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Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
Kobe Bryant hit a baseline jump shot with 4.2 seconds left and the Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up a six-game road trip by holding on to beat the Raptors 94-92 on Sunday, their eighth victory in nine meetings with Toronto
Arc's five up, five down: After No. 11 Michigan State's 58-48 upset of No. 3 Ohio State, you'd be a fool to discount the Spartans' national title chances now.
Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
Eleven shots separated Phil and Tiger Sunday at Pebble Beach as Lefty secured his 40th Tour win. Jason Sobel had hole-by-hole reports.
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
Tessa Worley of France fought off gusting winds to win a second consecutive World Cup giant slalom Sunday in the Andorran Pyrenees. Overall leader Lindsey Vonn was more than a second behind and finished eighth.
Robins: It’s the Year of the Dragon on the Lunar calendar, and this Chinese influence could extend to it also being the year of the Pekingese on the green carpet at the 136th Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday.
Reuters
NEW YORK - The chase is on.
Roger Federer used to shy away from talking about overtaking Pete Sampras in the Grand Slam record book. Not these days. Not with Sampras so close.
Able to come through when it counts the most, Federer just keeps adding to his trophy collection.
In the U.S. Open final Sunday, Federer sure offered his opponent plenty of chances to pull off an upset. He knows how to win these things, though, while Novak Djokovic is learning, and that made all the difference in Federer’s 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2), 6-4 victory for a fourth consecutive U.S. Open championship and 12th Grand Slam title.
Federer is the first man since Bill Tilden in the 1920s to win the American Grand Slam four years running. He’s won the last five Wimbledon titles, too, along with three overall at the Australian Open. So on Sunday, still only 26 years old, Federer moved ahead of a couple of guys named Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver on the career Slam list and tied Roy Emerson for second place, two away from Sampras’ 14.
“I think about it a lot now,” Federer said of Sampras’ mark. “To come so close at my age is fantastic, and I hope to break it.”
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“I don’t know,” Federer said. “I hope more than Pete.”
This one was a close call. The 20-year-old Djokovic was in his first Slam final, yet he led 6-5 in each of the opening two sets.
In the first, he held five set points. In the second, he held two.
Federer erased all of those, showing the craft and cool that have allowed him to hold the No. 1 ranking for the past 188 weeks, the longest run ever.
“My next book is going to be called, ’Seven Set Points,”’ Djokovic said, flashing the sense of humor he displayed while doing on-court impersonations of other players after his quarterfinal victory.
On a more serious note, the No. 3-seeded Djokovic said of Federer: “Once again, he showed he’s the best.”
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In Djokovic, Federer was facing the only man to beat him over the past three months, but that was in early August at Montreal, not early September at New York, and in a Grand Slam tuneup, not the real deal.
So, not just talented with a racket but prescient, too, Federer pretty much predicted what would transpire. Shortly before walking out for Sunday’s match, he said knowingly, “It’ll be interesting to see how he handles the final.”
Sure was.
Afterward, Federer spoke about having enjoyed getting another shot at Djokovic.
“New guys challenging me — this is my biggest motivation out there,” Federer said. “Seeing them challenging me, and then beating them in the finals.”
In the end, about the only category Djokovic won on this day was “Most Intriguing Guests,” with 2006 Open champion Maria Sharapova — “just a friendship,” he said — and actor Robert De Niro sharing a box with his parents in the stands.
Federer was dressed for an evening on the town — all in black, from headwrap and wristband to socks and shoes, from shirt to shorts with tuxedo-like satin stripes down the sides — and he finished things under the lights by breaking Djokovic in the last game with the help of a no-look, over-the-shoulder volley winner.
It’s the type of shot that has prompted plenty of people to call Federer the greatest to ever swing a racket.
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
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Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
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