UPI NewsTrack Sports

Nash earns second straight MVP honor

PHOENIX, May 7 (UPI) -- Point guard Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns Sunday was named the NBA's Most Valuable Player for the second year in row.

Nash, a first-round draft pick by the Suns in 1995 out of Santa Clara, had per game averages of 18.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 10.5 assists while playing more than 35 minutes per contest. He had 57 first-place votes for 924 points.

Cleveland guard LeBron James finished second with 16-first place votes and 688 points. Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki was third with 14-first place votes and 544 points.

Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant had 22-first place votes and 483 points. Detroit guard Chauncey Billups was fifth.

Nash, who helped the Suns win 54 games and a second straight Pacific Division title, is just the ninth player to earn back-to-back MVP awards.

Among others are Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.

Michael Schumacher wins the latest F1 race

NUERBURGRING, Germany, May 7 (UPI) -- Germany's Michael Schumacher was an easy winner of the Grand Prix of Europe Formula One race in Nuerburgring, Germany, Sunday.

His No.5 Ferrari crossed the finish line 3.751 seconds ahead of Fernando Alonso.

"The wind conditions (were) a little bit tricky but the day was superb," Schumacher said.

It was his second win of the season and 86th of his Formula One career. He won the Gran Premio Foster's di San Marino race at Imola, Italy, on April 23.

Felipe Massa, Schumacher's Ferrari teammate, was third. Rubens Barrichello (Honda) was fourth and Kimi Raikkonen (Mercedes Benz) finished fifth.

Jenson Button (Honda), Jarno Trulli (Toyota), Jacques Villeneuve (BMW), Juan Pablo Montoya (Mercedes Benz) and Mark Webber (Cosworth) ended in spots 6-10.

Despite two consecutive wins by Schumacher, Alonso continues to lead the series in points with 44. Schumacher has 31, Raikkonen has 23, Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault) has 18 points, and Montoya and Massa are tied for fifth with 15.

Furyk beats Immelman in Wachovia playoff

CHARLOTTE, N.C., May 7 (UPI) -- Jim Furyk made par on the first playoff hole Sunday to beat Trevor Immelman and win the Wachovia Championship at Charlotte, N.C.

Furyk and Immelman finished regulation tied at 12-under 276, after Furyk shot a 71 and Immelman closed with a 70.

Furyk earned $1.13 million for his 11th PGA Tour title -- one year after losing in a playoff to Vijay Singh at the Wachovia Championship.

Immelman's second-place finish was his best on the PGA Tour. He finished in a tie for fifth at the 2005 Masters.

Adam Scott finished third at 8-under 280. Lucas Glover and Bill Haas tied for fourth at 7-under 281.

Steve Lowery, Joey Sindelar, Vaughn Taylor and Bo Van Pelt tied for sixth at 6-under 282. And Retief Goosen and Geoff Ogilvy tied for 10th at 5-under 283.

Kerr wins American Mortgage Championship

FRANKLIN, Tenn., May 7 (UPI) -- Cristie Kerr fired a five-under 67 Sunday to erase a four-shot deficit and win the American Mortgage Championship at Franklin, Tenn.

Kerr finished at 19-under-par 269, winning her seventh LPGA title by two shots over Angela Stanford (73), Lorena Ochoa (66) and Pat Hurst (68).

"I just had a feeling this whole week it was going to be my week," said Kerr, who earned $165,000 for the win. "I just knew that I just had to hang in there and just keep going and applying pressure. That's what happened."

Stanford squandered a four-shot lead in the final round.

Ji Yeon Lee shot 3-under 69 in the final round to finish in fifth place at 16-under- 272.

Nalbandian wins men's title in Estoril

ESTORIL, Portugal, May 7 (UPI) -- Top-seeded David Nalbandian of Argentina beat Nikolay Davydenko in straight sets to win the Estoril Open tennis tournament in Estoril, Portugal, Sunday.

The scores were 6-4, 6-3.

It was the first Estoril final between the top two seeds since the tournament began in 1990. Nalbandian also won it in 2002.

"To return four years after the first triumph and win again is very positive," said Nalbandian, who won $74,300.

It was the third consecutive year that a player from Argentina played for the title. The others were Gaston Gaudio and Juan Ignacio Chela.

In the first all-Chinese final on the WTA Tour, Jie Zheng beat Na Li, 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, for the women's title at Estoril.

Na retired after the second set with a thigh injury.

Clijsters wins WTA event in Warsaw

WARSAW, Poland, May 7 (UPI) -- Top seed Kim Clijsters of Belgium beat Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, 7-5, 6-2, to win the J&S Cup tennis tournament at Warsaw, Poland, Sunday.

It was the first clay-court crown for the former world No. 1 since the 2003 Italian Open.

Clijsters, who has been hampered by numerous injuries in the past year, improved her lifetime record against Kuznetsova to 6-1, and avenged a loss to Kuznetsova in last year's J&S Cup semifinals.

"I constructed points very well today, I was very patient and waited for the opportunities to hit my winners," Clijsters said. "I thought I was very consistent. We had some great rallies, which were fun for us both."

"I lost to a very tough opponent today," said Kuznetsova, who is ranked 10th in the world and was the No. 4 seed in the tournament. She finished as the runner-up for the third consecutive year.

"I'm really happy to have reached the final," she said.

Clijsters earned $95,500.

Rochus titles in Munich

MUNICH, Germany, May 7 (UPI) -- In a battle of Belgian players, Olivier Rochus trashed Kristof Vliegen, 6-4, 6-2, Sunday to win the BMW Open tennis tournament in Munich, Germany.

On the historic day for tennis in Belgium, the fifth-seeded Rochus never gave his good friend a chance to visit the winner's circle.

"It's just amazing for Belgian tennis," Rochus said. "It's much nicer to meet in the final than in the first round. It was just unfortunate that one of us had to lose. He didn't play his best match today. I was very solid, playing aggressively when I could -- no mistakes. I was feeling good."

Rochus -- who improved to 2-3 in career finals -- is the first Belgian to capture a tour title since Xavier Malisse won at Delray Beach on Feb, 6, 2005. Rochus won at Palermo, Italy, in 2000.

Vliegen was playing in just his second final.