Djokovic defeats Nadal on clay

Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal on clay for the first time in 10 tries, beating the top-ranked Spaniard 7-5, 6-4 to win the Madrid Open tennis tournament on Sunday and extend his unbeaten start to the season to 32 matches.

Second-ranked Djokovic squandered a 4-0 lead in the first set but recovered to end Nadal's latest winning streak on clay at 37 matches and earn the Serb his third straight victory over Nadal in finals this season. Federer also lost to Djokovic in the finals at Miami and Indian Wells this year.

Djokovic's sixth title of 2011 allowed him to surpass Bjorn Borg's 31-match season-opening run in 1980. He trails only John McEnroe's 42-0 start in 1984.

Earlier, Petra Kvitova won her third title of the season by beating Victoria Azarenka 7-6 (3), 6-4 in the women's final.

Vettel wins Turkish GP

Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel cruised to victory Sunday in the Turkish Grand Prix at Istanbul, clinching his third win this season ahead of teammate Mark Webber to extend his lead in the standings.

The Formula One champion was never in trouble at Istanbul Park after starting from the pole for the fourth consecutive race and winning by a comfortable 8.8 seconds.

Alonso was 10 seconds behind Vettel in third, giving Ferrari its first podium finish this season.

Czechs top Russia, 3-2

The Czech Republic overcame the arrival of Alex Ovechkin to beat Russia 3-2 Sunday and maintain a perfect record at the ice hockey world championship at Kosice, Slovakia.

Jakub Voracek, Jaromir Jagr and Tomas Plekanec scored for the Czech Republic as Ovechkin couldn't help Russia avenge a 2-1 loss to the Czechs in the final of last year's worlds.

Also Sunday, Mikael Backlund scored 7:47 into the third period and added an empty-net goal to give Sweden a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Switzerland to secure a place in the quarters. The result means that the United States also advanced.

Petacchi takes Giro stage

Alessandro Petacchi won a mass sprint Sunday to take the second stage of the Giro d'Italia cycling race, with Mark Cavendish finishing second for the overall lead.

Lampre's Petacchi captured the Giro's longest stage, completing the 151-mile ride from Alba to Parma in 5 hours, 45 minutes, 40 seconds. Cavendish beat Manuel Belletti of Colnago for second.

Tour de France champion Alberto Contador finished in the main pack, placing 29th in the same time.

Huo paces Chinese divers

Huo Liang won the men's 10-meter platform event in the USA Diving Grand Prix on Sunday, part of a strong weekend for China at the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center.

Chinese divers won three of the four events on the final day of the only yearly international competition held in the United States. Huo teamed with Qiu Bo to win the synchronized platform competition with 456.27 points, and He Zi finished first in the women's three-meter springboard. U.S. divers Christina Loukas and Abby Johnston won the synchronized three-meter springboard title.

In men's synchronized platform, Mexico's German Sanchez and Ivan Garcia took second with 441.81. Americans David Boudia and Nick McCrory, the latter a Duke diver from East Chapel Hill High, were third with 438.51.

Pacquiao routs Mosley

Manny Pacquiao caught Shane Mosley early, then chased him the rest of the night and won a lopsided 12-round decision Saturday night at Las Vegas, retaining his version of the welterweight title in a fight that was roundly booed over the late rounds because Mosley refused to trade punches.

Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 knockouts) knocked down Mosley (46-7-1-1) with a left hook in the third round, a punch that sapped Mosley's willingness to engage. Pacquiao ran after Mosley the rest of the fight, but the former champion, who has never been stopped in 18 years in the ring, managed to stay away enough to finish the 12th round upright.

Locals fall in RBC Challenger

Broughton High freshman Smith Hinton and Green Hope senior Melissa Kandinata were defeated Sunday in the first round of qualifying for the RBC Bank Women's Challenger at North Hills Club.

Hinton, playing in a professional tennis tournament for the first time, lost to Marie-Eve Pelletier of Canada 6-0, 6-0. Kandinata, in the field for the second year, fell 7-5, 6-4 to Katie Ruckert of Vienna, Va.

RBC Bank Challenger News Release