Year's first ANDY Roddick won his first title of the year with a straight sets success over Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero at the Cincinnati Masters. Roddick, the ninth seed, dictated play from the start and sent down 17 aces to seal a 6-3 6-4 triumph. The American kissed the court, did a lap of the arena and exchanged high fives with fans after wrapping up his fourth Masters Series title. Roddick said he hoped to carry his form into the US Open in a week's time. "The way I'm playing now, I like my chances as well as anyone else not named Roger," said Roddick. In a repeat of the 2003 US Open final, when Roddick claimed his only Grand Slam title, the American served superbly throughout and never allowed Ferrero a chance to get a foothold in the match. Roddick broke serve in the second game but Ferrero, who had beaten James Blake, Rafael Nadal and Tommy Robredo en route to the final, hit back to break in the next game. But Roddick broke again straight away and held on to take the set before storming to a 5-2 lead in the second. Roddick was broken when serving for the match at 5-2 but he made no mistake the second time round, hitting three aces in succession to clinch a victory which will lift him back into the top 10 of the world rankings. Roddick said a chat with his advisor Jimmy Connors after his first-round win over Daniele Bracciale gave him renewed impetus earlier this week. "I had been hitting well in training with him last week in Austin," said Roddick. "I just couldn't apply what I'd learned in that match. It was frustrating, and Jimmy let me know he was frustrated also. There's not much I can say to Jimmy Connors. But after getting through that match, I wasn't questioning any more if I could again play well." Despite the defeat, Ferrero, who has not won a title since 2003, will move back inside the world's top 20. "This has been an important week for me, to get to the final," he said. Successful comeback EVANDER Holyfield launched his comeback bid with a second-round stoppage of journeyman Jeremy Bates in Dallas. The 43-year-old former undisputed heavyweight champion had Bates in trouble at the end of the first round before the bell sounded. Holyfield continued his onslaught at the end of the second and the referee stepped in to stop the fight with just four seconds of the round remaining. The American is hoping to claim an unprecedented fifth world title. "I'm so glad to get the opportunity to get back in the ring and show the people that I wasn't not a boxing man because I'm old," said Holyfield. "I was able to do the things that I haven't been able to do in five years. I was able to slip punches, I was able to use my foot speed, I was able to go in and out." Holyfield was fighting for the first time since losing to Larry Donald in November 2004, a defeat that was so lacklustre that New York boxing officials revoked his license. He plans to have a title fight in 2007 and to have all the belts around his waist, "by the time that Olympics comes," in 2008. Insurance salesman Bates, who now has a 21-12-1 record, had quit the ring before Holyfield came calling. Sudden death ONE of Northern Ireland's leading equestrian riders has been killed in a cross-country event. Sherelle Duke, 28, from Portadown, died when her horse toppled on her at Brockenhurst Park, near Southampton. She is a former World Young Rider Champion and also won a team bronze in that event in 1999. Equestrian journalist Ruth Loney, who knew Duke, said she was a "super fit athlete", who was "bubbly but totally focused". "This tragic accident has cast a real cloud over the equestrian world and everyone who knew her," Loney said. She said that the cross-country section of three-day event was a dangerous sport. "It is solid timber fences, so when a horse hits them it comes down straight away and the rider doesn't have as much chance to be thrown clear. "Whereas in national hunt racing when a jockey is thrown they're going at speed over smaller fences and the jockey will be thrown clear," she said. She said two other Irish riders had been killed in similar circumstances in recent years. Sherelle Duke's family are well known in the Portadown area and in the business world after setting up the Dukes Transport Company. For years Sherelle rode in the company's colours of red and white. Duke was a member of the Irish team in the 2003 European Championships. MotoGP title ITALY's Loris Capirossi stormed to victory at the Czech MotoGP, while Spain's Dani Pedrosa cut Nicky Hayden's lead in the world championship. Capirossi, on the Ducati, overtook pole sitter Valentino Rossi at the start and simply left the field standing as he won by nearly five seconds. World champion Rossi won a lengthy battle with Honda's Pedrosa for second. And with team-mate Hayden back in a lowly ninth, Pedrosa moved to within 25 points in the championship. American Hayden now has 201 points to Pedrosa's 176, with defending champion Rossi 38 points off the leader on 163. "This was one of my best races ever," said Capirossi, who was second in last year's race to Rossi "The team decided to work a lot and we changed everything on the bike. I am very impressed." Rossi's second place keeps him in contention for a sixth consecutive MotoGP title. "I think this is a funny championship because with five races to go we still have five riders who are able to fight for the championship," he said. "Loris was very fast from the beginning and I tried to keep my rhythm, hoping he may have a problem some lap down the road. But that never happened." Water records AMERICAN Aaron Peirsol beat his own 200m backstroke world record on the way to winning the event at the Pan Pacific Championships in British Columbia. Peirsol beat compatriot Michael Phelps to set a time of one minute, 54.44 seconds, breaking his own record by more than two-tenths of a second. Peirsol has not lost a 200m in international competition since the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. Meanwhile the US 4x100m freestyle relay team set a new world record of 3:12.46. The quartet of Phelps, Cullen Jones, Neil Walker and Jason Lezak eclipsed South Africa's previous record of 3:13.17 set at the Athens Olympics in 2004. American Michael Phelps and Australia's Jessicah Schipper broke the men's and women's 200m butterfly world records at the Pan Pacific Championships. Phelps broke his own mark, clocking one minute 53.80 seconds to shave 0.13 seconds off his previous best. He was pushed by Japan's Ryuichi Shibata until the final 50m before surging clear in Victoria, Canada. Schipper, the 100m butterfly world champion, won in 2.5:40, beating the existing record by 0.21 seconds. She finished well clear of the field, with Japan's Yuko Nakanishi claiming second in 2:06.52 and team-mate Yurie Yano third. Phelps, who won six golds at the 2004 Athens Olympics, said: "It's a good start to the meet. I've wanted to do a best time in that event for a while now. "(Coach) Bob Bowman and I were talking about having a strong kick off the last wall. I did that and was able to build some good momentum. "When the crowd is cheering like that you always know something good is happening." Shibata finished second in 1:55.82. Phelps's previous record was set in Barcelona in 2003.
