Federer beats Blake for 50th tourney title

It's 50 and counting for Roger Federer.

The top-ranked Federer won his 50th tournament, beating James Blake 6-1, 6-4 in the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Mason, Ohio.

The 26-year-old Swiss became the fifth-youngest player in history to reach 50 and only the ninth overall in the Open Era, since 1968, to win so many tournaments.

Federer has won 35 straight matches against Americans since he lost to Andy Roddick in the semifinals Aug. 9, 2003, at Montreal.

In other tennis tournaments:

• Top-ranked Justine Henin beat Jelena Jankovic 7-6 (7-3), 7-5 to win the Rogers Cup in Toronto, her first tournament since losing in the semifinals at Wimbledon.

"It's important to win this kind of match," Henin said.

• Donald Young won his first ATP Tour match and fifth-seeded Patty Schnyder was upset in the first round of the Pilot Pen in New Haven, Conn.

The 18-year-old Young, who won the Wimbledon juniors last month, beat fellow American Amer Delic 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Francesca Schiavone upset Schnyder 7- 6 (7-5), 2-6, 6-4.

BELFOUR SKIPPING TO EUROPE? Veteran NHL goaltender Ed Belfour is close to signing a contract with Leksands of the Swedish Elite League, according to Swedish newspaper Sport-Expressen.

Belfour, 42, went 27-17-10 last season with a 2.77 goals-against average with the Florida Panthers.

MERCURY TAKES FIFTH Diana Taurasi scored 24 points to lead the Phoenix Mercury to its fifth straight win, 87-73 against the Sacramento Monarchs.

In other WNBA games:

• Monique Curry made a three-point shot with 0.1 seconds left, lifting the Washington Mystics to a 76-74 win against the Connecticut Sun.

• Tamika Whitmore had 10 of her 18 points in the fourth quarter in helping lead the Indiana Fever to a 72-66 victory against the Detroit Shock.

• Kristen Mann scored 19 points to help the Minnesota Lynx beat the San Antonio Silver Stars 81-55.

DYNAMO EARNS LEAD Brian -Ching scored in the first half and the host Houston Dynamo went on to beat FC Dallas 1-0 and retake the lead in Major League Soccer's Western Conference.

In other soccer matches:

• Taylor Twellman scored in the 72nd minute to give the New England Revolution a 1-0 MLS victory against the host Kansas City Wizards.

• Manchester City beat defending champion Manchester United 1-0, giving former national team coach Sven-Goran Eriksson his third straight shutout in three matches as a manager in the English Premier League.

• Frederic Kanoute scored a hat trick and Renato added two goals as Sevilla lifted the Spanish Supercup for the first time after its 5-3 win against Real Madrid.

MARADONA CONFESSES Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona appeared on a television show hosted by Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, admitting he cheated with his "hand of God" goal in the 1986 World Cup quarterfinals.

Maradona said he urged his teammates to cheer the strike into the English net in order to fool the referee into awarding the goal that he punched in with a fist.

Later in the program, Maradona said he loathed everything that came from the United States. "I hate it with all my strength," Maradona said.

JOHN KEEPS TITLE Chris John (40-0-1, 21 knockouts) of Indonesia beat Zaiki Takemoto (21-7-1) of Japan on a technical knockout in Kobe, Japan, to retain his World Boxing Association featherweight title.

THREE-PEAT Lin Dan of China beat Sony Dwi Cuncoro of Indonesia 21-11, 22-20 at the World Badminton Championship in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to win his third consecutive men's singles title.

Zhu Lin of China won the women's crown in her debut, beating Wang Chen of Hong Kong 21-18, 21-12.

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