Sports in Brief: Pagenaud victorious on Indy road course

Simon Pagenaud

won the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis on Saturday by stretching his fuel to the finish on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The Frenchman was one of several drivers to gamble on fuel strategy, and made it stick for the final 29 laps to earn his third career IndyCar victory. He took the lead when Oriol Servia had to stop with four laps remaining, and Pagenaud managed to make it to the finish despite having to keep one eye on his mirrors.

Ryan Hunter-Reay was second and Helio Castroneves third on his 39th birthday.

The race began with a violent wreck when pole-sitter Sebastian Saavedra stalled on the standing start. He was hit by multiple cars, and debris struck Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard as he waved the green flag.

HOCKEY Canada rebounded from a stunning loss to France to edge Slovakia, 4-1, at the world ice hockey championship in Minsk, Belarus. Sweden negotiated the first step in its title defense with a 3-0 victory over Denmark, and the United Sates made it two wins in two days by defeating last year's runner-up, Switzerland, 3-2. Tyler Johnson scored the winning goal for the Americans with 6:45 left in regulation. Peter Mueller and Craig Smith claimed the other scores for the U.S.

TENNIS Top-ranked Rafael Nadal is back in a clay court final at the Madrid Open, where Japan's Kei Nishikori denied an all-Spanish meeting by converting his 10th match point in a grueling victory over David Ferrer. Nadal, the defending champion, reached his first clay final since winning in Rio de Janeiro in February with a 6-4, 6-4 win against countryman Roberto Bautista Agut. Earlier, Maria Sharapova reached her second consecutive women's final, where she will play Simona Halep of Romania.

COLLEGES Penn State received its third oral commitment this week to its freshman class of 2015 when defensive back Ayron Monroe of Washington agreed to a scholarship offer from the Nittany Lions, several recruiting web sites reported Saturday. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Monroe, who plays for St. John's College High School, is rated as a three-star recruit by Scout.com and 247Sports.com. He can play cornerback and safety. Monroe, the 16th member of Penn State's 2015 recruiting class, also received offers from Auburn, Nebraska, Iowa, Maryland, Georgia Tech, Virginia, and Boston College.

-Staff and wire reports