At last, Wozniacki overcomes Venus
Caroline Wozniacki won the biggest title of her career when she beat Venus Williams 6-4, 6-4 in the WTA Finals in Singapore on Sunday.
The Dane completed the victory with a backhand down the line on a second match point for her 60th match victory of the season.
The 27-year-old’s best previous result at the WTA Finals was reaching the final in 2010.
Williams, who was hoping to win a 50th career title Sunday, was the only player at this year’s WTA Finals who didn’t win a title during the season.
Williams, 37, appeared in three finals at the five most prestigious tournaments of the season: the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and in Singapore.
Williams, who won the WTA Finals title in 2008, had won all seven previous matches against Wozniacki.
“Eight is my lucky number, so I was hoping if I was going to beat her at least once in my career, it would be today,” Wozniacki said. “I just went out there and did my best.”
Wozniacki raced to a 5-0 lead in the second set before Williams mounted a late comeback attempt.
“I didn’t seem to come up with my best tennis until it was too late,” Williams said. “I’ll try to play a little better earlier next time. That might be a good plan.”
Roger Federer finally beat Juan Martin del Potro in a Swiss Indoors final, winning 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3 to take sole possession of second place on the Open era title list. Federer’s 95th ATP tournament win — the eighth in his hometown Basel event where he was once a ballboy — lifted him out of a tie with Ivan Lendl, trailing only Jimmy Connors who has 109.
Lucas Pouille won his third title of the season and fourth overall after defeating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1, 6-4 in an allFrench final at the Erste Bank Open.
Coach rips refs who left game
A high school football coach criticized a referee who refused to officiate a game after members of the opposing team knelt during the national anthem.
Referees Ernie Lunardelli and his son, Anthony, said they told officials from Colts Neck and Monroe high schools before Friday night’s game they would walk off the field if any players protested. They said they respect players’ right to protest but believe such acts are disrespectful.
Colts Neck coach Darian Barnes told NJ.com that Ernie Lunardelli yelled at Monroe players after some knelt, and he had to be pulled off the field, accusations Lunardelli denies. Lunardelli said he stopped on his way off the field only after a coach from Monroe yelled at him.
“One of the coaches said something and it kind of irked me, and I just turned around and I was looking to see who it was,” Lunardelli said. “Nobody pulled me; I walked off.”
Barnes agrees referees and players should be able to express their views but says Lunardelli was “a coward” to yell at the teenage players.
“It wasn’t difficult to watch those kids kneel and it wasn’t difficult to watch him leave the game because of it,” Barnes said. “His anger was difficult. His anger, the way he yelled, the look on his face — it bothered ... me.”
The trend of kneeling during the national anthem started in the NFL, in which some players kneel to protest social injustices, particularly against African Americans. Soccer: The Vancouver Whitecaps and Seattle Sounders combined for just one shot on target in a scoreless draw to open their Western Conference semifinal. Host Vancouver, which missed the MLS playoffs by eight points last season, and Seattle, winner of the 2016 MLS Cup, kept things tight to the vest with neither team willing to take many risks.
Leicester won its first game under manager Claude Puel as it defeated struggling Everton 2-0 in the English Premier League.
La Liga newcomer Girona stunned Real Madrid with a 2-1 victory in the defending champion’s first trip to Catalonia since Spain’s political crisis escalated.
Napoli reinforced its title credentials by beating Sassuolo 3-1 to move three points clear in Serie A.
Nabil Fekir continued his return to form by scoring twice as Lyon beat Metz 2-0 to climb to third place in the French league.
Police say a fan died after he was hit by a rock thrown by rival supporters at a game in the African nation of Malawi.