Davenport Loses Again to Williams

In a rematch of the Wimbledon final, Venus Williams overpowered Lindsay Davenport to claim the $535,000 Bank of the West Classic, 6-1, 6-4, on Sunday in Palo Alto.

The top-seeded Davenport had won the past two Bank of the West titles, both against Williams in the final. This time, it was Williams who emerged the winner.

“I was going for it,” said Williams, the Wimbledon champion who will next play in the Acura Classic near San Diego this week.

Davenport said Williams played better than at Wimbledon.

“I don’t think I played that bad today,” she said. “Sometimes it’s a situation where the other person plays so well, there’s nothing you can do.”

Williams, seeded second, now has an unbeaten streak of 11 matches, dating back to her loss to Arantxa Sanchez-Vacario in the quarterfinals the French Open.

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Pete Sampras has no apologies about not playing for the U.S. Davis Cup team, despite captain John McEnroe’s frustration at being swept by Spain last weekend.

“John was at Wimbledon and he knew what I was going through,” said Sampras, set to play for the first time in three weeks at a Tennis Masters Series event in Toronto after nursing a shin injury through most of Wimbledon. “And I told him I couldn’t play and how serious it was. And he understood. On the phone he sounded reasonably supportive. But I’m sure that after the loss he was disappointed. We all know John says things.”

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Second-seed Alex Corretja won the $700,000 Generali Open, 6-3, 6-1, 3-0, when Emilio Alvarez quit with an injured shoulder in the third set in Kitzbuhel, Austria. . . . Alex Calatrava defeated fellow Spaniard Sergi Bruguera, 7-6 (7), 1-6, 6-4, to win his first ATP title in the $350,000 San Marino tournament. . . . John McEnroe had some unfinished business to take care of before defeating Mats Wilander, 6-2, 6-4, in the finals of the Nuveen Champions senior tournament in Chicago. McEnroe hit balls on a side court with Jeff Hughes, 10, whom McEnroe struck with a half-full water bottle during a temper tantrum in his Saturday semifinal match.

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Acura Classic

* Site: La Costa Resort and Spa, Carlsbad

* When: Today through Sunday

* Surface: Hard court

* Defending champion: Martina Hingis (Switzerland)

* The field: Fifteen of the top 20 players in the world are entered.

TOP SEEDED PLAYERS

1. Hingis

2. Lindsay Davenport

3. Venus Williams

4. Monica Seles

5. Conchita Martinez (Spain)

6. Nathalie Tauziat (France)

7. Anke Huber (Germany)

8. Sandrine Testud (France)

* Also entered: Two-time tournament champion Jennifer Capriati and Anna Kournikova (Russia).

* Today’s featured match: Capriati vs. Elena Likhovtseva (Russia), 7 p.m.