Jankovic earns her biggest victory

Jelena Jankovic won her first Tier 1 championship Sunday, battling a swirling wind to defeat Dinara Safina, 6-2, 6-2, in the final of the Family Circle Cup at Charleston, S.C.

It was the first Tier I final for Jankovic, who was seeded second at Charleston and will improve to No. 7 in the rankings.

The Serb reached the final by beating Venus Williams in a three-set match that took slightly more than 2 1/2 hours Saturday.

The winds trailed a storm that moved through earlier Sunday, prompting a tornado watch. When play began, winds were from the southwest at 28 mph with gusts to 43, according to the National Weather Service.

Safina, who was seeded fourth, had reached the final without dropping a set in the tournament.

Unseeded Ivo Karlovic used his booming serve to stop qualifier Mariano Zabaleta, 6-4, 6-1, to win the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships in Houston and his first ATP tour title.

The 6-foot-10 Croat closed out the win on his second match point with a 140-mph ace. His fastest serve was clocked at 149 mph. He had 10 aces in the match.

Karlovic, who joined the tour in 2000, beat second-seeded Tommy Haas and sixth-seeded Benjamin Becker on the way to the final.

Former star Steffi Graf required three stitches after husband Andre Agassi inadvertently hit her in the face with his racket during a fundraiser after Karlovic’s victory.

Graf and Agassi were holding hands -- her left to his right -- while rallying with a couple of youngsters when Agassi’s follow-through struck her in the face.

“She’s OK,” Agassi said. “It was an unfortunate accident.”

Marat Safin overcame a shaky start to beat 15th-seeded Jarkko Nieminen, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, in the first round of the Monte Carlo Masters at Monaco.

The two-time Grand Slam champion led, 4-1, before losing the first set, but recovered to break Nieminen in the sixth game of the second set and save break points in the fourth and sixth games of the third.

Julien Benneteau also advanced, beating wild card Benjamin Balleret, 7-5, 5-7, 6-2.

Lee Hyung-taik ousted Jonas Bjorkman, 7-6 (6), 6-1, and Arnaud Clement beat Florent Serra, 6-4, 7-6 (5).

Top-ranked Roger Federer and two-time defending champion Rafael Nadal have byes into the second round.

Zach Fleishman of Hermosa Beach lost to Alex Bogdanovic, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-3, in the final of a USTA Challenger Series event in Santa Clarita.

PRO FOOTBALL

Shields, 35, to retire from the Chiefs

Kansas City guard Will Shields is retiring after 14 NFL seasons, during which he made a record 12 Pro Bowl appearances and anchored one of the top offensive lines in the league.

Shields, 35, announced his decision on his website, saying the physical requirements of football had become more difficult with each passing day.

Shields made his 12th Pro Bowl appearance last season to tie the record held by Minnesota guard Randall McDaniel.

John Dutton threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Damian Harrell with 39 seconds left, and Jason Ball added the extra point to give the Colorado Crush (4-3) a 49-48 victory over the New York Dragons (1-5) at Uniondale, N.Y.

Jarrick Hillery intercepted a two-point conversion pass in the final seconds, preserving the Georgia Force’s 69-68 victory over the Las Vegas Gladiators (1-6) at Atlanta. Georgia improved to 6-1.

MARATHON

Wind, rain forecast for Boston Marathon

The Kenyans’ greatest challenge at today’s Boston Marathon could come from the weather.

Defending champions Robert Cheruiyot and Rita Jeptoo are back, but the weather won’t be at all like the calm and clear 53-degree weather for last year’s Kenyan sweep. Forecasts call for three to five inches of rain, start temperatures in the mid- to upper 30s and wind gusts blowing in runners’ faces at up to 25 mph.

MISCELLANY

UCLA completes baseball sweep of USC

Cody Decker’s grand slam capped a five-run eighth inning to help UCLA (18-16, 8-1 Pacific 10 Conference) complete a three-game sweep of USC (19-18, 2-7) at Dedeaux Field.

Having upset Pakistan in the group stage, Ireland pulled off another stunner in the Super 8s with a 74-run victory over Bangladesh at Bridgetown, Barbados, in the Cricket World Cup.

It could be a lonely outing for people lucky enough to get tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

In placing more than 7 million tickets on sale Sunday, Beijing organizers also announced a one-ticket policy for the two most popular events of the Games -- the opening and closing ceremonies.