Hewitt Gets a Hat Trick With Win Over Henman

Top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt won his third consecutive Queen’s Club grass-court championship, coming from behind to defeat Tim Henman, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, at London.

Hewitt, the world’s No. 1 player, is the first to win three straight Queen’s Club titles since John McEnroe completed the feat in 1981.

The rematch of last year’s final was Hewitt’s fifth consecutive victory over Henman.

“To win it three times is incredible. To walk inside the club and see all the pictures of the past champions and to have my name up there with all those great players is a great honor,” he said.

“It’s a long way from Adelaide [Australia], but I almost feel at home here. It’s always tough coming here straight off the clay but I find my footing here so quickly. To play Tim, one of the best grass-court players in the world, in the final, is great preparation for Wimbledon.”

Henman appeared unsure whether to attack or rally from the baseline on several points, trying both with varying degrees of success. He was often tentative on his volleys and made far too many unforced errors to threaten Hewitt.

“You have to give credit to Lleyton. He’s certainly tough to play against on any surface and he proved again why he’s the best in the world,” Henman said.

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Yevgeny Kafelnikov rallied to win the Gerry Weber Open for the third time, ending the upset run of Nicolas Kiefer, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, at Halle, Germany.

Kafelnikov nearly was forced to quit with a foot injury he has had since May. It won’t cause him to sit out Wimbledon, which starts next week.

“Believe me I was very close to retiring, the foot was very painful, but I didn’t want to spoil it for the spectators,” Kafelnikov said. “I wasn’t thinking about the result anymore, but then I started playing better. It’s ironic.”

Kafelnikov, a two-time Grand Slam winner mired in one of the worst slumps of his career, needed only two hours to beat Kiefer.

“I haven’t had a great season. It was very wise for me to come to this tournament,” Kafelnikov said. “It brings back some good memories.”

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Top-seeded Jelena Dokic won her first grass-court title when she beat sixth-seeded Anastasia Myskina, 6-2, 6-3, in the DFS Classic final at Birmingham, England.... Anna Smashnova defeated defending champion Iroda Tulyaganova, 6-4, 6-1, to win the Wien Energie Grand Prix at Vienna.

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Martina Navratilova will play her first singles match in eight years today against Tatiana Panova at the Wimbledon warmup tournament in Eastbourne, England.

The winner of 167 singles and 166 doubles titles, the 45-year-old Navratilova asked for a wild card into the event where she was an 11-time champion. It was granted when organizers failed to attract Jennifer Capriati or Monica Seles.

Navratilova last played singles at a WTA Tour event in 1994, but has played doubles since 2000. She has insisted for years she had no interest in playing singles, because it would take too much effort to get in shape.

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The Sanex WTA Tour, the governing body for women’s professional tennis, announced that ESPN will broadcast the 2002 WTA Tour Championships, scheduled for Nov. 6-11, at Staples Center.

Pro Basketball

Crystal Robinson made two free throws with 11 seconds left as the New York Liberty (7-3) beat the Charlotte Sting, 54-53, in a WNBA game before 13,231 at Madison Square Garden.

The Sting (3-5) had a chance to win, but Andrea Stinson’s baseline jumper hit the side of the backboard. Charlotte Smith then missed a shot at the buzzer. Dawn Staley’s two free throws gave Charlotte a 53-52 lead with 34 seconds left.

Miscellany

Marty McSorley, whose NHL career ended in a one-year suspension for hitting an opponent in the head with his stick, was hired as coach of the Phoenix Coyotes’ top farm club.

McSorley was picked to lead the Springfield Falcons of the American Hockey League after a 17-year NHL career in which his penalty minutes (3,381) outnumbered his points (359).

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Scott Volkers, the Australian swimming coach who trained Olympic gold medalist Susie O’Neill, pleaded innocent to sex charges.

The 43-year-old Volkers faces nine counts of indecently touching three swimmers.

Volkers was initially charged with five counts of indecently touching two swimmers, then aged 12 and 14, in 1985 and 1987. A third swimmer has since come forward, alleging she was indecently touched, leading to four new charges.

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Frankie Fredericks of Namibia swept the sprints in the Meeting du Nord track and field meet at Villeneuve D’Ascq, France, winning the 100 meters in 10.14 seconds and the 200 in 20.07.

Russia’s Svetlana Feofanova broke her European outdoor pole vault record, clearing 15-7 1/4. She set the previous mark of 15-7 last year in the World Championships in Edmonton, Canada. Stacy Dragila of the U.S. holds the world record of 15-9 1/4.

Passings

Jose Bonilla, a three-time former World Boxing Assn. flyweight champion, died at home in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday night of complications from asthma, his doctor, Luiz Miguel Gomez, said. Bonilla, who was 34, won the title in 1996 by defeating Saen Sor Ploenchit. He defended his title twice before losing to Hugo Soto in 1998.

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Georgia Ridder, a renowned horse breeder who won the 1996 Breeders’ Cup Classic with Alphabet Soup, died Friday night of natural causes at her home in Pasadena. Ridder, called “the first lady of racing” by the California Thoroughbred Breeder’s Assn., was 87.