STANFORD, Calif. — Venus Williams was upset by France’s Marion Bartoli 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 in the championship match of the Bank of the West Classic on Sunday.
Williams, making her first appearance at the event since 2005, reached her seventh final in eight appearances at Stanford. She’s won two titles, but none since 2002.
The eighth-seeded Bartoli, who lost in last year’s final, will likely move up to 12th when the next world rankings are released. Williams is expected to remain third.
“Marion was too good today,” Williams said after the match.
• Sam Querrey defeated Carsten Bell 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 to claim the L.A. Tennis Open title.
• Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko routed former No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 6-0 to win the Croatia Open final.
• Qualifier Thomaz Bellucci, ranked No. 119, won his first ATP Tour title by beating Andreas Beck 6-4, 7-6 (2) in the Swiss Open final at Gstaad, Switzerland.
• Vera Dushevina of Russia defeated Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic 6-0, 6-1 in the WTA Istanbul Cup final.
Rachel Alexandra dominates
OCEANPORT, N.J. — Rachel Alexandra has done it again. The magnificent 3-year-old filly beat the boys for the second time in rolling to a victory in the $1.25 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park.
Rachel Alexandra, the 1-2 favorite, beat Belmont Stakes winner Summer Bird by six lengths.
French crew sets record
French skipper Pascal Bidegorry and his Banque Populaire V crew broke the North Atlantic crossing record between New York and Lizard Point, the southernmost point on the British mainland.
Bidegorry and his 11-man crew crossed in 3 days, 15 hours, 25 minutes, 48 seconds. The previous record of 4 days, 3 hours, 57 minutes, 54 seconds was set in 2007 by French skipper Franck Cammas.
Footnotes.
Katie Douglas scored 11 of her 24 points in the fourth quarter to lead the visiting Indiana Fever to an 87-79 WNBA victory over the Washington Mystics.
• Lindsay Whalen scored 22 points as the Connecticut Sun beat the host Detroit Shock 83-65.
• Cornell Glen, Darren Huckerby and Chris Wondolowski scored in the second half to help the San Jose Earthquakes end a four-game winless streak with a 4-0 MLS victory over visiting Seattle Sounders FC.
• Santos says it has reached a deal to sign world player of the year Marta on an offseason loan from the Los Angeles Sol of Women’s Professional Soccer.
• Former Indianapolis 500 winner Kenny Brack won the gold medal in the rally car racing super special while making his X Games debut in Carson, Calif.
• Jennie Finch threw a one-hitter and drove in two runs to lead the United States to a 2-0 victory over Japan in the final of the Japan Cup softball tournament in Sendai.
• Swimming’s governing body says FINA vice president Hiron- oshin Furuhashi died at 80 in Rome, where he was attending the world championships.
The Associated Press
