ATHENS, Greece — Usain Bolt, the 100-meter world-record holder, ran the fastest time in the 200 this year, winning in 19.67 seconds Sunday at the Tsiklitiria Athens Grand Prix.
The 21-year-old Jamaican is now the fifth fastest man of all time in the 200. His time was the sixth-best ever, with world-record holder Michael Johnson having twice run faster.
“I am very satisfied with my performance,” Bolt said. “I feel sure I will be very strong at the Olympic Games.”
Although he started slowly, Bolt had recovered as he came out of the curve, winning by a wide margin ahead of Brendan Christian of Antigua, who was second in 20.36.
Bolt ran 9.72 to set the 100-meter world record in New York in May. He didn’t run the 100 in Athens.
Santoro still going strong
NEWPORT, R.I. — Second-seeded Fabrice Santoro captured his second straight Hall of Fame Tennis Championships title, beating Prakash Amritraj 6-3, 7-5 to become the second player since 1990 to win an ATP event after his 35th birthday.
In winning his sixth career title, the 35-year-old became the oldest player to win the tournament on the International Hall of Fame’s grass courts. Andre Agassi won three events in 2005 when he was 35.
• Tommy Robredo defeated Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-1 to win the clay-court Swedish Open in Bastad for the second time in three years.
• Juan Martin del Potro won his first ATP title, upsetting second- seeded Richard Gasquet 6-4, 7-5 in the clay-court Mercedes Cup final in Stuttgart, Germany.
• Victor Hanescu won his first career title with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Igor Andreev in the Swiss Open final in Gstaad.
• Sara Errani captured her first WTA Tour singles title when she beat Mariya Koryttseva 6-2, 6-3 in the Palermo (Italy) International final.
• Alize Cornet won the Budapest Grand Prix in Hungary, defeating Andreja Klepac 7-6 (5), 6-3 for her first victory on the WTA Tour.
Hogg tops list of Hall inductees
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Former Louisiana Tech and Baylor coach Sonja Hogg will be among the inductees in the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame’s 2009 class.
The new class, which will be honored June 13, also includes Cynthia Cooper-Dyke, Jennifer Azzi, Jennifer Gillom, Jill Hutchison and Ora Washington.
• Nikki Blue scored a career-high 13 points, including two key free throws in the final minute, and the Washington Mystics defeated the Connecticut Sun 69-64 in the WNBA.
• Jia Perkins and Candice Dupree scored 18 points apiece to help the Chicago Sky snap a four-game losing streak with a 79-66 victory over the Atlanta Dream.
Footnotes.
James Stewart won his seventh straight AMA Toyota Motocross Championship race, leading wire to wire in the Budds Creek (Md.) Motocross National.
• Harlem Rocker won the $500,000 Prince of Wales Stakes in Fort Erie, Ontario, to capture the second jewel of Canadian thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown.
The Associated Press
