Off the wire

MOTOR SPORTS Hamilton coasts in China

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton steered clear of a chaotic start at the Chinese Grand Prix and coasted to victory on Sunday, claiming his fifth title in Shanghai. Hamilton started from the pole position and led from beginning to end to capture the 54th race title of his career and his first of the new Formula One season. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel recovered from a mishap-filled start to finish in second place, 6.2 seconds behind the Mercedes driver. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen improved from 17th position on the starting grid to finish in third place, fighting off a spirited challenge from teammate Daniel Ricciardo on the final lap. Ricciardo ended up in fourth, followed by Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen in fifth and Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas in sixth.

Hinchcliffe hangs on

James Hinchcliffe raced to his first victory since his near-fatal accident in 2015 by hanging on for a three-lap shootout to the finish Sunday on the streets of Long Beach, Calif. Hinchcliffe had two strong late restarts to win in a Honda for Schmidt-Peterson Motorsports. It was the Canadian’s first victory since at New Orleans a month before he nearly bled to death in an accident during practice for the Indianapolis 500. Sebastien Bourdais followed his season-opening victory at St. Pete with a second-place finish to give Honda a 1-2 podium finish. Josef Newgarden was the highest finishing Team Penske driver and was third in a Chevrolet. Scott Dixon was fourth in a Ganassi Honda, and defending race winner Simon Pagenaud drove from last to fifth.

BASKETBALL Kansas guard returning

Kansas junior combo guard Devonte Graham announced Sunday afternoon on Twitter that he’ll be returning for his senior year with the Jayhawks. “I would just like to announce to all my family, friends and & fans that I’m coming back to school for my senior Yr,” Graham tweeted. Under his tweet was a picture of him on the court in uniform smiling, with the caption, “How I feel about senior yr.” Graham averaged 13.4 points a game with 149 assists to 64 turnovers last season for Kansas (31-5). He hit 42.8 percent of his shots and was 94 of 242 on 3-pointers (.388). Graham, 6-foot-2 from Raleigh, N.C., said after KU’s season-ending loss to Oregon that he would speak to family members and KU coach Bill Self, then decide whether to return for a senior season or enter the NBA draft. KU officials indicated Sunday that Graham had said he wanted to handle his announcement via Twitter and were aware of the tweet.

HOCKEY Ruff not returning in Dallas

Lindy Ruff will not return as coach of the Dallas Stars after the team went from the Western Conference’s top seed last year to missing the playoffs this season. General Manager Jim Nill announced the move Sunday, a day after the Stars finished with their second-fewest points in a full season since moving to Dallas in 1993-94. Ruff didn’t have a contract beyond this season. In a statement, Nill thanked Ruff “for his commitment and professionalism over the four years that he served as our head coach in Dallas.” Ruff was the first significant hire for Nill after he took over following the 2012-13 season. Nill had decided not to renew the third-year option for coach Glen Gulutzan. The Stars finished 34-37-11 this season, 11th in the Western Conference with 79 points.

SOCCER Dunn leads U.S. women

Crystal Dunn had two goals for the second consecutive game, helping the U.S. women’s national team cruise to a 5-1 victory over Russia in an international friendly Sunday in Houston. Dunn scored in the 38th minute off a pass from Meghan Klingenberg before opening the second half with her fourth goal in the two Russian friendlies off a pass from Mallory Pugh. Carli Lloyd and Rose Lavelle also scored in the United States’ dominant performance. The Americans had a 21-2 advantage in shots and attempted 15 corner kicks to 1 by Russia.

TENNIS Russia teen rolls

Daria Kasatkina overpowered Jalena Ostapenko to win her first WTA event Sunday in straight sets at the Volvo Car Open in Charleston. The final was the first between two teens on the WTA tour in eight years and the 19-year-old Russian handled the pressure much better, winning 6-3, 6-1, breaking Ostapenko in five of her last six service games. Kasatkina is a rising star on tour. She has two wins already this season over top-ranked Angelique Kerber. And she took full advantage of her first appearance in a tour final. Kasatkina wiped tears from her eyes for several minutes after winning match point, hugging her father and her coach. On Sunday, she was content to play carefully and wait for Ostapenko, 19, to make a mistake. The Latvian, playing in her third WTA final, had three unforced errors in a row to lose her final service game.

Azarenka sets return

Former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka plans to return to the WTA Tour for the Bank of the West Classic this summer at Stanford. Azarenka, 27, stepped away from the game last year after she became pregnant. Her son was born in December. Azarenka, from Belarus, won the Australian Open in 2012 and 2013 and lost the U.S. Open final to Serena Williams in three sets both years. She won at Stanford in 2010.

Australia moves past U.S.

Australia advanced to the Davis Cup semifinals after Nick Kyrgios beat late substitute Sam Querrey of the United States 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-4 in the first reverse singles match on Sunday, clinching the quarterfinal 3-1. On a hard court at Pat Rafter Arena, Kyrgios and his singles partner Jordan Thompson gave Australia a 2-0 lead Friday before the American team staved off elimination Saturday when Jack Sock, who lost to Thompson on Friday, and partner Steve Johnson beat Sam Groth and John Peers 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.

BASEBALL Nationals designate Guthrie

In need of bullpen reinforcements after three grueling games, the Washington Nationals found them in veteran right-hander Matt Albers, who arrived from Class AAA Syracuse on Sunday. Albers flew in to Philadelphia a few hours before Sunday’s game, and was unpacking his things in the locker most recently occupied by Jeremy Guthrie who the Nationals designated Guthrie for assignment Sunday after he allowed 10 runs in two-thirds of an inning Saturday night. Guthrie must clear waivers before either accepting an assignment to Syracuse or pursuing work elsewhere.