MASON, Ohio — Roger Federer ended his mini-vacation with another Masters title.
A well-rested Federer beat Mardy Fish 6-7 (5), 7-6 (1), 6-4 on Sunday, winning his second consecutive Cincinnati Masters championship and fourth overall. He was barely on the court all week because his opponents got hurt and his game was so good.
For the first time, the world’s second-ranked player was pushed to the limit. Fish kept it as close as could be, dropping the final set after the match’s only service break.
That time off came in handy.
“Maybe I was just a touch fitter than him today,” Federer said.
The Swiss star ended a streak of three straight losses in tournament finals, winning his first Masters event since Cincinnati last year.
His 63rd career title tied Bjorn Borg for fifth place in the Open Era. Pete Sampras is fourth at 64, and Jimmy Connors holds the record with 109.
It took him 2 hours, 40 minutes — an eternity compared with how the rest of the week went.
Federer had spent only 3 hours, 17 minutes on the court while getting to the title match.
Mystics secure a top seed
ATLANTA — Monique Currie scored 20 points, Crystal Langhorne contributed 18 points and 11 rebounds, and the Washington Mystics captured the WNBA’s No. 1 playoff seed in the Eastern Conference with a 90-81 victory over the Atlanta Dream.
• Cappie Pondexter scored six of her 31 points in overtime, lifting the New York Liberty to an 88-87 win over the visiting Connecticut Sun for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.
• Sophia Young completed a three-point play with 0.9 of a second left to give the host San Antonio Silver Stars an 83-82 win over the Phoenix Mercury in a preview of their first-round playoff series.
• Seimone Augustus scored 25 points, helping the visiting Minnesota Lynx beat the Indiana Fever 83-79 in overtime.
Bradley eyes English job
LONDON — U.S. soccer coach Bob Bradley said he is interested in taking over as manager of Aston Villa in the English Premier League.
The 52-year-old Bradley, who has a contract to coach the U.S. national team until the end of the year, said his representatives have held talks with Aston Villa, which has been without a manager since Martin O’Neill‘s departure on Aug. 9.
• Danny Allsopp scored twice to give D.C. United a 2-0 victory over the visiting Philadelphia Union and snap a five-game MLS losing streak.
Footnotes.
Kenya’s David Rud- isha broke the men’s 800-meter world record with a time of 1 minute, 41.09 seconds in Berlin. Wilson Kipketer of Denmark held the previous record (1:41.11).
• Texas Tech football coach Tommy Tuberville said senior Taylor Potts will open the season as the team’s starting quarterback.
• Matt Goss beat Tyler Farrar, who rides for Boulder-based Team Garmin-Transitions, in a mass sprint to win the Grand Prix Ouest-France.
The Associated Press
