Today's other stories in brief
Ivanovic back to winning ways
TENNIS: Ana Ivanovic claimed her first title since she lifted the French Open trophy in June by beating second seed Vera Zvonareva of Russia 6-2, 6-1 yesterday to win the Linz Open.
It was the top-seeded Serbian's third title this year and came after a dramatic slump that followed her Paris victory and rise to number one in the world rankings.
The 20-year-old struggled to deal with the magnitude of her success and then suffered a painful thumb injury that put her out of the Beijing Olympics. At one stage she won just five out of 11 matches, before regaining her form by reaching the semi-finals of the Zurich Open last week.
"It's great to be in the final and win again," said Ivanovic. "I'm very, very happy. I've started to feel my game again."
Murray on cruise control to retain St Petersburg Open
TENNIS:Andy Murray yesterday easily defended his St Petersburg Open title. The 21-year-old Scot eased to a 6-1 6-1 victory over Kazakhstan's Andrey Golubev in less than 57 minutes.
It gave him his fifth title of the year, having also reached the US Open final and secured his place in the end-of-year Masters Cup.
Just a week after emerging victorious from the Madrid Masters, world number four Murray had few problems in the first set of the final against a player who is ranked 150th in the world.
Golubev held serve in the first game of the second set, but that was as good as it got as the Scot reeled off four games in a row.
Murray had insisted he faced a tough test, but it did not turn out that way as he eased to match point in the seventh game.
Although the Kazakh saved it and had the chance to reduce the arrears to 2-5 - he doubled faulted - and Murray took the next match point on offer to wrap up the title.
McGuigan two bouts from title
BOXING:Shane McGuigan, son of 1980 Irish Olympian and ex WBA featherweight champion Barry McGuigan, is just two bouts away from claiming an Irish Under-21 title following two wins in 24 hours at the National Stadium in Dublin at the weekend.
The 19-year-old, who has his dad working his corner at the home of Irish boxing, came from behind to beat last year's finalist Martin Lynch on Friday night, winning an edge-of- the-seat light middleweight contest by one point, 13-12.
And the current Ulster senior welterweight champion forced stylish Antrim boxer Michael Bustard into a standing count in the fourth round en route to earning a 15-9 verdict at the South Circular Road venue on Saturday night.
McGuigan will now face Christy Coyle in next weekend's semi-finals just two bouts away from winning an Under-21 crown - 30 years after his father went all the way in the Under-21 championships at the same venue.
Radcliffe sends out message
ATHLETICS:Paula Radcliffe sent out a clear warning she is in mint condition to defend her New York Marathon after a world-class performance in the Great South Run yesterday.
Radcliffe (34), raced around a wet and windy 10-mile Portsmouth course in 51 minutes 11 seconds.
In the men's race, Ireland's Martin Fagan produced a storming finish to snatch second spot behind Kenya's Bernard Kipyego.
Ocean fleet racing east to Cape Town
SAILING:A final surge to the finishing-line of leg one in the Volvo Ocean Race has started in the South Atlantic as the eight-boat fleet hitches a lift east from a weather depression towards Cape Town more than 3,000-miles away.
With Torben Grael's Ericsson 4 leading, the battle will be to extend distance within the fleet and avoid being left behind when the expected gale passes through.
A new world 24-hour speed sailing record of better than 563 miles is a strong possibility, but so too is a calm just before the finishing-line under Table Mountain when further use of the "StealthPlay" tactic may be expected.
Ireland's Green Dragon, skippered by Ian Walker, trails Grael in third place by 25 miles behind Ken Read's Puma Racing.
Meanwhile, Limerick's Ger O'Rourke continues to defy pre-start expectations and is battling for sixth place some 80-miles astern.
Twomey doubles up in Belfast
EQUESTRIAN:Billy Twomey saw off the challenge of fellow stable rider Anthony Condon to win yesterday's jump-off class at the Odyssey Arena, Belfast, on Fantasia, writes Margie McLoone.
This was a second weekend success for the Cork-born rider and Carron Nichol's mare, who landed Saturday night's HSI-sponsored single round class.
North Co Dublin-based Paul O'Shea took the WKD speed Grand Prix on Saturday with Paul Clarke's Daydream St Gyzan.
Third place here went to Cian O'Connor and Dermot O'Rourke's Baloufina.
That combination were comfortable winners of the Ballywalter Wind Farms 1.50m jump-off class on Friday, when O'Connor later came back into the Belfast arena to claim the Maxol Direct accumulator on Irish Independent Echo Beach.
