Djokovic wins another Dubai title | Seattle Times Newspaper

Tennis

Djokovic takes Dubai

Novak Djokovic of Serbia rallied from a break down in the first set to win his fourth Dubai Championships title in five years Saturday, downing third-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-3.

Gulbis upsets Haas

Qualifier Ernests Gulbis from Latvia upset second-seeded Tommy Haas of Germany 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2) to reach the final of the Delray (Fla.) Beach International Tennis Championships. Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France upset top-seeded American John Isner 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in the other semifinal.

Nadal wins title

Rafael Nadal blasted past top seed and defending champion David Ferrer 6-0, 6-2 in the Mexican Open final in Acapulco, a powerful performance that indicated he has returned to form after a knee injury.

Auto racing

Kyle Busch triumphs

Kyle Busch overcame a midrace gaffe on pit road with a dominating performance, leading 142 laps to win his fifth Nationwide Series race at Phoenix International Raceway.

Busch started from the pole and shook off a speeding penalty to pit road with what was easily the fastest car during the 200-lap race around PIR's mile oval.

Skiing

Maze sets points record

Tina Maze of Slovenia broke the record for points in a World Cup season by winning a downhill in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, and became only the third woman to win a race in all five disciplines in a single campaign.

Maze's ninth win of the season took her to 2,024 points in the overall standings. Austria's Hermann Maier held the previous record of 2,000 points on the men's side.

Laurenne Ross of the U.S. was second for her career-best result.

Horse racing

Game On Dude wins Santa Anita Handicap

Game On Dude led all the way in winning by 7 ¾ lengths in the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap in Arcadia, Calif., the largest winning margin in the race's 76-year history.

Ridden by Hall of Famer Mike Smith, Game On Dude ran 1 ¼ miles in 2:00.14 and paid $4.60, $3.40 and $2.10 as the 6-5 favorite. The 6-year-old gelding also won the race in 2011.

Vyjack wins Gotham

Vyjack remained unbeaten on his way to the Kentucky Derby, rallying for a 2 ¼ length victory in the $400,000 Gotham Stakes for 3-year-olds at Aqueduct in Jamaica, N.Y. The gelding trained by Rudy Rodriguez is now 4 for 4, all at Aqueduct. Joel Rosario was aboard as the 2-1 second choice ran the 1-1/16 miles in 1:44.09, paying $6.70, $4.20 and $3.20.

NFL

Carroll honored

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll was honored as NFC coach of the year at the NFL 101 Award banquet in Kansas City, Mo.

Elsewhere

• Jenn Suhr from Churchville, N.Y., set a women's pole vault indoor record by clearing 16 feet, 5 ½ inches at the USA Track & Field Indoor National Championships in Albuquerque, N.M.

• Richar Abril (18-3-1, 8 KO's) defended his WBA lightweight title with a unanimous decision against Sharif Bogere (23-1, 15 KO's) in Las Vegas.

• Monica Niculescu of Romania beat Olga Puchkova of Russia 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in the Brazil Cup final in Florianopolis.

• Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the United States defeated third-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 6-4, 6-1 at the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur to reach her first WTA singles final in two years.

• Adrien Theaux of France earned his second career World Cup victory by edging home favorite Aksel Lund Svindal in a downhill in Kvitfjell, Norway.

• Joshua Farris, Jason Brown and Shotaro Omori, all from the U.S., finished 1-2-3 at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Milan.

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