hamilton 71 69 71 72, T. Byrum 68 70 70 75.

284: S. Ames (Trinidad) 70 73 72 69, J. Durant 72 71 72 69, T. Herron 67 76 69 72, D. Peoples 73 68 70 73, O. Browne 70 71 70 73, M. Calcavecchia 69 68 73 74, B. Quigley 67 67 73 77.

WOMEN'S CORONA MORELIA CHAMPS

Sweden's Carin Koch shot a one-under 71 to capture the title by six strokes in Morelia, Mexico, yesterday.

Koch took control with a birdie on the par-five 15th, then watched as third-round co-leader Wendy Ward shot a triple-bogey on No 16 to fall out of contention.

The 34-year-old Koch, whose only other LPGA Tour victory came at the Corning Classic in 2001, finished at nine-under 279.

Ward hit a hazard off the tee at 16, then three-putted for an eight to fall six shots back.

She finished with 78 and tied for third with Catriona Matthew on 286.

France's Karine Icher took advantage of Ward's struggles, birdieing two of the final three holes to pass Ward for second. She shot a 70 and finished at 285.

Lorena Ochoa, who won twice last year to become the LPGA Tour's first Mexican-born champion, was not a factor in the second tournament played in her homeland this year. She shot a 73 to finish tied for 16th at 293.

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INDOOR BOWLS

AUCKLAND

Championship pairs: J. Topliss/I. Topliss (Avondale RSA) 1, G. Harvey/ L. Jenner (Olympic) 2, P. Walker/P. Cohen (St Marys) and B. Caulton/ M. Babarich (Holy Cross) equal 3.

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LEAGUE

NRL

St George Illawarra beat the Sydney Roosters 26-24 in a thriller at Aussie Stadium yesterday, the Dragons securing the win with a try to centre Matt Cooper three minutes from fulltime.

Cooper scored in the left-hand corner following a Mathew Head chip kick on the halfway line.

Head landed the conversion to give the Dragons the lead.

The win was the Dragons' second of the season and relieves some pressure on coach Nathan Brown, while the Roosters remain outside the top eight.

Both teams scored four tries, with Head's boot proving to be the difference in a spiteful match which saw three players put on report and both teams finish with only 12 players on the field when Brett Finch and Justin Poore were sinbinned for fighting with eight minutes remaining.

St George Illawarra 26 (B. Hornby 2, S. Timmins, M. Cooper tries; M. Head 5 goals) Sydney Roosters 24 (C. Walker 2, A. Minichiello, R. Cross tries; T. Fitzgibbon 4 goals). HT: 12-18.

* Canterbury prop Mark O'Meley could be out for 12 weeks with leg ligament damage sustained in Australia's test win over New Zealand at Brisbane on Friday.

O'Meley was expecting to be out for six weeks with deep leg bruising after X-rays at the weekend cleared him of a fracture.

But scans yesterday revealed ligament damage between the tibia and fibula leg bones, and he could be sidelined for three months at the worst, a Bulldogs official said.

ENGLISH SUPER LEAGUE

Huddersfield 22 St Helens 36, Wakefield 29 London 18, Warrington 36 Hull 34.

UNIVERSITY GAMES

In Auckland: AUT 24 Otago 24, Auckland 38 Waikato 22.

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MOTOR RACING

SAN MARINO GRAND PRIX

F. Alonso (Spain) Renault, 1h 27 m 41.921s, 1, M. Schumacher (Germany) Ferrari, 00.00.215s behind, 2, J. Button (Britain) BAR, 00.10.481s, 3, A. Wurz (Austria) McLaren, 00.27.554s, 4, T. Sato (Japan) BAR, 00.34.783s, 5, J. Villeneuve (Canada) Sauber, 1m 4.442s, 6, J. Trulli (Italy) Toyota 1m 10.258s, 7, N. Heidfeld (Germany) Williams, 1m 11.282s, 8, M. Webber (Australia) Williams, 1m 23.297s, 9, V. Liuzzi (Italy) Red Bull, 1m 23.764s, 10.

R. Schumacher (Germany) Toyota, 1m 35.841 (penalised 25s for pitstop incident and relegated from eighth) 11, F. Massa (Brazil) Sauber, one lap, 12, D. Coulthard (Britain) Red Bull, one lap, 13, N. Karthikeyan (India) Jordan, one lap, 14, T. Monteiro (Portugal) Jordan, two laps, 15.

Retired: C. Albers (Netherlands) Minardi, 42 laps, R. Barrichello (Brazil) Ferrari, 44 laps, K. Raikkonen (Finland) McLaren, 53 laps, P. Friesacher (Austria) Minardi, 54 laps, G. Fisichella (Italy) Renault, 57 laps.

Fastest lap: M. Schumacher, 1m 21.858s, lap 48.

Standings, drivers: Alonso 36 points, Trulli 18, Fisichella 10, M. Schumacher 10, R. Schumacher 10, Coulthard 9, Barrichello 8, Montoya 8, Raikkonen 7, Webber 7, Heidfeld 6, Button 6.

Wurz 5, Sato 4, de la Rosa 4, Villeneuve 3, Klien 3, Massa 2, Monteiro 0, Karthikeyan 0, Liuzzi 0, Friesacher 0, Albers 0.

Constructors: Renault 46 points, 1, Toyota 28, 2, McLaren-Mercedes 24, 3, Ferrari 18, 4, Williams-BMW 13, 5, Red-Bull-Cosworth 12, 6, BAR-Honda 10, 7, Sauber-Petronas 5, 8, Jordan-Toyota 0, 9, Minardi-Cosworth 0, 10.

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RUGBY

NORTH HARBOUR

Northcote became the first holders of the Les Pearce Shield for North Harbour premier first-round competition with a convincing 38-20 win over Marist in yesterday's final at Riverhead.

it was Northcote's first title since 1990 and even though the margin was reasonably close, they were always in charge.

Playing against the wind, Northcote led 10-8 at halftime and would have been ahead by more had the normally reliable Terii Rahui been on form with his goalkicking.

With halfback and Harbour representative candidate Craig McGrath maintaining his good recent form, Northcote took command of the third quarter to run away to an unassailable lead.

Marist rallied over the final stages for two late tries, though one to prop Tom Coughlan appeared to be doubtful.

Marist felt the effects of a strenuous match against Massey on Saturday and were missing a number of leading players, especially in the forwards.

And in the backs, the penetration of Rudi Wulf was missed in the midfield. He has joined the Blues in South Africa because of their backline injury crisis.

Yesterday's matches also counted as the opening round in the championship proper and other significant results were last year's premiers Massey beating North Shore 22-13 and East Coast Bays pipping Takapuna 27-26.

Bays gained their win with a late 40m penalty into the wind by the prolific scoring fullback Andrew Congalton.

Helensville held off a strong finish to down Mahurangi 29-18 and Silverdale comfortably disposed of Glenfield 34-15.

In the wooden-spoon playoff, Kumeu celebrated their first win of the season, 21-5 over Navy.

Les Pearce Shield. -

Northcote 38 (S. Motuliki 2, T. Suemai 2, K. Bowater, T. Rahui tries, Rahui 4 con) Marist 20 (T. Berry, S. Tatuila, T. Coughlan tries, Berry con, A. Toomaga pen). HT: 10-8.

Massey 22 (A. Hubbard 2, S. Tuatao, R. Bareman tries, J. Pouleuligaga con) North Shore 13 (D. Brady, T. Popata tries, J. Poihipi pen). HT: 5-5.

East Coast Bays 27 (R. Elliot, D. Falealili tries, N. Coley dropped goal, A. Congalton con, 4 pen) Takapuna 26 (Z. Lawrence 2 tries, J. Elrick 2 con, 4 pen). HT: 10-13.

Helensville 29 (J. Flay 2, L. Plesko, J. Nasmith, J. Iguchi tries, Nasmith 2 con) Mahurangi 18 (W. Hafu, S. Tui tries, B. Lythe con, 2 pen). HT: 22-13.

Silverdale 34 (H. Moore 2, L. Fitzpatrick 2, A. Spencer tries, M Wilson 3 con, pen) Glenfield 15 (J. McPhee, C. Dellow tries, McPhee con, pen). HT: 24-0.

Kumeu 21 (A. Soons 2, M. Fulton tries, T. Farley 3 con) Navy 5 (J. Bosson try). HT: 7-0.

HEINEKEN CUP

Toulouse won the battle of the European heavyweights yerrsterday as they deservedly beat Leicester 27-19 to reach their fourth final.

ENGLISH PREMIERSHIP

London Irish 19 Bath 21.

Points: Wasps 73, Leicester 73, Bath 57, Sale 56, Saracens 53, Gloucester 46, Newcastle 43, London Irish 39, Northampton 39, Worcester 38, Harlequins 37, Leeds 35.

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SOCCER

NORTHERN FEDERATION

Premier men. -

University-Mt Wellington 2 (J. Waugh, K. Escolme) Mangere United 4 (D. Koprivcic 2, L. T. Bagoja Spirovski).

Bay Olympic 1 (R. Davani) Glenfield Rovers 2 (D. Dodds, C. Flanagan).

Papakura 1 (S. Irvine) Central United 2 (P. Urlovic, J. Smith).

Tauranga City United 2 (J. Wakelin, S. Messam) Waitakere City 2 (J. Slack, K. Bright).

East Coast Bays 1 (N. Jones) Eastern Suburbs 2 (N. Robertson, T. McKenzie).

North Shore United 2 (S. Jasper, D. Ellensohn) Ellerslie 2 (D. Archery, D. Turner).

First division: Mt Albert-Ponsonby 1 North Force 3, Fencibles United 1 Albany United 1, Onehunga Sports 1 Melville United 0, Hamilton Wanderers 1 Three Kings United 0, Takapuna 2 Metro 2, West Auckland 2 Birkenhead United 1.

Points: Onehunga Sports 15, Birkenhead 10, Albany 9, West Auckland 7, Fencibles, North Force, Hamilton Wanderers 6, Melville 5, Mt Albert Ponsonby, Three Kings, Takapuna 4, Metro 1.

Second division: Otahuhu United 1 Waitemata 2, Hibiscus Coast 3 Claudelands Rovers 0, Western Springs 2 Papatoetoe 2, Manurewa 2 Ngaruawahia United 2, Cambridge 0 Onehunga-Mangere United 2, Lynn Avon United 3 South Auckland Rangers 1.

Points: South Auckland, Lynn Avon 12, Papatoetoe 11, Ngaruawahia, Hibiscus Coast 9, Onehunga Mangere 8, Otahuhu 6, Waitemata 5, Cambridge 4, Western Springs 3, Manurewa, Claudelands 1.

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TENNIS

BARCELONA OPEN

Rafael Nadal produced another devastating exhibition of claycourt tennis to sweep aside former world No 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-1, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 in the final yesterday.

The 18-year-old Spaniard claimed his fourth ATP title of the year, following on from Monte Carlo last week when he became the youngest winner of a Masters Series event in 15 years.

Ferrero, in his first final since losing to Lleyton Hewitt in Rotterdam in February 2004, put up some stiff opposition in the second set, but Nadal was in irresistible form to wrap up victory in straight sets.

"I'm delighted and feel incredibly happy with what have been an amazing two months," said Nadal, who is a serious contender for next month's French Open, having also claimed titles in Brazil and Mexico earlier this year.

The victory gave Nadal a 25-2 record on clay this year and moved him level with world No 1 Roger Federer's 35 victories this season.

It also assured that he would break into the world's top 10 for the first time when the new ATP rankings are released today.

"It's brilliant to be ranked No 7 in the world as early as April and it's been a dream come true to win here and in Monte Carlo. It's been a fantastic two weeks," he said.

The teenager is also looking to become the first player this year to win the doubles and singles at the same tournament when he and partner Feliciano Lopez meet Leander Paes and Nenad Zimonjic in the doubles final.

Nadal, who beat Ferrero 6-2, 6-1 in the first round in Valencia earlier this month, was given a tougher test this time.

US MEN'S CLAY-COURT CHAMPS

American Andy Roddick easily overcame weak-serving Sebastien Grosjean, of France, 6-2, 6-2 for his 17th career title and his third US clay-court championship in five years in Houston yesterday.

Roddick, playing his first tournament since a wrist injury forced him out of the ATP tournament at Key Biscayne three weeks ago, needed just 70 minutes to complete a run through the field without losing a set.

With his wrist in a splint for 10 days, Roddick used the time off the court to do extra training and footwork. It paid off against Grosjean.

"I've never seen Andy play like that on clay, moving well, seeing the ball," Grosjean said.

It was Roddick's fifth straight appearance in the final, the longest streak on the ATP tour since Russia's Yevgeny Kafelnikov reached the title match at Moscow from 1996-2001, winning the last five.

Roddick earned US$52,000 ($72,260), and Grosjean US$30,600 for his first final since last June.

WOMEN'S FED CUP

The United States reached the semifinals when top-ranked Lindsay Davenport beat Els Callens 6-4, 6-0 for an unbeatable lead against Belgium in Florida yesterday.

Davenport topped an opponent ranked 175th to put the US ahead 3-0 in the best-of-five quarter-final.

Venus Williams then dispatched 363rd-ranked Leslie Butkiewicz 6-1, 6-4 in a dead rubber.

The US advanced to the semifinals in July at the home of defending champions Russia, 4-1 winners in Italy.

France will face Spain in the other semifinal. The French beat Austria 4-1 and Spain eliminated Argentina 3-2.

"I didn't feel I played that great in the first set," said Davenport, who has a 25-2 Fed Cup singles record. "I made some sloppy errors, but I got better in the second set. What I wanted to do was go out there and get the tie over."

Davenport said she tried to get a commitment from sisters Serena and Venus Williams to play in Russia. She called their response positive, but not a guarantee.

The Russian squad could feature Anastasia Myskina, Elena Dementieva, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Maria Sharapova.

The Americans hold a 4-0 lead over Russia in Fed Cup play, but they have not met since the Russian women surged to the top of the game.

The Belgians were without former No. 1 players Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters. They recently returned from injuries and wanted to concentrate on the Grand Slams.

* * *

TRIATLON

WORLD CUP SERIES
(Mazatlan, Mexico)

Leading results (1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run). -

Men: H. Kemper (US) 1h 50m 32s, 1, M. Reed (US) 1h 50m 47s, 2, M. Petzold (Germany) 1h 50m 55s, 3. New Zealanders: S. Reed 1h 51m 34s, 6, G. O'Grady 1h 58m 22s, 46, W. Green 1h 59m 24s, 48, S. Walker 2h 02m 55s, 54.

Women: V. Fernandes (Portugal) 2h 01m 56s, 1, J. Savege (Canada) 2h 03m 51s, 2, J. Franzman (Germany) 2h 04m 32s, 3.