Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark is top-seeded woman in U.S. Open, which starts Monday | Tennis

Tennis

Wozniacki doesn't doubt her status as No. 1 seed: Let others wonder whether Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark merits the No. 1 seeding at the U.S. Open, the first time she has been awarded the top spot at a Grand Slam tournament.

She seemingly harbors no doubts.

"Pressure is when you're put on the spot and you don't feel like you belong there, don't think you deserve to be there," the 20-year-old Wozniacki said Sunday, a day before U.S. Open play begins in New York. "I think I deserve to be where I am, and I think that I'm feeling comfortable there."

Wozniacki is No. 2 in the WTA rankings, behind American Serena Williams, who pulled out of the U.S. Open more than a week ago, citing surgery to repair cuts on her right foot. The U.S. Tennis Association strictly follows the rankings when assigning seedings, so Wozniacki was promoted to the top seed.

That made her the first woman since Kim Clijsters of Belgium in 2003 to be seeded No. 1 at the U.S. Open without already having won a major championship. Wozniacki is the youngest woman to lead the field since Russian Maria Sharapova was 18 in 2005.

"To win a Grand Slam, that's definitely a goal," said Wozniacki, whose first-round opponent Tuesday is wild-card entry Chelsey Gullickson, a Georgia player who won this year's NCAA title.

Auto racing

Said wins his first NASCAR Nationwide Series event: Boris Said came back from an early spin and won the NASCAR Nationwide Series race in Montreal, edging Max Papis by a nose on a green-white-checkered finish.

Papis passed Said entering the final chicane for a split second, but Said never lost momentum and sped back by and outraced Papis to the line in the NAPA Auto Parts 200. The margin of victory was .012 seconds, fifth-lowest of all time and closest since 1998 at Homestead.

It was the first Nationwide victory for Said and his second in NASCAR. He won a trucks race 12 years ago.

Jacques Villeneuve was third, ahead of series points leader Brad Keselowski and Paul Menard. Tayler Malsam, who lists Seattle as his hometown, was 23rd.

Robby Gordon had the lead when the race restarted for the final time, but ran out of fuel and finished 14th.

Hamilton triumphs, takes F1 points lead: Lewis Hamilton of England won the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa-Francorchamps and regained the lead in the Formula One standings.

McLaren driver Hamilton went off the track with nine laps to race but recovered to keep the lead and edge runner-up Mark Webber, an Australian who drives for the Red Bull team.

"I locked my wheel and went wide," recalled Hamilton, who has 14 career victories. "I just clipped (the wall). But I was able to get away with it."

After 13 of 19 races, Hamilton has 182 points and second-place Webber has 179.

Soccer

Chivas USA beats D.C. United in MLS: Justin Braun scored in the 13th minute to give Chivas USA a 1-0 victory over visiting D.C. United in a Major League Soccer match. Chivas USA remains at the bottom of the Western Conference and D.C. United has the worst record in the East.

College football

USC suspends safety Hall: USC freshman safety Patrick Hall has been suspended indefinitely for failing to meet standards set out by coach Lane Kiffin.

Track and field

Rudisha sets world record in 800 — again: David Rudisha of Kenya set a world record in the 800 meters for the second consecutive weekend and Jamaica's Nesta Carter ran 9.78 seconds in the 100 meters at the Rieti Grand Prix in Italy, tying American Tyson Gay for the fastest time this year.

Rudisha, 21, clocked 1 minute, 41.01 seconds in the two-lap race, shaving 0.08 seconds off the mark he set a week earlier in Berlin. That effort beat the record of 1:41.11 set by Wilson Kipketer of Denmark in 1997 in Cologne, Germany.

Horse racing

Rachel Alexandra finishes second at Saratoga: Rachel Alexandra, the 2009 North American Horse of the Year, was defeated by 21-1 shot Persistently in the Grade I Personal Ensign at Saratoga in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Persistently, trained by Shug McGaughey and ridden by Alan Garcia, beat Rachel Alexandra by a length. The 4-year-old filly ran 1 ¼ miles in 2 minutes, 4.49 seconds and paid $45 to win in the $294,000 race.

Rachel Alexandra, a 4-year-old filly who went off at 2-5 odds, has won twice in five starts this year; she won all eight of her races last year.

Cycling

Farrar of Wenatchee is third in Spanish Vuelta stage: Garmin-Transitions rider Tyler Farrar of Wenatchee finished third in the second stage of the Spanish Vuelta and is seventh overall.

Francaise des Jeux rider Yauheni Hutarovich of Belarus won the 107.9-mile stage from Alcala de Guadaira to Marbella in 4 hours, 35 minutes, 41 seconds. HTC-Columbia's Mark Cavendish of Britain was second in the stage and retained the overall lead.

Badminton

Chen, Lin of China win world titles: Chen Jin of China beat Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia 21-13, 21-15 in the men's final of the world championship in Paris. In an all-Chinese women's final, Lin Wang beat Wang Xin 21-11, 19-21, 21-13.

Seattle Times news services