Schumacher Finally Gets Another Victory

Michael Schumacher knew this day would have meant so much to his mother, with Ferrari fans lining the track as he won a Formula One race for the first time this year.

This day, however, was one of mourning for Schumacher and his brother, Ralf.

Wearing a black armband on his red racing suit, he drove only hours after his mother’s death Sunday and won the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, Italy. Ralf Schumacher finished fourth.

Under other circumstances, this finish would have prompted raucous celebrations by the five-time Formula One champion, Ferrari and their thousands of red-clad fans. Instead, Schumacher’s only gesture after the race was a raised fist.

He accepted the trophy and stood for the German and Italian national anthems. Unlike during normal post-race jubilation, there was no champagne. Schumacher seemed on the verge of tears. Formula One excused him from news conferences after the race.

Kimi Raikkonen of McLaren Mercedes was second, 1.8 seconds behind. Schumacher’s Ferrari teammate, Rubens Barrichello, was third, 8.8 seconds back. Ralf, who started in second position and passed his older brother on the race’s first turn, was behind Barrichello in a Williams.

“I don’t know if I would have been able to take part in a race under the same conditions,” Barrichello said. “He’s a great person and absolutely deserved to win.”

Team Director Jean Todt said Ferrari did not force Schumacher to compete.

“It was his decision to race,” he said. “Ferrari would never push him to drive the car here. To win here in Imola in front of our fans and the company employees was especially important because of the difficult situation.”

Elizabeth Schumacher, 55, had been in a hospital in her hometown of Cologne, Germany, since April 10. She reportedly fell in her home, suffered internal injuries and had surgery.

After winning 15 of 17 races last season, Ferrari was off to its worst start in years in the first three races. This was Schumacher’s fifth victory at San Marino, Ferrari’s home track.

He won for the 65th time in Formula One. Until Sunday, his best finish this year was fourth in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

He started from the pole, took the lead from Ralf on the 17th lap and then led most of the way. He was timed for the 62-lap, 190-mile race in 1 hour 28 minutes 12.058 seconds.

Tennis

Elena Dementieva defeated Lindsay Davenport, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, in the final of the Bausch & Lomb Championships at Amelia Island, Fla., to win her first title in five years as a professional.

Leading by a set and 4-2 in the second, it looked as though the second-seeded Davenport would easily win her 39th career title and leave the 10th-seeded Dementieva at zero. Then, the Russian started to capitalize on her serves and groundstrokes.

She won a game that lasted five deuces to go ahead, 5-4, in the second set, using a forehand winner down the line to put it away.

Davenport appeared to tire after that. Even though she kept her serves coming in at over 100 mph, she failed to hold her last five service games.

Top-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero beat Guillermo Coria, 6-2, 6-2, to win the Monte Carlo Masters for the second consecutive year.

Heavy rain delayed the start of the match more than an hour.

Because of the threat of more rain, organizers and the players agreed to shorten the match to best of three sets, instead of best of five.

Second-seeded Magui Serna won her second WTA Tour title in a row by defeating third-seeded Alicia Molik, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4, in the final at Budapest, Hungary.

Arena Football

Andy McCullough caught a 37-yard touchdown pass in overtime and the Dallas Desperados defeated the Chicago Rush, 60-54, at Chicago.

Jim Kubiak completed 18 of 33 passes for 250 yards and five touchdowns for Dallas (7-5). Billy Dicken threw five touchdown passes for the Rush (5-7).

John Dutton threw a five-yard touchdown pass to Damien Harrell with two seconds left at Tampa, Fla., to give the Colorado Crush (2-10) a 49-45 victory over Tampa Bay (9-3), ending the Storm’s eight-game winning streak.

Jay Gruden threw five touchdown passes to lead the Orlando Predators (8-4) to a 56-31 victory over the Las Vegas Gladiators (6-6) at Orlando, Fla.

Ice Hockey

Canada beat the United States, 2-1, in overtime in the semifinals of the International Ice Hockey Federation World Under-18 tournament at Yaroslavl, Russia.

T.J. Hensick gave the U.S. a 1-0 lead in the second period. Alexandre Bolduc scored the winner for Canada at 3:38.

Canada faces Slovakia for the title Tuesday. The U.S. plays Russia in the bronze-medal game.

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Chris Dufresne is on vacation.