Overtime

Tennis

Davenport gets win, reclaims No. 1 rank

In New Haven, Conn., Lindsay Davenport won the Pilot Pen championship, defeating France's Amelie Mauresmo, 6-4, 6-4, after missing nearly two months with a back injury.

Davenport, who used the Pilot Pen as a tuneup for the U.S. Open that begins Monday, showed few signs of rust, winning the tournament without losing a set. It was Davenport's first title in New Haven, where she had lost four times in the final - three times to Venus Williams and once to Jennifer Capriati.

Though her appearance in the final guaranteed she'll reclaim the world's No. 1 spot from Russia's Maria Sharapova on Monday, Davenport will be seeded second at the U.S. Open because the draw was set this week.

Davenport improved to 10-3 in matches against Mauresmo. She has won their past six meetings, including a close semifinal at Wimbledon this year.

The men's final will be held today. Third-seeded David Ferrer, of Spain, faced fifth-seeded Feliciano Lopez in one semifinal Saturday. James Blake, who grew up in nearby Fairfield, faced Victor Hanescu, of Romania, in the other.

- In New York, Lucie Safarova rallied for a 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 win against Sania Mirza in the final of the Forest Hills Women's Classic.

Safarova, of the Czech Republic, earned her second WTA title after winning in Portugal earlier this year.

She will face 2004 semifinalist Elena Dementieva in the first round of the U.S. Open, which starts Monday. Mirza, from India, will play Mashona Washington.

Safarova collected the top prize of $22,500, and Mirza earned $12,000.

College Basketball

Wooden won't give namesake award

In Los Angeles, Hall of Fame coach John R. Wooden, who led UCLA to 10 national championships, says that for the first time in nearly three decades he won't present the prestigious collegiate player of the year award bearing his name, due to a dispute with the group that sponsors the prize.

The 94-year-old Wooden, however, said he won't contest the use of his name for the award.

"I don't want anything to interfere with the continuation of the award," he told The Associated Press.

Los Angeles Athletic Club President Steve Hathaway, whose group sponsors the award in concert with Wooden, said the dispute concerned Wooden's decision to lend his name to an unrelated award in January.

"As part of its stewardship of the award, the club has a legal duty to defend its trademarks that protect the award," Hathaway said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times, which first reported the story Saturday.

Hathaway said he was "shocked and saddened" by Wooden's decision.

Wooden family agent Mark Humenik said the two sides differed over how Wooden should be able to use his name. When asked if they might eventually reach an agreement, he said "never say never."

Wooden retired as UCLA's coach in 1975, after winning the 10 NCAA championships in his last 12 years. The Wooden Award has been given annually since then.

Past winners include Michael Jordan, David Robinson and Larry Bird.

Cycling

French fans support Armstrong's claim

In Paris, Lance Armstrong drew wide support from French fans who criticized the newspaper that accused the seven-time Tour de France winner of doping, with one letter writer pleading that the cyclist be left alone.

L'Equipe published letters to the editor in its weekend magazine in response to last week's cover story that Armstrong used a banned blood booster in his first Tour victory in 1999. The cyclist has denied the charges, suggesting he is the victim of a "setup" and places no trust in the lab that handled the test.

Of the seven letters published, six backed Armstrong and expressed varying degrees of anger at the newspaper.

"Leave him alone!" wrote Eugenie Hays from the Brittany town of La Forest-Landerneau.