MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) β Serena Williams is the Australian Open women’s champion for the sixth time. In winning her 19th Grand Slam title today, Williams continued her decade-long domination of Maria Sharapova with a commanding 6-3, 7-6 (5) win. At 33, she also became the oldest winner of the Australian women’s title in the Open era. And she moved into outright second place on the list of major winners in the Open era, behind only Steffi Graf’s 22.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) β Martin Laird takes a two-shot lead over Daniel Berger into today’s third round of the PGA Tour stop outside Phoenix. Tiger Woods shot a career-worst 82 yesterday and missed the cut along with fan favorite Phil Mickelson, who shot a 76.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) β There’s a college basketball showdown in the Atlantic Coast Conference today. Second-ranked Virginia puts its 19-0 record on the line against fourth-ranked Duke, which is coming off a 77-73 loss to eighth-ranked Notre Dame Wednesday night.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) β The first meeting of Atlantic 10 rivals Richmond and VCU happens today, and the Spiders will be heading across town trying to start evening things out a little bit in the series. The 14th-ranked Rams are 17-3 this season and have won 11 of the last 13 matchups, including all three last season.
ATLANTA (AP)β The Atlanta Hawks aim to extend their franchise-best winning streak to 19 games tonight when they host Philadelphia. The Hawks used a fourth-quarter rally to beat Portland 105-99 and tonight face the second half of a back-to-back scheduling challenge.
