Hewitt wins Wimbledon
LONDON, July 8 (UPI) -- Lleyton Hewitt, etching his name alongside the great Australian champions of the past, routed No. 18 David Nalbandian of Argentina Sunday, 6-1, 6-3, 6-2, to win his first Wimbledon title.
It was Hewitt's second career Grand Slam championship.
In a tournament at which all but two of the top 10 seeds were gone by the third round, Hewitt, ranked No. 1 in the world, lived up to his top seeding. He rolled to his fourth tournament victory of the year in just under two hours.
He is the first Australian to win here since Pat Cash did it 15 years ago and the 21st all time,
joining greats Rod Laver and John Newcome in the Open Era.
Hewitt also is the first men's player to be the reigning U.S. Open and Wimbledon champion since Pete Sampras in 1997.
Nalbandian, the first player in the Open Era to reach the Wimbledon men's final in his tournament debut, was playing in his first career match at famed Centre Court. He showed his inexperience with seven double faults, 41 unforced errors and just 10 winners.
The Williams sisters continued their success. Serena Williams, now ranked No. 1, beat her older sister and two-time defending title Venus Saturday in the women's final. Teh sisters teamed Sunday to capture their second Wimbledon doubles crown. They beat the second-seeded team of Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain and Argentina's Paola Suarez, 6-2, 7-5.
Inkster surpasses Sorenstam at U.S. Open
HUTCHINSON, Kan., July 8 (UPI) -- Juli Inkster put on a pressure-packed putting performance Sunday that sent her storming past Annika Sorenstam and allowed her to grab her second U.S. Women's Open championship in the last four years.
At age 42, Inkster became the second-oldest winner of the most significant event in women's golf and she also turned in the best closing-round score by a winner in the tournament's history.
She shot a 4-under 66, matching the lowest round of the week, and thus won her seventh major title on the same course where she won the first of her three consecutive U.S. Amateur crowns 22 years ago. Only Jack Nicklaus has won a USGA Amateur and Open championship on the same course, having done so at Pebble Beach.
Inkster needed just 25 putts Sunday to work her way around the Prairie Dunes Country Club course, the most significant of them being an 18-footer to save par at the 15th and a 15-footer for birdie at the 16th to all but wrap up the title.
She completed 72 holes at 4-under 276, two shots in front of Sorenstam.
Sorenstam, who was seeking her third U.S. Open title and her seventh victory on the LPGA Tour this year, opened the day with a two-shot lead and shot an even-par 70 on the difficult course. But the steady play of the Swedish superstar was not enough.
Australian Shani Waugh finished alone in third, a distant seven shots behind Inkster. Spain's Raquel Carriedo, who spends most of her time on the European Women's Tour, equaled Inkster's 66 for the low round of the tournament to finish fourth at 284. Se Ri Pak of South Korea was at 285 and Mhairi McKay of Scotland finished at 286.
Foyt cars win twice
KANSAS CITY, Kan., July 8 (UPI) -- Team owner A.J. Foyt felt as if he had hit a double jackpot Sunday after his drivers won both races at Kansas Speedway, highlighted by Airton Dare's late charge to victory in the Indy Racing League's Ameristar Casino Indy 200.
Earlier in the day, Foyt's grandson A.J. Foyt IV won the first-ever race in the Infiniti Pro Series.
The 26-year-old Dare scored his first-ever IRL victory when he capitalized on a controversial late-race restart and blew by leader Sam Hornish Jr. That was on lap 198 and Dare was able to block Hornish and hold on to finish 0.1741 seconds ahead of the defending IRL champion with a speed of 178.527 miles per hour.
Despite hot and humid conditions, a sellout crowd of 80,000 fans filled Kansas Speedway for the IRL's second race at the facility.
In Toronto, Brazilian Cristiano da Matta led wire-to-wire to win the Molson Indy Toronto and tie the record of Alex Zanardi and Al Unser Jr. with a fourth consecutive victory in the CART series.
Mariners down Twins
SEATTLE, July 8 (UPI) -- John Olerud hit a pair of two-run homers and John Halama pitched 5 2/3 innings Sunday as the Seattle Mariners headed to the All-Star break with an 8-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins.
At 55-33, the Mariners have a 3 1/2 game lead over second-place Anaheim in the American League West. Last season, the Mariners won 63 games before the break and held a 19-game lead atop the division en route to tying the 1906 Chicago Cubs' single-season record of 116 victories.
Olerud helped the Marinrs gain a split of the four-game series with his homers in the third and eighth innings.
Making his first start since May 17, Halama (4-2) surrendered two runs and four hits, walking two and striking out six. The lefthander improved to 6-0 lifetime against Minnesota.
Arthur Rhodes struck out four in two scoreless innings and Kazuhiro Sasaki got the final four outs for his 21st save.
Other American League results: Detroit 9, Boston 8; New York 10, Toronto 6; Cleveland 9, Chicago 3; Oakland 3, Kansas City 2; Anaheim 2, Tampa Bay 1 in 10 innings; Baltimore 10, Texas 4.
Cardinals pound Dodgers with 17 hits
ST. LOUIS, July 8 (UPI) -- Albert Pujols and Eduardo Perez each hit three-run homers Sunday as the St. Louis Cardinals pounded out 17 hits in a 12-6 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Placido Polanco had a career-high five hits and Edgar Renteria hit a solo homer for St. Louis, which matched its highest run total of the year and moved two games in front of the Cincinnati Reds for the lead in the National League Central.
The Cardinals, who won for the fifth time in seven games, also had a 12-6 win on June 7 at Kansas City.
The offense was useful as righthander Luther Hackman made his first start of the season. Hackman, who had not started since 1999, gave up four runs and five hits in two-plus innings.
Ogther National League results: Atlanta 2, Chicago 0; Milwaukee 7, Cincinnati 4; Philadelphia 10, Montreal 8; Houston 6, Pittsburgh 1; San Diego 7, Colorado 1; New York 9, Florida 3; San Francisco 5, Arizona 2.
Armstrong slips back in Tour de France
LUXEMBOURG, July 8 (UPI) -- Rubens Bertogliati of Switzerland won the first stage of the Tour de France Sunday and edged ahead of Lance Armstrong of the United States in the overall standings.
Bertogliati, a rider for the Lampre Daikin team, shocked the pack by starting a solo sprint for the line with just over a half-mile left in the 121.17-mile stage.
The 23-year-old recorded his first career stage win at the world's most famous cycling race and will wear the yellow jersey as the overall leader during Monday's second stage from Luxembourg to Sarrebruck, Germany.
Armstrong, the three-time defending Tour champion and winner of Saturday's prologue, is just three seconds off the overall pace in third place and remains the strong favorite to win the event again.
The Texan is looking to stay within striking distance of the leaders until the mountain stages begin until the 10th leg on July 17.
Donovan scores in San Jose victory
SAN JOSE, July 8 (UPI) -- With a goal from World Cup star forward Landon Donovan, defending MLS Cup champion San Jose defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy Sunday night, 1-0.
The Earthquakes set a MLS record for consecutive home wins with their tenth in a row dating back to Aug. 25, 2001. San Jose goalkeeper Joe Cannon also earned his league-leading sixth shutout of the season.
The San Jose win avenged a 2-1 Independence Day loss at the hands of the Galaxy in what was also a tightly contested match. The Earthquakes improve to a League-best 10-5-2 record and become the first team to break the 30-point threshold this season.
In the only other MLS game on the schedule, Chicago defeated Colorado in overtime, 2-1.
