Sports in Brief: Sharapova gets first tournament win of year

Maria Sharapova won her third consecutive Porsche Grand Prix title Sunday by coming from behind to defeat Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, in the final in Stuttgart, Germany.

Sharapova won her first tournament of the year and clinched the 30th title of her career. The Russian is undefeated in 13 consecutive matches on the indoor clay in Stuttgart.

Kei Nishikori of Japan beat Colombia's Santiago Giraldo, 6-2, 6-2, to win the Barcelona Open in Spain for his first career title on clay.

HORSE RACING Ring Weekend, trained by Graham Motion in Fair Hill, Md., is out of the Kentucky Derby because of a fever and infection. Ring Weekend won the Tampa Bay Derby. Joining the Kentucky Derby field is Commanding Curve, who was third in the Louisiana Derby and is trained by Dallas Stewart, whose Golden Soul was second in last year's Run for the Roses at 35-1.

Embellishing Bob won the $150,000 Derby Trial Saturday night after stewards disqualified Bayern for interference down the stretch.

RUGBY Schuylkill River Exiles won the Mid-Atlantic Conference with wins at Alapocas Run State Park in Wilmington. In Saturday's 17-15 upset of the top-seeded Norfolk Blues RFC, fourth-seeded SRE scored after time ran out to tie the score, and a long conversion won the game. On Sunday, SRE rallied from a 5-3 halftime deficit to win, 22-14, over the third-seeded Potomac Athletic Club. SRE, with an attack that features Randy Helsman and Tom Weishaupt, will face Midwest champion Metropolis in the elite eight of the national championships May 17 in Pittsburgh.

BOXING Lucas Matthysse (35-3, 33 knockouts) overcame two early knockdowns to stop John Molina Jr. (27-4, 22 KOs) early in the 11th round of the Argentine's return to the ring Saturday night in Carson, Calif. Matthysse hadn't fought since injuring his eye and losing a decision to 140-pound champion Danny Garcia of Philadelphia in September.

  SOCCER Atletico Madrid moved one step closer to its first Spanish league title in 18 years with a 1-0 victory at Valencia, while Lionel Messi completed an emotional 3-2 comeback win for Barcelona at Villarreal two days after the death of former coach Tito Vilanova, who succumbed to throat cancer at 45.

Barcelona's Dani Alves responded to a racist taunt when a banana landed at his feet by picking up the fruit, peeling and then eating it.

   - Associated Press