Rafael Nadal outmuscled Tommy Robredo 6-4 6-4 6-0 to win the Barcelona Open yesterday for his 47th consecutive claycourt win. He now moves ahead of Bjorn Borg into second place in the Open era list of consecutive wins on the surface.
After two even sets, Nadal cruised through the third to wrap up victory in two hours, 19 minutes for his third title of the year and 15th in total.
Nadal is now just six wins behind the record holder, Argentine Guillermo Vilas, who set his mark in 1977. The 19-year-old Spaniard's last loss on clay was to Russian Igor Andreev in April 2005.
Cricket - Asians to host World Cup
India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will co-host cricket's World Cup in 2011 after beating off opposition from a joint Australia-New Zealand bid. At an ICC executive board meeting in Dubai yesterday, the Asian countries' bid won the vote by 10 to three.
The hosting of the 2015 tournament was awarded to Australia and New Zealand. In 2019, the event will be staged by England.
Australia and New Zealand co-hosted the 1992 World Cup and had been in line to stage the 2011 event after Asia (1996), England (1999), South Africa (2003) and the West Indies (2007) were each awarded the tournament.
NBA - O'Neal fined $25,000 over outburst
Shaquille O'Neal of the Miami Heat was fined $25,000 by the NBA for publicly criticising officials after last week's play-off game against the Chicago Bulls. The NBA confirmed the fine after the Bulls beat the Heat 109-90 to cut Miami's lead to 2-1 in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference opening-round series.
O'Neal had eight points and five fouls in the game. As a result of the fouls, O'Neal was forced to sit out most of the second quarter. The Miami star claimed that referees target him and also said he knew it would be a tough day for him when he saw that Bob Delaney was overseeing Game Three.
Athletics - 2010 Europeans in Barcelona
Barcelona will host the 2010 European championships, the European Athletics Association (EAA) said. The championships will take place at the Lluis Companys Olympic stadium, venue of the 1992 Olympic Games, at the end of July or the beginning of August.
The city put itself forward as a venue after Madrid withdrew following its unsuccessful bid to hold the 2012 Olympics.
The EAA also said Turin would stage the 2009 European Indoor championships with Munich hosting the European Cup in 2007.
Gymnastics
Triple Olympic gold medallist Catalina Ponor produced a thrilling finale to her career when she took the gold medal on the beam at the women's European gymnastics championships in Volos, Greece, yesterday. Performing last, the Romanian, who has said she will retire after these championships, produced an outstanding performance to score 15.800.