Federer Picks Up Where He Left Off

Top-ranked Roger Federer beat Tim Henman, 6-3, 6-3, Sunday to win his first Japan Open title at Tokyo.

Federer took control early, breaking the the 10th-seeded Henman and leading, 4-2, before ending the first set with an ace.

Federer, playing in his first tournament since winning the U.S. Open, broke Henman again to take a 2-1 lead in the second set and was never seriously challenged from then on.

In the women’s final, top-seeded Marion Bartoli rallied past Aiko Nakamura, 2-6, 6-2, 6-2, for her first Japan Open title.

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Nadia Petrova won her fifth title of the year at the Porsche Grand Prix, defeating Tatiana Golovin, 6-3, 7-6 (4), at Stuttgart, Germany.... Third-seeded Novak Djokovic beat Jurgen Melzer, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, in the Open de Moselle final at Metz, France.... Olympic doubles champion Sun Tiantian won her first WTA singles title, beating wild card Iroda Tulyaganova, 6-2, 6-4, in the final of the Tashkent Open in Uzbekistan.

PRO BASKETBALL

Stern Hedges Some on NBA’s New Ball

NBA Commissioner David Stern acknowledged that returning to the old leather ball is possible if testing he has ordered backs up widespread player complaints about the new microfiber ball -- especially its tendency to become slippery when wet.

“Right now our plans are to stay the course, but we will monitor it and if we find there is something to it and it is a serious issue, we will take the appropriate steps because the most important thing to us is the game,” Stern told ESPN.com.

Players, notably the Miami Heat’s Shaquille O’Neal, have also complained about the ball’s stickiness when dry and that it wears out too quickly.

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Tony Parker had 27 points in Paris, his hometown, to lead the San Antonio Spurs over Maccabi Tel Aviv, 97-84, in an exhibition.

SOCCER

Wambach Leads U.S. Past Iceland, 2-1

Abby Wambach scored her second goal two minutes into second-half injury time, giving the U.S. women’s team a 2-1 victory over Iceland in an exhibition match at Richmond, Va.

Wambach put the U.S. ahead in the 34th minute, taking a long pass from Aly Wagner, beating a defender, faking goalkeeper Thora Helgadottir and slotting the ball into the open net.

DISTANCE RUNNING

Kibet’s Half-Marathon Is Second-Fastest in U.S.

Duncan Kibet of Kenya won the Rock ‘n’ Roll half-marathon in 1 hour 22 seconds in San Jose, the second-fastest time in the 13.1-mile event on American soil. Kibet’s time is second only to Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia, who set a world record with a 58:55 on Jan. 15 in Tempe, Ariz.

MISCELLANY

Action Sports Gets First Awards Show

Another sign of the growth of action sports is that they are getting their own awards show. It is expected to be announced today that the “Arby’s Action Sports Awards” will be televised by Fox on Dec. 10.

The 90-minute show, featuring award presentations in 20 categories, will be taped Nov. 30 at the CenterStaging broadcast facility in Burbank.

-- Larry Stewart

PASSINGS

Former Columnist Frank Dolson, 73

Frank Dolson, the longtime Philadelphia Inquirer sports columnist who later was a New York Yankees special assistant, died in his sleep early Sunday at University of Pennsylvania Hospital. He was 73.