DOHA, Qatar — Serena Williams bested big sister Venus again, winning 6-2, 7-6 (4) in the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships final Sunday.
Serena broke twice in the first set and lost just seven points on serve. She looked sharper than Venus in every facet of a match that featured few long rallies and little of the spectacular tennis the two have provided before.
It was Serena’s fourth straight win over her sister. She leads their head-to-head series 13-10.
• Qualifier Sergiy Stakhovsky won his second career title, beating Horacio Zeballos 2-6, 7-6 (8), 7-6 (7) in the St. Petersburg Open in Russia.
• Jurgen Melzer defeated Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-3 to win the Bank Austria Trophy in Vienna, his second career ATP title.
• Ivan Ljubicic won his first title in more than two years by beating Michael Llodra 7-5, 6-3 in the Lyon Grand Prix final in France.
Britton sets senior record
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Bill Britton won the Senior PGA Professional National Championship, closing with a 5-under-par 67 for a tournament- record 18-under 270 and a one- stroke win over Perry Arthur (66).
Britton led the 35 qualifiers for the Senior PGA Championship in May at Colorado Golf Club in Parker. Also qualifying were three locals golfers — Bill Loeffler (281) of Highlands Ranch, Lakewood’s Ron Vlosich (282) and Michael Zaremba (282) of Pueblo West.
• John Cook closed with a 3-under 69 to finish at 22-under 266 to win the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championships in Sonoma, Calif., by five strokes, while Loren Roberts won the Champions Tour season points title.
• Ross Fisher won the 36-hole World Match Play Championship final in Casares, Spain, beating Anthony Kim 4 and 3.
• Ian Poulter shot a final-round 72 to win the Singapore Open by a shot over Liang Wenchong (70).
Hight has funny car title in sight
LAS VEGAS — Robert Hight closed in on his first funny car season championship, racing to his third victory of the season at the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals.
Spencer Massey (top fuel), Larry Morgan (pro stock) and Andrew Hines (pro stock motorcycle) won the respective categories.
• Sebastian Vettel won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the final Formula One race of the season, in the United Arab Emirates.
Revolution opens with a win
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Shalrie Joseph scored in the 75th minute to lift the New England Revolution to a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Fire in the opening game of their MLS Eastern Conference semifinal series.
• Maykel Galindo scored in the 50th minute and Chivas USA rallied to tie the Los Angeles Galaxy 2-2 in the first game of their Western Conference series.
Footnotes.
Former Avs star Peter Forsberg will play for the Swedish national hockey team in the upcoming Karjala Cup.
• Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol (strained right hamstring) missed his third straight game. The Associated Press
