Tennis: Serbia’s Novak Djokovic defeated defending champion David Ferrer 7-5 7-5 on Sunday night to win the Paris Masters after a thrilling final at the Bercy arena.
The Spaniard twice served for the set only for the six-time grand slam winner to show his pedigree and break at the crucial moment before holding serve to close out the first set and then the match.
Ferrer fell short of becoming the first player to successfully defend the Paris title, while Djokovic took another step towards regaining the No.1 spot from Rafael Nadal heading to the ATP World Tour Finals.
In women’s tennis, top seed Romanian Simona Halep defeated fourth-seeded Australian Samantha Stosur 2-6 6-2 6-2 to clinch the season-ending Tournament of Champions on Sunday for her sixth WTA title of the season.
Halep, 22, won $US270,000 ($A286,275) for her title and is now projected to rise from No.14 to No.11 on the new rankings.
Formula One: Quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel eased to victory in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday for his seventh successive victory and 11th of the season.
The 26-year-old German led home a Red Bull 1-2 – the 15th time in Formula One and giving them their 100th podium finish – with Australian Mark Webber second, taking him to over 1000 points in his Formula One career which comes to an end at the end of the season.
German Nico Rosberg was third in a Mercedes.
Vettel’s win drew him level with compatriot Michael Schumacher’s mark of seven successive wins (2004) and should he win the last two races of the season he will equal the overall record of nine held by Alberto Ascari (1952/53).
The German, who also equalled his personal record set in 2011 of 11 race wins in a season, can also match Schumacher’s overall record of 13 wins in a campaign if he lands the final two races of the season.
Webber, who had started from pole position, endured a typically incident-filled contest on his way to second ahead of Rosberg while Frenchman Romain Grosjean of Lotus finished fourth.
Two-time champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso, who had started 10th for Ferrari, came home in fifth position and recorded the fastest lap ahead of Briton Paul Di Resta of Force India.
Briton Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes was seventh, Brazilian Felipe Massa of Ferrari eighth, Mexican Sergio Perez of McLaren ninth and German Adrian Sutil of Force India 10th.
Basketball: The Perth Wildcats sit two games clear on top of the NBL ladder after crushing hapless strugglers Wollongong 87-47 at Perth Arena.
The 40-point win was the most one-sided contest in the two teams’ 92-game history and it ensured the Wildcats equalled their best season start in franchise history with six straight wins.
Perth’s closest rivals are the Adelaide 36ers (4-2) who beat the defending champion New Zealand Breakers and Sydney Kings to move into second on the ladder.
The 36ers downed the Sydney Kings 97-84 at home on Sunday.
Import Charles Carmouche’s game-high 27 points kept Sydney in the game till three-quarter-time but a 31-point final term from the 36ers closed out the match.
The 36ers found it tougher going against the Breakers, edging a tight affair 96-93 in Auckland.
The 36ers stamped their authority with a 30-20 opening quarter.
The Breakers roared back and took the lead but with less than four minutes to play but threes to Gary Ervin and Anthony Petrie gave Adelaide the win.
Cricket: Alex Doolan’s match-winning 132 for Tasmania against NSW yesterday could be even more significant following Shane Watson’s hamstring injury suffered in India.
Doolan is on a shortlist for Test selection, and if Watson was to miss the first Ashes Test in Brisbane than another hole in the line-up would open up at No.3.
Tasmania secured a tense two-wicket win despite a late batting collapse, while in the other Sheffield Shield openers, Victoria and Western Australia, and Queensland and South Australia drew their respective matches.
Australian captain Michael Clarke admits the race for the Test spinner’s spot will be a tight one between Nathan Lyon and Fawad Ahmed.
