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Djokovic wins China Open final

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Staff And Wire Reports

Novak Djokovic won the China Open with a 6-2, 7-6 (4) victory over Croatia’s Marin Cilic, and Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia defeated Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, 6-2, 6-4, in the women’s final Sunday.

The second-seeded Serb broke Cilic’s serve in the sixth game and again in the eighth to take the first set following a 90-minute rain delay.

The second set was much tighter, with each breaking the other’s serve three times to force the tiebreaker. But Cilic then struggled, and his return at 6-4 went wide, giving Djokovic the win.

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“My patience and the choice of certain shots and a little more experience than he has decided the winner today,” said Djokovic, who has won all four matches between the two, all on hard courts.

The sixth-seeded Kuznetsova needed only 1 hour 20 minutes to complete her victory, racking up six aces along the way.

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HOCKEY

Mikkelson is recalled by Ducks

The Ducks recalled defenseman Brendan Mikkelson from Toronto of the American Hockey League.

The move came a day after Ducks defenseman James Wisniewski sprained his right shoulder during the team’s shootout victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. He is listed as week to week, team spokesman Alex Gilchrist said.

-- Mark Medina

The Vancouver Canucks will be without top forward Daniel Sedin for four to six weeks because of a broken foot.

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HORSE RACING

Gayego wins spot in Breeders’ Cup

Gayego ran his way into the Breeders’ Cup with a victory in the $300,000 Ancient Title Stakes at Santa Anita.

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The 4-year-old colt came charging in the final furlongs of Sunday’s Grade I race, covering six furlongs in 1:08.28, with jockey Garrett Gomez aboard for the first time.

Gayego claimed the automatic berth in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Nov. 7 at Santa Anita.

In the $300,000 Clement L. Hirsch Turf Championship, Presious Passion stole away on the lead and went on to a 2 1/2 -length victory in the Grade I prep for the $3-million BC Turf.

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ETC.

Rodriguez wins Long Beach race

Eli Rodriguez, 25, of Whittier won the Long Beach International City Bank Marathon in 2 hours 25 minutes 57 seconds, beating runner-up Leonel Avalos, whose time was 2:29:15. Cheryl Smith, 29, of Laguna Beach won the women’s division in 2:50:18. The marathon, in its 25th year, had a record 22,000 participants.

Sammy Wanjiru of Kenya won the Chicago Marathon with the fastest time on American soil, finishing in 2:05:41.

With temperatures in the low- to mid-30s, Wanjiru turned in the best time in the U.S. and beat by one second the mark set by Khalid Khannouchi in Chicago in 1999.

Russia’s Liliya Shobukhova, running in her second marathon, won the women’s division. The 21-year-old crossed the finish line all alone in 2:25:56.

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Pro stock driver Mike Edwards went wire to wire in the NHRA Virginia Nationals at Dinwiddie, earning the maximum 150 points to all but clinch his first NHRA Full Throttle Series championship.

Del Worsham (funny car) and Brandon Bernstein (top fuel) also won in the fourth of six races in the NHRA playoffs, the Countdown to 1.

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