Rafael Nadal gets title No. 7 in Barcelona

Rafael Nadal became the first player in the Open Era to win two tournaments seven times after beating David Ferrer, 7-6 (1), 7-5, in Sunday’s Barcelona Open final in Spain.

The second-ranked Nadal’s 21st straight victory on clay followed up his eighth straight win in Monte Carlo, as Nadal won the 10th all-Spanish ATP final for the 48th win of his career.

The sixth-ranked Ferrer lost his fourth Barcelona Open final to Nadal, who saved 12 of 15 break points for a 34th straight victory at Barcelona.

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Second-ranked Maria Sharapova cruised past top-ranked Victoria Azarenka, 6-1, 6-4, to win the Porsche Grand Prix at Stuttgart, Germany, for her first title of the year.

GOLF

Dufner wins for first time

Jason Dufner beat Ernie Els with a birdie on the second hole of a playoff in the Zurich Classic at Avondale, La., to win for the first time in 164 starts on the PGA Tour.

After entering the fourth round with a two-shot lead, Dufner shot a two-under-par 70 at TPC Louisiana. Els had a 67 to match Dufner at 19-under 269.

Luke Donald shot a 67 to finish third at 17 under and move past Rory McIlroy for the No. 1 ranking in the world.

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Stacy Lewis won the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic for her second LPGA Tour title, holding off hard-charging teen Lexi Thompson by a stroke at Mobile, Ala.

Lewis’ week was so solid that her finishing at three-under 69 was her worst round en route to a 17-under 271 total.

Thompson found redemption from her final-round fall in Mobile a year ago. She didn’t flinch under the pressure given a second shot, closing with rounds of 66 and 65.

Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger won the Ballantine’s Championship for his first European Tour title, closing with a four-under 68 for a five-stroke victory at Seoul.

ETC.

Power triumphs in Brazil

Will Power won IndyCar’s Sao Paulo 300 for the third straight time, finishing ahead of Ryan Hunter Reay on the 2.5-mile, 11-turn Anhembi circuit in Brazil. The Australian was hardly challenged on the streets of South America’s biggest city.

Takuma Sato had a great run to finish third for his first podium after starting only 25th, and Brazilian Helio Castroneves was fourth after starting 18th. Three-time defending series champion Dario Franchitti finished fifth.

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Mike Neff gave John Force Racing its sixth straight funny car victory to open the season, beating Ron Capps in the final of the NHRA Spring Nationals at Baytown, Texas.

Morgan Lucas won the top-fuel competition, Vincent Nobile topped the pro stock field, and Andrew Hines took the pro stock motorcycle division.

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UCLA and USC split their annual track and field dual meet at Drake Stadium, as the Bruins won the men’s competition, 93-70, and the Trojans women won, 89-74.

It was the second consecutive year that UCLA won the men’s meet and the fifth year in a row that USC won the women’s meet. The Trojans men lead the all-time series, 42-37; the Bruins women lead their series, 21-8.

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Sprinter Dwain Chambers and cyclist David Millar will be eligible to compete for Britain at the London Games after the country’s lifetime Olympic ban for doping offenders was found to be unlawful by sports’ top court.

A Court of Arbitration for Sport panel has decided the British Olympic Assn.’s 20-year-old bylaw now violates the World Anti-Doping Agency code, a person familiar with the ruling said.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the CAS verdict is not being publicly released until Monda

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American Paul Malignaggi stopped previously undefeated Ukrainian Vyacheslav Senchenko in the ninth round to take the WBA welterweight title at Donetsk, Ukraine.