Sorenstam takes charge with a 70

Annika Sorenstam struggled with her putting Saturday, yet shot a one-under-par 70 to take a one-shot lead over Paula Creamer after three rounds of the Stanford International Pro-Am at Aventura, Fla.

Sorenstam, seeking her 71st LPGA Tour victory, has won five consecutive events when she’s taken a one-shot lead into the final round.

Creamer -- who hasn’t finished higher than a tie for 21st in her previous three events -- had a flawless, four-birdie, no-bogey round of 67, capped by a birdie at the finishing hole.

Adam Scott, at No. 10 in the world the highest-ranked player in the field, overcame two front-nine bogeys and shot a three-under 67 to top the leaderboard at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship at Irving, Texas. He is at eight-under 202.

Scott birdied two of the last three holes, including a 3 1/2 -footer at the 429-yard 18th. That put him three strokes ahead of four players -- Kevin Sutherland (67), Bart Bryant (67), Charley Hoffman (68) and Ryan Moore (68).

Tom Watson and Andy North combined for a better-ball 62 for a 23-under 121 total and a four-stroke lead heading into the final round of the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf at Savannah, Ga. Brad Bryant and Lonnie Nielsen (60) were tied for second with Jeff Sluman and Craig Stadler (63).

TENNIS

Russia leads U.S., 2-0, in Fed Cup semifinals

Two Russian stars easily won their singles matches against a depleted U.S. team to take a 2-0 lead in their Fed Cup semifinal at Moscow.

Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Ahsha Rolle, 6-2, 6-1, and Anna Chakvetadze beat Vania King, 6-4, 7-5, on indoor clay. The Americans are without Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Lindsay Davenport.

Kuznetsova is the world’s fourth-ranked player, while Chakvetadze is ranked ninth. Neither Rolle nor King has advanced past the third round of a major tournament.

Top-seeded Roger Federer and second-seeded Rafael Nadal will meet in the Monte Carlo Masters final for the third consecutive year.

Federer advanced from his semifinal when third-seeded Novak Djokovic retired when trailing, 6-3, 3-2. Nadal beat fourth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko, 6-3, 6-2.

SOCCER

Chelsea gets even with Manchester United

Chelsea kept the English Premier League title race alive by beating Manchester United, 2-1, leaving the teams tied on points with two games to go.

Michael Ballack scored the winner with a penalty kick in the 86th minute -- his second goal of the game -- after a hand ball by Michael Carrick in the penalty area.

The two teams now have 81 points, although United keeps the lead because of a better goal differential.

GYMNASTICS

UCLA’s Schwikert wins another title

All-around champion Tasha Schwikert of UCLA won the uneven bars title at the NCAA women’s championships at Athens, Ga.

Schwikert, who won the all-around title on Thursday, scored 9.9375 points to become the fifth Bruin to win the uneven bars championship.

UCLA’s Kristina Comforte made it a one-two finish on the bars with a 9.9, tying Georgia’s Katie Heenan.

Schwikert had a chance for a third title but finished second behind Georgia’s Courtney McCool in the floor exercise. McCool scored a 9.9625. Schwikert received a 9.9500.

OLYMPICS

U.S. men’s basketball team opens with China

The U.S. men’s basketball team will play host China in its first game at the Beijing Games this summer.

In a draw held in Beijing, the Americans were put into Group B with China, defending world champion Spain and Angola. The two other teams to fill out the six-team group will come from a qualifying tournament in Athens, July 14-20.

Miao Lijie scored 26 points and host China upset the United States, 84-81, in the championship game of a pre-Olympic women’s basketball test tournament at Beijing. Katie Smith led the Americans -- the defending Olympic champions -- with 16 points.

Former Olympians Mariel Zagunis and Keeth Smart were among the fencers named to the U.S. squad that will compete in the Beijing Olympics. The U.S. qualified three teams -- women’s and men’s saber and women’s foil. The selections were announced at the U.S. Fencing National Championships at Portland, Ore.

VOLLEYBALL

Pepperdine upsets BYU for MPSF title

Paul Carroll had 27 kills and fifth-seeded Pepperdine upset second-seeded Brigham Young, 28-30, 28-30, 32-30, 30-27, 15-8, for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation title at the Pyramid in Long Beach.