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Tennis: Defending champion Serena Williams (picture) finished her last US Open tune-up in style by beating Romanian third seed Simona Halep 6-3 7-6 to win the Western & Southern Open on Sunday. For the top-seeded American, the Cincinnati triumph sent a message that she is in top form as she now sets her sights on a calendar sweep of the four grand slams at the Aug. 31-Sept. 13 US Open. It marked the fifth title of the year for Williams following wins at the Australian Open, in Miami and at the French Open and Wimbledon. The win was also the 69th career title for Williams and moved her ahead of Evonne Goolagong and into fifth place on the all-time list.
Golf: Tiger Woods had his best tournament in nearly two years but it was still not enough to snap a years-long winless streak on the PGA Tour as he missed a number of birdie opportunities at the Wyndham Championship on Sunday. Woods started the day two strokes from the lead but did not make a birdie until the ninth hole. He was three strokes behind by then and a triple-bogey at the par-four 11th totally ended his chances. Though he bounced back with four birdies over the final six holes to shoot 70 and finish four strokes behind winner Davis Love, the 14-times major champion was clearly disappointed. “I had all the opportunities in the world to do it and didn’t get it done,” Woods said.
Cycling: Vincenzo Nibali’s Astana squad have apologised after the 2010 winner and 2014 Tour de France champion was expelled from the Vuelta for being towed by a team car. Nibali had crashed on Sunday’s second stage and in trying to get back to the main peloton gained illegal assistance. Astana said: “Nibali called for a replacement water bottle and was filmed by television cameras in a race helicopter as Astana Pro Team director sportif Alexander Sheffer towed him for more than five seconds to rejoin the chasing group with around 20km to the finish. Nibali rejoined the main peloton with 10km to go. Astana Pro Team is sorry for the error, and apologises to the peloton and the race organisers.”
Formula One: Former Formula One driver and team owner Guy Ligier has died at the age of 85, French media reported. While Ligier had little success as a racing driver, scoring just one point from 12 grands prix in 1966 and 1967, he came into his own as a team boss. The Ligier team won nine grands prix between 1977 and 1996, finishing runners-up to Williams in the 1980 constructors’ world championship. The team’s last win was a shock Monaco Grand Prix triumph in the wet in 1996, and with only three cars still running at the finish, by Olivier Panis. It was then sold to French five times world champion Alain Prost and renamed.
Rugby Sevens: Australia’s medal hopes in rugby sevens at the Rio Olympics have suffered a blow with the shock resignation of men’s head coach Geraint John. John, who was also the national director of Australia’s sevens programme, will return to his native Wales to take on a new coaching development role with the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU). “I’m thrilled to have been chosen to take on this exciting new role,” John said. “Having spent 10 years away from Wales, I feel I have a huge amount to give back to Welsh rugby, developing the next generation of elite coaches for Wales.”