Weekend Sports In Brief

By The Associated Press

Here's a look at weekend sports in brief around the world.

TENNIS

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Roger Federer was playing for history. Andy Roddick was playing the match of his life.

On and on they dueled, Federer trying for a record-breaking 15th major championship, Roddick striving for his second, in a Wimbledon final that required more games than any Grand Slam title match in the considerable annals of a sport dating to the 1800s.

They were each other’s equal for four full sets and nearly the entire 30-game fifth set. Until Federer, far more experienced in such matters, finally edged ahead, breaking Roddick’s serve for the only time in the 77th and last game to close out a 5-7, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 16-14 victory.

The epic match — the fifth set alone lasted more than 1 1/2 hours — gave Federer his sixth Wimbledon title. Add that to five from the U.S. Open, three from the Australian Open and one from the French Open, and Federer’s Grand Slam total rises to 15, one more than Pete Sampras, who flew in from California on Sunday morning to be on hand.

Roddick weathered Federer’s career-high 50 aces and his 107 total winners in the longest match and longest fifth set in major final history, topping marks set in 1927.

GOLF

BETHESDA, Md. (AP) — Tiger Woods made it a hat trick of victories in tournaments hosted by PGA Tour stars, this one the most meaningful of all because it was his own.

Woods lived up to his hopes of being a “greedy host”, leaving Anthony Kim in his wake and then making a 20-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole to overtake hard-charging Hunter Mahan for a one-shot victory in the AT&T National.

Woods closed with a 3-under 67 at Congressional for his third victory of the year, the others coming at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill and Jack Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament.

Mahan made six birdies on the back nine for a 62, tying the course record that Kim set Thursday. The final birdie on the 18th gave Mahan a share of the lead, and he had to wait more than an hour to see if Woods could top him.

Woods twice scrambled for par to stay tied for the lead, then looked as though he squandered a good birdie chance on the par-5 16th when his chip from the rough came out heavy and stopped 20 feet from the hole. Backing off once, he rolled in it, then walked stoically to the hole, nodding his head.

He closed with routine pars to finish at 13-under 267. The 68th victory of his PGA Tour career moved him to the top of the money list and the FedEx Cup standings for the first time this year.

Kim, the 2008 winner, had a 71 to finish alone in third, four shots behind.

SYLVANIA, Ohio (AP) — South Korea’s Eunjung Yi holed a 10-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a playoff with Morgan Pressel to win the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic for her first LPGA Tour title.

The 21-year-old Yi, four strokes ahead at the start of the day and six in front after three holes, finished with an even-par 71 to match Pressel (67) at 18-under 266 on the Highland Meadows course. Pressel, chasing her third career victory, holed a wedge for eagle on the par-5 17th hole to tie Yi.

Michelle Wie (64), Seon Hwa Lee (67) and Song-Hee Kim (69) tied for third at 16 under. Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa (68) tied for eighth at 14 under.

SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France (AP) — Germany’s Martin Kaymer won the French Open, beating England’s Lee Westwood with an 18-foot par putt on the first hole of a playoff.

The 24-year-old Kaymer, a three-time winner on the European tour, closed with a 3-under 68 to match Westwood (65) at 13-under 271 on Le Golf National’s Albatross Course. In the playoff on the par-4 18th, Kaymer’s approach shot barely cleared the greenside lake, while Westwood’s ball found the water. Westwood finished with a double bogey.

PRO FOOTBALL

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Shot twice in the head and two more times in the chest, former NFL quarterback Steve McNair was the victim of a homicide, police declared Sunday. But authorities wouldn’t say it was a murder-suicide — even with his 20-year-old girlfriend dead at his feet from a single bullet.

McNair had been dating Sahel Kazemi for several months, and Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron said that a semiautomatic pistol was found under her body. She was shot in the head.

McNair, who was married with four sons, had a permit to carry a handgun in Tennessee, and he was arrested once before with a 9mm weapon although charges in the case were dropped. Police said they had not yet determined who owned the gun found at the scene.

Investigators weren’t looking for a suspect but were questioning friends of the couple as well as Kazemi’s ex-boyfriend. They were also waiting for results of drug and other laboratory tests before deciding whether McNair was killed in a lovers’ quarrel.

AUTO RACING

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (AP) — After 25 years, Dale Coyne finally knows what it’s like to win a race.

After a quarter century of trying as both an owner and a driver — 558 entries in all — Justin Wilson gave him that breakthrough victory with a dominant performance at Watkins Glen International.

Wilson passed pole-sitter Ryan Briscoe early and easily held on after a late restart to win the Camping World Grand Prix by nearly 5 seconds. Wilson led 49 laps of the 60-lap race around the 11-turn, 3.4-mile circuit.

CYCLING

BRIGNOLES, France (AP) — British sprinter Mark Cavendish won the second stage of the Tour de France, with Lance Armstrong finishing safely in the pack and Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland keeping the leader’s yellow jersey. Cancellara captured the opening time trial a day earlier.

Cancellara has an 18-second lead over 2007 Tour winner Alberto Contador of Spain. Bradley Wiggins of Britain is third, 19 seconds behind. Armstrong, the seven-time champion, is 10th, 40 seconds back.