Sports 2000

The U.S. Open begins Monday. Among the top players in action are five-time defending champion Roger Federer and past champion Andy Roddick. On the women’s side, Serena and Venus Williams are among the highest seeds in action.

New York has the best record in baseball in 82-48. Los Angeles sports the best mark in the National League at 78-53.

The WPS All-Stars defeated Swedish power Umea IK, 4-2, in the season-ending All-Star Game Sunday. Expansion franchises in Atlanta and Philadelphia will join the league in 2010.

Indiana has clinched the top seed in the WNBA’s Eastern Conference playoffs. The Fever has a 20-8 record. Phoenix (20-9) and Seattle (18-11) have cinched two of the Western Conference’s four playoff berths.

At age 17, Byeong-Hun An of South Korea became the youngest-ever player to win the U.S. Amateur Sunday. An crushed Ben Martin, 7 and 5, in the 36-hole final.

Chula Vista, California rallied from an early 3-0 deficit to defeat Taiwan, 6-3, and win the Little League World Series. Mexico edged San Antonio, Texas, 5-4, to win the consolation game.

Heath Slocum sank a long par putt on the 18th hole to win the first PGA Tour playoff event by a shot. Slocum’s final-round 69 gave him a four-round score of nine-under par. Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington, Steve Stricker and Tiger Woods finished in a second-place tie.

Rookie M.J. Hur won her first LPGA event today after defeating Suzann Pettersen and Michele Redman in a playoff. Hur and Pettersen parred the 18th hole to start the playoff but Redman bogeyed the hole and was eliminated. Hur birdied the 17th hole–the second extra hole–to claim the win.

Loren Roberts won the Champions Tour event in Washington. Peter Hedblom won the European Tour stop in Scotland. Kimi Raikkonen won the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Belgium. Carl Edwards won the Nationwide road race in Montreal.

Paul Goydos and Steve Marino share the third-round lead at the PGA Tour playoff event in Jersey City. Goydos and Marino are each fired a 68 Saturday to reach nine-under par. Webb Simpson led at the start of the day but he slumped to a one-over par 72. Simpson is tied for third with Fredrik Jacobson at seven-under par. Tiger Woods is tied for seventh, five shots behind the leaders.

Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera defeated Randy Couture in an unanimous decision Saturday at UFC 102. The judges favored Noguiera (32-5-1)–30-27, 30-27 and 29-28–over Couture (16-10). Thiago Silva (13-1) knocked out Keith Jardine (14-7-1) 95 seconds into their fight. Nate Marquardt (32-8-2) stopped Demian Maia (11-1) after just 21 seconds.

Revenge was served twice during Saturday’s Little League World Series games. Taiwan dispatched Mexico, 9-4, in the International final. Taiwan had falled to Mexico, 6-3, during pool play. California crushed Texas, 12-2, to win the U.S. title. The game ended after 3.5 innings due to the 10-run rule–also known as the mercy rule. California avenged a 6-3 loss Tuesday. Mexico will face Texas in Sunday’s consolation game. California will battle Taiwan for the world championship.

Edmonton (5-3) squeaked past visiting Hamilton (4-4), 31-30, in a CFL game. Caroline Wozniacki defeated Elena Vespina, 6-2, 6-4, to claim the WTA event in New Haven, Connecticut. Fernando Verdasco won the ATP tournament at New Haven by beating Sam Querrey, 6-4, 7-6 (6).

Ryan Briscoe extended his IndyCar Series lead by winning tonight’s race in Chicago. Briscoe edged Scott Dixon by eight thousandths of a second at the finish line. Briscoe claimed his third victory of the year and leads Dario Franchittl by 25 points with two races left. Dixon is in third, 33 points behind Briscoe. The next race is Sept. 19 at Motegi, Japan.

Peter Hedblom leads Paul Lawrie by a shot at the European Tour event in Scotland. Mark McNulty and Loren Roberts share the 36-hole lead at the Champions Tour stop in Washington. Anna Nordqvist is atop the leaderboard with one round to go at the LPGA event in Oregon.