Barty, Russia win Down Under

Topranked Ash Barty cashed in on her first championship point in the Yarra Valley Classic and Daniil Medvedev clinched the ATP Cup title for

Russia within seconds of each other Sunday in Melbourne as tuneup tournaments for the Australian Open finished on the eve of the year’s first major.

After a hectic preparation, which included 14day quarantines under strict COVID19 pandemic regulations for all players, coaches and staff flying in for the Australian Open, the warmup week was capped with five finals and two semifinals.

Barty claimed her second WTA title on home soil with a 76 (3), 64 win over sixthseeded Garbiñe Muguruza, the Australian Open runnerup last year.

Barty will get the day off Monday because the bottom half of the Australian Open women’s draw will be played on the first day, featuring Serena Williams starting another bid for a record 24th Grand Slam singles title, thirdranked Naomi Osaka and secondranked Simona Halep.

The top half of the men’s draw is set for Monday, with Novak Djokovic starting his quest for a third consecutive Australian Open title with a firstround match against Jeremy Chardy and thirdranked Dominic Thiem, the runnerup here last year, opening against Mikhail Kukushkin.

At Rod Laver Arena, fourthranked Medvedev secured Russia’s 20 win over Italy in the ATP Cup final when he beat Matteo Berrettini 64, 62.

Horse racing: Concert Tour won the $200,000 San Vicente Stakes by a halflength over Freedom Fighter at Santa Anita in Southern California, giving Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert a 12 finish of Kentucky Derby hopefuls.

Soccer: Manchester United allowed a goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time to fall to a 33 draw at home to Everton and complicate its title aspirations in the English Premier League.

Manchester City goes into Sunday’s showdown with defending champion Liverpool with a twopoint lead over United and two games in hand.

Raphael Varane’s secondhalf goals helped defending champion Real Madrid win at lastplaced Huesca 21 to move into second place in the Spanish league.