Samantha Stosur has reached her first tennis final since last October, setting up a title decider against Victoria Azarenka.
Preparing for the US Open, Stosur defeated France’s Virginie Razzano 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 in her semi-final at the WTA tournament in Carlsbad, California on Saturday.
It followed the Australian’s impressive quarter-final win over world No.4 Agnieszka Radwanska a day earlier.
Tiger Woods has completed an impressive preparation for this week’s US PGA Championship by extending his domination of World Golf Championship events with a seven-stroke victory in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
Woods won the tournament for an eighth time when he fired a methodical final round even-par 70 on Sunday to finish at 15-under, seven strokes clear of defending champion Keegan Bradley (67) and Swede Henrik Stenson (70).
It was world No.1 Woods’ 18th title from 42 starts in World Gold Championships events, which are the tier below the majors.
Adam Scott finished off with a 71 to be two-under and the best of the Australians in a tie for 14th.
Jason Day (70) is hoping to shake off his poor form in time for Oak Hill after finishing at eight-over in a tie for 53rd in the 73-man field.
In the Women’s British Open, Stacy Lewis’s love affair with the Old Course continued at St Andrews on Sunday when she finished birdie, birdie to win.
In 2008, the American won all five matches over the Home of Golf’s famous links in leading her country to victory over Great Britain and Ireland in the Curtis Cup.
Five years on and the 28-year-old collected her second major with a final round 72 for eight under 280.
Choi Na Yeon and Park Hee Young both shot 73 and were joint runners-up on six under.
But there was disappointment for their fellow South Korean, Park Inbee, who had been aiming to become the first golfer to win four majors in one calendar year.
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The world number one’s attempt for a place in the record books petered out in a whimper.
The Seoul 25-year-old went into the final round nine off the lead and after reaching the turn in 41 she went on to post a disappointing 78 for six over par and joint 42nd.
Katherine Hull-Kirk finished 11 shots back at three-over in a tie for 22nd as the best-placed Australian.
In swimming, final-day silver rush has completed an encouraging return to form for the Australian swim team at the world championships in Barcelona.
Cate Campbell fell just short of adding the 50m freestyle title to her 100m crown as she finished second behind Dutch Olympic champion Ranomi Kromowidjojo on the final day of competition on Sunday.
Australia also earned second placings in the men’s and women’s medley relays, taking the nation’s medal haul for the meet to 13 – three gold and 10 silver.
The performance ranked them fourth overall behind the US, China and France but on just Olympic events, Australia trails only the powerful American squad.
The performance represents a clear step in the right direction following the controversial London Olympic campaign, where Australia was seventh.
Campbell had been hot favourite to complete a golden sprint double in the 50m final but a slow start cost her as she clocked 24.14 behind Kromowidjojo (24.05).
She backed up with a scintilating swim to help Australia take silver behind the US in the women’s 4x100m medley, giving her a haul of one gold and three silver medals for the meet.
“That was awesome,” Campbell said.
“You never have so much fun as in relays.
“It felt strangely lonely the other night being the only one on the podium and to be able to share it with three other people is honestly the best feeling in the world.”
The result also meant Alicia Coutts matched her London output of five medals, this time all silver.
Australia’s men also took second place in dramatic circumstances as the US team touched the wall a clear first but were disqualified for an illegal changeover.
It meant Australia was promoted from third to second behind France and ultimately finished just 0.13 seconds off the gold medal.
Team anchor James Magnussen revealed after the race he thought he may also be disqualified and said he’d been struggling with a back injury in the days since winning the individual 100m title.
“I actually thought the whole way, I’d false started,” Magnussen said.
“When I looked around at the board I was waiting for the DQ.
“It’s hard to get up at the end of the week so I was pretty happy with that performance.”
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Australia had 10 medals – one gold, six silver and three bronze – in London at their worst Games since 1992 and they didn’t have an individual gold medallist for the first time since Montreal in 1976.
Campbell, Magnussen and breaststroker Christian Sprenger gave them three in Spain.
Sprint has become Australia’s strength but there is also hope of a distance resurgence after teenager Jordan Harrison completed an excellent meet by finishing sixth in the men’s 1500m freestyle final.
The 18-year-old, the first Australian to compete in a world 1500m final since Grant Hackett in 2008, also made the finals of the 400m and 800m freestyle events.
An encouraging meet from teenager Cameron McEvoy was another strong sign for the future but depth remains in issue, evidenced by an inconsistent showing in relays.
Australia’s swimmers noted a marked improvement in team spirit and unity in London, after an independent report blamed the Olympic failure on a “toxic” culture within the squad.
Thomas Fraser-Holmes (4:17.46) was last in the men’s 400m individual medley final on Sunday, won by Japan’s Daiya Seto (4:08.69).
Chinese distance superstar Sun Yang (14:41.15) won the 1500m final to become only the second man after Hackett to clean sweep the distance events at a world championships.
Australia’s performance:
Medals 13; three gold, 10 silver
Gold
Men’s 100m freestyle – James Magnussen
Men’s 100m breaststroke – Christian Sprenger
Women’s 100m freestyle – Cate Campbell
Silver
Women’s 50m freestyle – Cate Campbell
Women’s 100m butterfly – Alicia Coutts
Women’s 200m individual medley – Alicia Coutts
Women’s 100m backstroke – Emily Seebohm
Women’s 200m backstroke – Belinda Hocking
Men’s 50m breaststroke (non Olympic event) – Christian Sprenger
Women’s 4x100m freestyle relay
Women’s 4x200m freestyle relay
Women’s 4x100m medley relay
Men’s 4x100m medley relay
