Ocean race headed for New York

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The shortest leg of the Volvo Ocean Race could be one of the most challenging.

The sixth leg, from Annapolis to New York, is a 400-nautical-mile "sprint" that should last less than 40 hours. But it will be an intense two days for skippers and navigators, who must negotiate 118 miles of the Chesapeake Bay at the start and 18 miles of New York Harbor at the finish.

"It's going to be very tricky on either end," said Mike Sanderson, skipper of overall leader ABN AMRO ONE. "It figures to be rather light and fickle getting out of the Chesapeake, and the harbor finish in New York will bring its own challenges."

ABN AMRO ONE is the widest and heaviest of the seven Volvo 70-footers and doesn't tend to fare well in light winds. Early forecasts call for a northeasterly breeze of 6-8 knots for today's early afternoon start.

TENNIS

Former champs to meet

ROEIRAS, Portugal - Former champions David Nalbandian and Nikolay Davydenko will meet in today's men's final of the Estoril Open.

Top-seeded Nalbandian, the 2000 champion, beat Albert Portas7-5, 6-1, while second-seeded Davydenko, the 2003 winner, rallied to defeat Carlos Moya 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.

In the women's event, sixth-seeded Zheng Jie will play eighth-seeded Na Li in an all-Chinese final.

Zheng beat top-seeded Flavia Pennetta 6-2, 6-3, while Na Li, last year's runner-up, topped seventh-seeded Emilie Loit 7-5, 6-2.

BMW OPEN: Kristof Vliegen beat third-seeded Jarkko Nieminen 6-1, 6-2, setting up an all-Belgian final in Munich, Germany.

Vliegen will be playing for his first title today when he faces fifth-seeded Olivier Rochus, who defeated Jurgen Melzer 6-4, 6-7 (1-7), 6-3 in the other semifinal.

J&S CUP: Top-seeded Kim Clijsters and Svetlana Kuznetsovarecorded straight set wins to advance to today's final in Warsaw, Poland.

Clijsters defeated Elena Dementieva 7-5, 6-4, while Kuznetsova overpowered Anna Chakvetadze 6-1, 6-1.

HOCKEY

Olympic champs advance

RIGA, Latvia - Olympic champion Sweden beat Ukraine 4-2 behind Fredrik Emvall's two goals Saturday night in an opening qualification-round game at hockey's world championships.

In the other Group B game, Switzerland beat Italy 3-1. Russia got three goals apiece from Alexander Ovechkin and Alexander Semin and beat Kazakhstan 10-1 in Group C. Belarus upset Slovakia 2-1 behind two power-play goals and 36 saves from goalie Andrei Mezin in the other Group C game.

The United States plays Denmark in Group D play today.

ET CETERA

BOXING: Indonesia's Muhammad Rachman (51-7-4, 23 KO) successfully defended his IBF 105-pound title by knocking out Omar Soto (15-3-1, 10 KO) of Mexico in the sixth round in Jakarta, Indonesia. Eagle Kyowa successfully defended his WBC 105-pound title with a unanimous decision over Rodel Mayol in Tokyo.

CYCLING: Defending champion Paolo Savoldelli won the opening stage of the Giro d'Italia, clocking 7 minutes, 50 seconds in the 3.8-mile individual time trial in Seraing, Belgium.

GYMNASTICS: Russia (272.225 points) won the final of the European men's championships in Volos, Greece, beating defending champion Romania (270.325).

RUNNING: Alex Gonzalez, 16, of Clearwater, led the Hog Hustle 5K in Dunedin from start to finish, winning in 17 minutes, 14 seconds. Christa Benton, 22, of St. Petersburg, finished second overall in a field of nearly 300 as she held off Dunedin's Victor Yeager, 46, who followed in 17:53. Nate Alcoz of Clearwater finished fourth (18:10), one second ahead of Jacki Wachtel of Tarpon Springs.

SOCCER: Shalrie Joseph scored twice as host New England beat Los Angeles 4-0 in MLS action. Bayern Munich claimed the German Bundesliga title for a record-extending 20th time as it drew 1-1 at Kaiserslautern, while second-place Hamburg lost to Hertha Berlin 4-2.