Off the wire

TENNIS Tsitsipas beats Thiem in three sets

Three years after coming to the ATP Finals as a hitting partner to the top pros, Stefanos Tsitsipas is leaving the tournament as champion. Tsitsipas rallied to beat Dominic Thiem 6-7 (6), 6-2, 7-6 (4) on Sunday for the biggest title of his career, becoming the youngest champion at the season-ending event in 18 years. “I remember myself watching this event on TV and thinking, ‘Oh, these guys have done an insane year to be playing here,’” said the 21-year-old Tsitsipas, who was making his first appearance at the tournament. “And now I’m in the position to be champion, so it feels awesome.” It’s been quite a journey for Tsitsipas, who first met Thiem at the O2 Arena in 2016 when he was the world’s topranked junior and was invited to be a hitting partner for the ATP Finals participants. “That is unbelievable,” Tsitsipas said when reminded of that day. “I just remembered (that), first time I met Dominic was I came here as a sparring partner. I think my first hit was with Dominic. It’s unbelievable, isn’t it? We are now facing each other in the final.” It was quite a final, too. The 21-yearold Greek bounced back from dropping a tight first set by racing out to a 4-0 lead in the second, and then held off the Austrian’s comeback in the third. Tsitsipas couldn’t capitalize on another early break and a 3-1 lead in the deciding set but won the last three points of the tiebreaker, clinching the win when Thiem sent a return wide. Earlier, French duo Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert won the doubles title by beating Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Michael Venus of New Zealand 6-3, 6-4. GOLF Todd, Taylor tied at Mayakoba

Brendon Todd and Vaughn Taylor were tied for the lead with four holes remaining in the rain-delayed Mayakoba Golf Classic in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, when play was suspended Sunday because of darkness. Todd, coming off a victory in the Bermuda Championship two weeks ago, shot a 6-under 65 on Sunday morning to take a one-shot lead into the final round over Taylor (66) and Harris English (68). They all remained in the mix, along with Carlos Ortiz, challenging for his first PGA Tour victory before a home crowd in Mexico. Ortiz was one shot behind and chose not to play the 18th hole when it became too dark for him to properly see. Todd and Taylor were at 20-under par, one ahead of English and Ortiz. Taylor came up short on the par3 15th and pitched to 5 feet. Todd and English had birdie putts from the 20-foot range on the hole. Todd had a two-shot lead until he failed to get up-and-down from just off the green on the par-5 13th, and then hit a heavy chip and missed a 7-foot par putt on the next hole. The tournament did not start until Friday because heavy rain washed out the opening round.

Fleetwood rallies in Sun City

Tommy Fleetwood made three eagles and came from six shots behind to win the Nedbank Golf Challenge in a playoff on Sunday in Sun City, South Africa. Fleetwood beat Marcus Kinhult on the first extra hole for a fifth European Tour victory and his first at the Nedbank. The Englishman made par and Sweden’s Kinhult a bogey in the playoff on No. 18. Fleetwood surged into contention with a 7-under 65 to take the clubhouse lead at Gary Player Country Club having started the final round six shots off the lead. Kinhult also finished 12 under overall with a closing 68. Kinhult missed the fairway off the tee in the playoff and had to play out of the rough sideways on the way to a bogey five. Fleetwood scrambled for a par to claim $2.5 million, the biggest winner’s prize in European Tour history. He moved second behind Bernd Wiesberger in the Race to Dubai standings with one tournament left in the season, next week’s World Tour Championship in Dubai. The 28-year-old Fleetwood won the Race to Dubai in 2017 and has a chance of being crowned Europe’s No. 1 for the second time in three seasons. Wiesberger finished with a 2-under 70 to tie for third with Jason Scrivener and Thomas Detry.

BASKETBALL Former Auburn player injured

Former Auburn and NBA player Marquis Daniels was injured in an automobile accident. An Auburn basketball spokesman says Daniels was in the accident Saturday night in Auburn and was transported to a Birmingham hospital for treatment. The spokesman didn’t disclose any further details on Daniels’ injuries. Daniels recently received a master’s degree and now works as Auburn’s Director of Player Development. He was undrafted out of Auburn in 2003 but went on to have a 10-year NBA career with four teams, the Dallas Mavericks, Indiana Pacers, Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks. He earned second-team AllNBA rookie honors in 2004 with the Mavericks.

MOTOR SPORTS Verstappen wins Brazilian GP

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won Formula One’s Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday for his eighth career victory in a race which ended disastrously for both Ferrari drivers. It also finished badly for six-time world champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes who caused Red Bull’s Alexander Albon to spin near the end. A post-race five-second punishment demoted the British driver from third to seventh place. Brazil marked Verstappen’s third win this season, after victories in

Austria and Germany. He started from the pole position in Sao Paulo. The result moved the 22-yearold Verstappen to third place in the driver’s championship, already won by Hamilton. Verstappen is 11 points ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc with only the Abu Dhabi GP on Dec. 1 to go. The Dutch driver controlled nearly all the race in Sao Paulo, which saw a dramatic late collision on the 66th lap at Interlagos between four-time champion Sebastian Vettel and Leclerc when they fought for fourth position. Both failed to finish. Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly got his first F1 podium in second place, only 0.062 seconds ahead of Hamilton, in front of more than 70,000 fans.

BASEBALL Mexico qualifies for Olympics

Matt Clark hit a tying home run off former St. Louis pitcher Brandon Dickson leading off the bottom of the ninth inning, Efren Navarro had a broken-bat single against Caleb Thielbar to drive in the winning run in the 10th and Mexico beat the United States 3-2 Sunday at the Tokyo Dome to qualify for the Olympic baseball tournament for the first time. Mexico joined host Japan, South Korea and Israel in the six-nation field for next summer’s Tokyo Games and earned the bronze medal in the Premier12 tournament, which served as qualifying. The United States will play next spring in the Americas tournament, which determines one of the two remaining Olympic berths. Jo Adell, the 10th overall pick by the Los Angeles Angels in the 2017 amateur draft, homered in the first against Tampa Bay’s Arturo Reyes. Milwaukee’s Cody Ponce, the U.S. starter, allowed three hits in five scoreless innings with six strikeouts and a walk. Clark, who played 16 games for Milwaukee in 2014, tied it in the sixth with a bases-loaded, two-out single off Kansas City prospect Daniel Tillo.