Sports in 2 Mintues

From The Associated Press

Venus Williams wins 4th Wimbledon title
WIMBLEDON, England—Venus Williams giggled as she clutched the championship trophy against her chest, threw back her head and whooped at the sky.

Winning Wimbledon never gets old.

Williams won tennis’ most prestigious tournament for the fourth time Saturday, beating surprising finalist Marion Bartoli 6-4, 6-1.

It was Williams’ sixth Grand Slam title, and her first since winning Wimbledon in 2005. She was also the champion at the All England Club in 2000 and 2001.

At No. 31, Williams became the lowest-ranked women’s winner in Wimbledon history. Plagued in recent years by injuries that sent her ranking sliding, she rediscovered her championship form this week on the surface that always seems to inspire her best efforts.

“It has been a long road back,” Williams said during the trophy ceremony. “I brought it together here against some of the best players in the world, including Marion.”

She lost 22 games in her final four matches, beating 2004 Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova on Wednesday, 2004 U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova on Thursday and French Open runner-up Ana Ivanovic on Friday.

“She loves the grass,” said Williams’ boyfriend, pro golfer Hank Kuehne. “And she loves the environment here.”

Her father and coach, Richard, said that when his daughter was about 9, she declared she wanted to win Wimbledon more than anyone else.

Slumping D-backs drop another in Cincy
CINCINNATI—Slumping Norris Hopper singled home the tiebreaking run in the eighth inning, and the Cincinnati Reds overcame another bullpen meltdown to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-4 Saturday night.

Eric Byrnes’ three-run homer off Reds reliever Todd Coffey tied it in the top of the eighth and reminded the booing crowd of 34,410 why manager Jerry Narron was fired a week earlier. A rally started by the game’s featured player helped pull it out.

Brandon Phillips, whose replica jersey was given away as a fan promotion, bunted for a single off Tony Pena (3-2) with one out. He advanced on Adam Dunn’s flyout and came around when Hopper—in a 7-for-42 slump—singled up the middle.

Jon Coutlangus (4-1) took over for Coffey in the eighth and got the win. David Weathers pitched the ninth for his 17th save in 19 chances. Arizona put runners on first and second with one out but Weathers struck out pinch-hitter Tony Clark and Miguel Montero to end the game.

With their rare rally, the Reds improved to 4-1 under interim manager Pete Mackanin. They’ve won back-to-back series for the first time since they opened the season by going 4-2 against the Cubs and Pirates.

For Arizona, it was more of the same.

The Diamondbacks have lost seven of eight, including four in a row—one shy of their season high. They couldn’t even win behind Brandon Webb, the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner who was named an All-Star replacement earlier in the day.

Federer, Nadal back in Wimbledon final
WIMBLEDON, England—Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will meet in another Grand Slam final.

Four-time defending champion Federer reached his ninth consecutive major final Saturday, beating Richard Gasquet 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 on the grass courts of the All England Club.

“It has become sort of a routine, but I’m still so excited to be back in the final,” said Federer, who beat Nadal to win last year’s title but lost to the Spaniard in the last two French Open finals.

Nadal set up a rematch at Wimbledon when No. 4 Novak Djokovic withdrew while trailing 3-6, 6-1, 4-1.

“I’m going to have a very difficult match tomorrow, but I’m going to try my best,” said Nadal, a three-time champion at Roland Garros.

Federer’s win was his 53rd straight on grass. He finished with 20 aces, including one on a second serve in the final game of the match.

Gasquet matched Federer for most of the first set, but the top-ranked Swiss player saved all three break points he faced, including two at 5-5. Federer saved the first with an ace and the next with a forehand winner before winning the next two points. Including those four points, Federer won 44 of the final 54 points on his serve.

Swiss rider wins prologue of Tour de France
LONDON—World time-trial champion Fabian Cancellara won Saturday’s prologue of the Tour de France, the debut of cycling’s premiere race in the British capital.

The Swiss rider, who also won the Tour prologue in 2004, clocked 8 minutes, 50 seconds for the 7.9-kilometer (4.9-mile) time trial through downtown London.

Germany’s Andreas Kloeden was second, 13 seconds behind, and American George Hincapie was third, 23 seconds off the leader’s pace. Cancellara also spoiled the hopes of Britain’s Bradley Wiggins, a close fourth, to bring victory to the home fans.

“I am really happy, that’s for sure,” said Cancellara, who will wear the leader’s yellow jersey for Sunday’s first stage from London to Canterbury. “I will do the maximum to defend it.”