WASHINGTON — Confident as David Nalbandian is, he harbored some doubts about how he would play at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic.
After all, he was ranked 117th after missing about 12 of the past 15 months because of injuries. He hadn’t played in a tournament since April and needed a wild-card invitation to get into the field.
A week later, he leaves as the hard-court tournament’s champion — and someone to watch at the U.S. Open in New York.
Nalbandian became the first player ranked outside the top 100 to win an ATP title in 2010, using his typically strong service returns and effective baseline game to beat No. 25 Marcos Baghdatis 6-2, 7-6 (4) on Sunday in a Legg Mason final between two past Grand Slam finalists.
It’s Nalbandian’s 11th career title, but his first on U.S. soil.
• Unseeded Svetlana Kuznetsova squandered four match points before winning her first title in 10 months with a 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-3 victory over No. 4 seed Agnieszka Radwanska at the Mercury Insurance Open in Carlsbad, Calif.
• Caroline Wozniacki defeated Klara Zakopalova 6-2, 7-6 (5) to win the Danish Open in Copenhagen.
Thompson tops WNBA scoring chart
LOS ANGELES — Tina Thompson of the Los Angeles Sparks scored 23 points and became the WNBA’s all-time scoring leader in a 92-83 loss to the San Antonio Silver Stars.
She surpassed Lisa Leslie‘s career total of 6,263 points. Leslie, who played for Los Angeles her entire career, retired last year.
• Tamika Catchings scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Fever past the host Phoenix Mercury 104-82, putting Indiana atop the WNBA’s Eastern Conference.
• Tina Charles had 17 points, 14 rebounds and eight blocked shots, setting a rookie record with her 18th double-double as the host Connecticut Sun beat the Wash- ington Mystics 76-67.
• Nicole Powell scored 21 points as the visiting New York Liberty extended its winning streak to six games with a 74-72 victory over the Minnesota Lynx.
Cunningham leads FC Dallas
FRISCO, Texas — Jeff Cunningham scored in the 75th and 81st minutes to lift FC Dallas to a 3-1 MLS win over the Philadelphia Union.
• New York’s Thierry Henry, playing only his second MLS game, left the game in the 45th minute with a strained groin as the Red Bulls and Chicago Fire played to a scoreless tie.
• Fredy Montero scored off a long kick downfield from goalkeeper Kasey Keller early in the 64th minute to help the Seattle Sounders extend their unbeaten streak to five games with a 2-0 victory over the Houston Dynamo.
Footnotes.
Justin Gatlin, a former Olympic champion, won his second 100-meter race in a week at the Ergo Games in Tallinn, Estonia, part of his low-key return to track after a four-year doping ban.
• Majesticperfection took the lead at the break and led throughout to win the $250,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap by 2 3/4 lengths at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
The Associated Press
