Briefs | Dementieva beats Williams, takes Kremlin Cup

Tennis

Russians sweep Kremlin Cup finals: American Serena Williams was undone by 59 unforced errors and lost to Elena Dementieva 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 in the Kremlin Cup final Sunday in Moscow.

"It was me," Williams said. "Every ball I hit, I felt was going out. It was so frustrating."

Nikolay Davydenko gave Russia a sweep of the men's and women's titles by beating Paul-Henri Mathieu of France 7-5, 7-6 (11-9) and winning this event for the second straight year. It was the first title of the year for Davydenko, who also won the Kremlin Cup in 2004.

Dementieva, ranked 14th in the world, has won eight career WTA Tour titles. She had not won a set in four previous matches against Williams, who is ranked seventh in the world. Dementieva was the Kremlin Cup runner-up in 2001 and 2004.

"It's an incredible feeling when you win at home," said Dementieva, whose 26th birthday is today. "I knew that if I did not beat Serena today, it would never happen again."

Pennetta prevails: Italy's Flavia Pennetta won the Bangkok Open, defeating Taiwan's Chan Yung-jan 6-1, 6-3 in a final interrupted for four hours because of rain in Thailand.

Pennetta, who beat Venus Williams in the semifinal round, captured her fourth career title.

Karlovic wins Stockholm Open: Big-serving Ivo Karlovic of Croatia had 27 aces in defeating Thomas Johansson of Sweden 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to win the Stockholm Open in Sweden for his third career ATP title.

The 6-foot-10 Karlovic has a Tour-leading 1,135 aces this year.

Djokovic triumphs: Top-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia beat Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 6-4, 6-0 in the final of the BA-CA Tennis Trophy in Vienna, Austria, for his fifth ATP title of the season.

"I was good in the first set, but I played some incredible tennis in the second," the 20-year-old Djokovic said.

Rugby

South Africa to play England for title Saturday: South Africa, led by a record-tying performance from Bryan Habana, defeated Argentina 37-13 in Saint-Denis, France, to reach the Rugby World Cup final against defending champion England.

South Africa and England play Saturday in Saint-Denis. England reached the final with a 14-9 victory over France on Saturday.

South Africa downed England 36-0 in the group stage Sept. 14, but the English were without injured Jonny Wilkinson.

Springboks manager Zola Yeye said, "What we did to England, 36-0, we will inflict the same punishment on them again. Some people say I am overconfident, but we are playing in the final a team we have already beaten."

Habana matched a World Cup record of eight tries in the tournament, set by New Zealand's Jonah Lomu in 1999.

Boxing

Roach contends Holyfield should retire: American Evander Holyfield lost to champion Sultan Ibragimov by unanimous decision in a WBO heavyweight-title bout Saturday in Moscow, but Holyfield said his goal remains "to be the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world."

Holyfield's trainer, Ronnie Shields, said, "I can't make that decision for him."

But high-profile trainer Freddie Roach, viewing the situation from the outside, said Holyfield, who turns 45 Friday, should retire.

"I'd hate to see him end up being hurt," Roach said. "He's got a lot of money, but what's that worth if you can't count it?"

Soccer

Rapids edge Chivas USA: Omar Cummings scored in the 90th minute to give the Colorado Rapids a 2-1 victory over CD Chivas USA in a Major League Soccer match in Carson, Calif.

Running

Kiplagat sets world mark: Lornah Kiplagat of the Netherlands set a half-marathon world record of 1 hour, 6 minutes, 25 seconds on the 13.11-mile course in Udine, Italy, to successfully defend her title at the world championships. She earned $80,000.

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