Dent, Myskina Win in Moscow

Taylor Dent and Anastasia Myskina won finals Sunday at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, the second consecutive titles for both players.

Dent defeated Sargis Sargsian of Armenia, 7-6 (5), 6-4, to become the first American to win the Kremlin Cup. Last week, Dent upset top-ranked Juan Carlos Ferrero to win the Thailand Open.

Myskina, the first Russian woman to win this event, defeated Amelie Mauresmo of France, 6-2, 6-4.

A week ago, Myskina downed U.S. Open and French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne in the final in Leipzig, Germany. The Kremlin Cup was Myskina’s sixth career title.

“With every tournament title, a win at the Grand Slams is becoming more and more realistic,” Myskina said.

Dent, a serve-and-volley player, extended his winning streak to 10 matches.

He won the first-set tiebreaker after Sargsian double faulted at 5-5. In the second set, Dent converted a break point in the third game to go up 3-1. He won when Sargsian netted a volley.

“I was serving well the whole match and that helped keep me out in front,” said Dent, who earned $133,000 to bring his career winnings to $1 million.

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Rainer Schuettler of Germany won the Japan Open at Toyko, and Maria Sharapova of Russia captured the women’s title by rallying from a 5-2 deficit in a third-set tiebreaker.

The top-seeded Schuettler defeated second-seeded Sebastien Grosjean of France, 7-6 (5), 6-2. Sharapova defeated Aniko Kapros of Hungary, 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5), for her first WTA Tour singles championship.

Sharapova, 16, became the tour’s youngest winner this year. A day earlier, she won the doubles title at the $860,000 tournament.

Sharapova, seeded fifth, has been compared to countrywoman Anna Kournikova. Now Sharapova has something Kournikova does not -- a title.

“I really hope I’m not going to get all those Anna Kournikova questions anymore,” she said.

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Kim Clijsters might miss this week’s Filderstadt tournament in Germany because of a sprained right ankle, an injury that could jeopardize her No. 1 ranking.

If she withdraws, Belgian countrywoman Henin-Hardenne would become No. 1 by reaching the final.

Miscellany

The United States finished 12th among 33 teams and without a medal at the Greco-Roman World Championships at Creteil, France, but Americans Jim Grenwald, Brad Vering and Rulon Gardner qualified for the 2004 Athens Games.

Gardner, the defending Olympic champion in the 264 1/2 division, finished 11th in his class, but was moved to 10th -- the final qualifying spot -- because Greece’s Xenofon Koutsioubas finished fifth. Koutsioubas qualified because he represents the host country, thus freeing a spot for Gardner.

Cal State Northridge will play host to the 2004 NCAA Western Regional men’s and women’s track and field championships. The two-day meet at the Matador track and field complex is scheduled for May 28-29.

Passings

Bobby Cox, 69, a former standout for the University of Minnesota who Sports Illustrated once declared the best college quarterback in the country, died of pancreatic cancer at his home in Plymouth, Minn.