TENNIS

HENIN-HARDENNE WINS SECOND TITLE IN TWO WEEKS

Justine Henin-Hardenne continued her remarkable comeback from illness and injury by winning her second clay-court title in two weeks, defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 yesterday in the J&S Cup final. The Belgian extended her winning streak to 11 matches in a final in which both players preferred to rally from the baseline and rarely ventured to the net.

Henin-Hardenne, who was unseeded, claimed her 21st title, increasing her career prize money to more than $8 million with her winner’s check of $93,000.

NALBANDIAN, GAUDIO WIN TITLES IN EUROPE

Gaston Gaudio captured the Estoril Open in Oeiras, Portugal, esterday, beating Spanish wild card Tommy Robredo 6-1, 2-6, 6-1 for his third clay-court title this season.

Qualifier Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic took the women’s title in the first final of her career with a 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-3 victory over fourth-seeded Na Li of China. It was the first time a qualifier won this tournament.

Also yesterday, David Nalbandian won his first title since 2002, defeating Romania’s Andrei Pavel, 6-4, 6-1 in the BMW Open final. The Argentine trailed 4-1 in the first set, then lost only one more game in capturing his third career title.

GOLF

PETROVIC EARNS SURPRISE WIN IN ZURICH

Tim Petrovic completed the long journey from pizza deliveryman to PGA Tour winner yesterday, holing a 4-foot par putt to beat rookie James Driscoll on the first playoff hole in the Zurich Classic. The 38-year-old Petrovic set up the victory with a 19-foot birdie putt on the final hole of regulation, then finished off Driscoll with a par on the par-5 closing hole on the TPC of Louisiana.

Petrovic, the former pizza and newspaper deliverer whose 2002 entry on the PGA Tour came 14 years after he turned pro, shot a 4-under 68 to match Driscoll at 13-under 275. Driscoll, playing in the final group with Masters runner-up Chris DiMarco, had a 70, missing a 4-foot birdie try for the victory on no. 18. DiMarco, the third-round leader, bogeyed no. 18 to finish a stroke back along with Lucas Glover.

ELS RUNS AWAY WITH BMW ASIAN OPEN

Ernie Els ran away with the BMW Asian Open, finishing off a 13-stroke victory with a bogey-free 7-under 65. Els, a three-time winner this year on the PGA European Tour, had a 26-under 262 total on the Tomson Shanghai Pudong Golf Club course.

England’s Simon Wakefield (73) finished second at 13 under, Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn (72) was third at 12 under, and New Zealand’s Eddie Lee (72) and France’s Jean-Francois Lucquin (73) tied for fourth at 10 under.

HOCKEY

U.S. BLANKS SLOVENIA AT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

The United States routed Slovenia 7-0 in its opener at the hockey world championships yesterday, with Mike Knuble scoring two goals and goaltender Rick DiPietro facing only 15 shots. Adam Hall, Mark Parrish, Jeff Halpern, Yan Stastny, and Brian Gionta also scored for the United States, which finished third in last year’s tournament.

In the early game in Vienna, the Czech Republic scored three power-play goals and beat Switzerland 3-1.

Canada, the two-time defending champion, and the U.S. are in the same preliminary group in these championships. They meet in the round-robin finale Thursday.

– Associated Press