Serena Williams beats Maria Sharapova to win Madrid Open

Serena Williams kept the No. 1, and added No. 50.

Williams beat Maria Sharapova, 6-1, 6-4 in the final of the Madrid Open Sunday to retain her No. 1 ranking and collect her 50th career title. And Rafael Nadal eased by Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-2, 6-4, for his fifth title since returning from a knee injury.

The second-ranked Sharapova would have overtaken the top ranking with a win, but Williams stormed out to an early lead as Sharapova struggled with her serve.

Despite Sharapova briefly recovering her poise in the second set, Williams’ form never dipped as she eased to the title.

“It feels good,” Williams said about winning her 50th title. “I don’t know how many more I can win. Who knows if I will ever win another title? I just want to live the dream. Hopefully, I can keep it going.”

Williams improved her record against Sharapova to 13-2, with her only two losses coming in 2004.

Cheered on by the home crowd at the Caja Magica, the fifth-ranked Nadal cruised to his 55th career title and extended his head-to-head record with Wawrinka to 9-0.

Nadal flopped on his back and screamed in joy when his Swiss opponent’s final volley fell long to end the match in one hour and 12 minutes.

It was Nadal’s seventh straight final since recovering from a nagging case of tendinitis in his left knee that sidelined him for seven months.

“I’m very happy and maybe this victory is even more special considering how complicated this year has been,” said Nadal. “This tournament couldn’t have gone better for me.”

ETC.

USC women win water polo title

After 45 minutes and 47 seconds of water polo, USC freshman Anni Espar drilled the game-winning shot for the Trojans to beat Stanford, 10-9, in the third sudden-death period of play, and USC won the NCAA women’s water polo championship at Harvard’s Blodgett Pool in Boston.

The match was not only the first women’s water polo NCAA final to go to overtime, it extended the record through two three-minute overtime periods and two three-minute sudden death periods before Espar’s bar-in rocket ended it during the third sudden-death frame. The victory gave USC its fourth national championship.

Trojans goalie Flora Bolonyai was named the tournament’s most valuable player.

Fernando Alonso won the Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona by nearly 10 seconds in a dominant performance in front of his home fans on Sunday to close the gap on championship leader Sebastian Vettel and get back in the Formula One title race.

Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen finished second for the third straight race, with Alonso’s Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa third as most drivers chose a four-stop strategy due to an ongoing problem with Pirelli’s fast-degrading tires. That issue remains a big concern as tires are still shredding far too easily despite pre-race modifications.

Starting from fifth place, Alonso won his second race this season, showing that Ferrari can challenge Red Bull for pure speed. Alonso was easily quicker than Vettel, with the three-time defending champion finishing 38.2 seconds behind in fourth ahead of teammate Mark Webber.

The New York Times is reporting that Derek Boogaard’s family has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the National Hockey League.

In the lawsuit, the family says the NHL is responsible for the brain damage that Boogaard sustained during six seasons as an enforcer in the league, and for his addiction to prescription painkillers.

Boogaard was found dead of an accidental overdose of pain medication and alcohol on May 13, 2011. He was 28. He was posthumously diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain ailment that is caused by repeated blows to the head.

The Times reports the suit was filed late Friday by the Chicago law firm of Corboy & Demetrio, in the Circuit Court of Cook County.

Amid a carnival atmosphere at a rainy Old Trafford, Manchester United gave the retiring Coach Alex Ferguson the perfect send-off in his final home match by beating Swansea, 2-1, in the Premier League.

Ferguson, who is stepping down at the end of the season after nearly 27 years as United manager, jumped out of his seat and punched the air in delight after Rio Ferdinand volleyed the winning goal into the back of the net in the 86th minute.