Sports in Brief: Federer claims 50th tourney title

By: Associated Press - | Sunday, August 19, 2007 11:20 PM PDT ∞

MASON, Ohio -- Top-ranked Roger Federer reached another measure of tennis greatness on Sunday, winning his 50th tournament title by beating James Blake 6-1, 6-4 in the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters.

The 26-year-old Swiss star became the fifth-youngest player in history to reach 50, and only the ninth overall in the Open Era -- since 1968 -- to win so many tournaments.

Given the way he's playing, he's eyeing the U.S. Open as No. 51.

Federer almost got the noteworthy win a week earlier in Montreal, where he lost the title match to Novak Djokovic in a third-set tiebreaker. This time, he set the tone right away against the eighth-ranked Blake, who was playing in only his second Masters championship match.

Dressed in all-white on a muggy, 92-degree afternoon, Federer extended his mastery of Blake -- and all Americans, for that matter.

Federer improved to 7-0 against Blake, who has won only one of their 19 sets -- off a tiebreaker in the semifinals at the U.S. Open last year. He's not the only hard-hitting American who can't figure out how to handle's Federer's overall excellence.

Federer has won 35 straight matches against Americans since he lost to Andy Roddick in the semifinals at Montreal on Aug. 9, 2003, an astounding streak of dominance. During that span, different Americans have risen and fallen, but none has broken through.

Lubbock remains undefeated at LLWS

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. -- Zane Ancell hit a long home run and struck out 11 to lead undefeated Lubbock, Texas, to a 5-1 win over Chandler, Ariz., in the Little League World Series.

In other games, Lake Oswego, Ore., defeated Walpole, Mass., 1-0; Taichung, Taiwan, routed Apeldoorn, Netherlands, 11-1; Willemstad, Curacao, beat Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, 2-0; and Coon Rapids, Minn., downed Salisbury, Md., 4-3.

Meanwhile, the Little Leaguer from Japan diagnosed with measles was released from quarantine and began practicing with his teammates. He was all smiles after getting the word, Japan interpreter Yuichi Ishibashi said. Little League officials have not released the boy's name, citing federal privacy guidelines.

Et cetera

Tennis

Top-ranked Justine Henin defeated Jelena Jankovic 7-6 (3), 7-5 to win Rogers Cup at Toronto. ... Donald Young won his first ATP Tour match and Patty Schnyder was upset in the first round of the Pilot Pen at New Haven, Conn. The 18-year-old Young defeated Amer Delic 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Francesca Schiavone upset Schnyder 7-6 (5), 2-6, 6-4.

College football

Alabama star cornerback Simeon Castille was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge. Through team spokesman Jeff Purinton, coach Nick Saban said he didn't have all the facts of the case and would deal with the situation "internally."

WNBA

Shameka Christon scored eight of her 15 points in the final 6 minutes to lead the host New York Liberty to a 58-52 victory over the Chicago Sky, giving New York the last postseason berth in the Eastern Conference. ... Monique Currie made a 3-point shot with 0.1 seconds left to lead the Washington Mystics to a 76-74 win over the host Connecticut Sun. ... Kristen Mann scored 19 points to help the host Minnesota Lynx beat the San Antonio Silver Stars 81-55. ... Tamika Whitmore had 10 of her 18 points in the fourth quarter, leading the host Indiana Fever to a 72-66 victory over the Detroit Shock. ... Diana Taurasi scored 24 points to lead the host Phoenix Mercury to their fifth straight win, an 87-73 victory over the Sacramento Monarchs.

Beach volleyball

Elaine Youngs and Nicole Branagh won the title at the AVP Boston Open with a 15-21, 21-19, 16-14 victory over Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh.

Cycling

Alessandro Ballan won the Cyclassics cycling race in a mass sprint to the finish at Hamburg, Germany.

Boxing

Indonesia's Chris John defeated Japan's Zaiki Takemoto on a technical knockout to retain his WBA featherweight title.

Badminton

China won the men's and women's singles at the World Badminton Championship at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Action sports

Adam Jones won the freestyle motocross in the Vans Invitational at Portland, Ore., ending Nate Adams' season-opening AST Dew Tour winning streak at two.