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Serena Williams kept the No. 1, and added No. 50. Williams beat Maria Sharapova , 6-1, 6-4 in the final of the Madrid Open Sunday to retain her No. 1 ranking and collect her 50th career title. And Rafael Nadal eased by Stanislas Wawrinka , 6-2, 6-4, for his fifth title since returning from a knee injury. The second-ranked Sharapova would have overtaken the top ranking with a win, but Williams stormed out to an early lead as Sharapova struggled with her serve. Despite Sharapova briefly recovering her poise in the second set, Williams' form never dipped as she eased to the title.

If Sir Alex Ferguson had stuck with his original plan, today we might be praising his pasta and Chinese noodles rather than his decision to start Robin van Persie over Wayne Rooney. Or if he had chosen to pursue his interest in U.S. history, particularly the Civil War and the JFK assassination, he might have become a master teacher of men rather than a master motivator of them. But then again, if Ferguson hadn't passed on those two options to become the most successful coach in British soccer history, we wouldn't be calling him sir. After all few chefs, and even fewer U.S. history buffs, get knighted by the queen.

There was a good deal of playoff chatter around the Kings training facility Sunday morning. After an abbreviated skate, with the team still waiting to hear about its second-round matchup, players imagined the excitement of a freeway series against the Ducks. They talked about facing a familiar - and tough - opponent in the San Jose Sharks. Dwight King had no preference either way. He was just hoping for a happy ending. "In the playoffs, you have more eyes on you," he said.

Henry Baker, the standout left-handed pitcher from Agoura High who wears uniform No. 32 in honor of Sandy Koufax ("It's the Jewish lefty thing - you got to represent"), did all he could to deliver a Marmonte League championship Tuesday at Agoura. Baker struck out nine, walked one and gave up four hits in Agoura's 2-1 victory over Simi Valley, allowing the Chargers (20-9, 11-3) to repeat as league champions. "It was everything we needed from our ace pitcher," catcher Albee Weiss said.

For those who run relays in track and field, passing the baton can be scarier than a scene from "A Nightmare on Elm Street. " Just ask sprinter Morgan Simon of Los Angeles Loyola High. He remembers suddenly dreaming about dropping the baton. "I looked around frantically," he said. So when the passing of the baton comes close to perfection, it's time to celebrate, and that's what Loyola's 400-meter relay team did after winning the Mission League championship last week in a school-record 40.89 seconds, tops in the state this season.

Another year off, a jail term and Father Time have not diminished Floyd Mayweather Jr. one bit. Boxing's top pound-for-pound fighter dominated his challenger Robert Guerrero Saturday night, winning nine of 12 rounds on all three judges' scorecards to keep his World Boxing Council welterweight belt at MGM Grand. "Defense, continue to box and if the knockout comes, take it," Mayweather (44-0) said in the ring after his brilliant showing. "I was looking for the knockout, could've had it, but hurt my right hand . . . somewhere in the middle rounds.

UC Irvine became the first team since UCLA in 1996 to successfully defend an NCAA men's volleyball title, defeating top-seeded Brigham Young in straight sets, 25-23, 25-22 and 26-24, at Pauley Pavilion on Saturday night. The second-seeded Anteaters won the first set on a disputed kill by Kyle Russell. BYU players vehemently disagreed that any of them had touched the ball, which went out of bounds. Irvine had been behind by as many as three points in the opening set. BYU had an 8-1 run to take command in the second set with an 11-4 lead before Irvine's Connor Hughes had a resounding kill to begin a run by the Anteaters.

An old coach named Fred "The Fog" Shero once described the relationship between Canadians and their national pastime this way: "Hockey is where we live. … Life is just a place where we spend time between games. " It could feel like that in Southern California over the next few weeks. This is hockey's time to shine with two local teams in the hunt for the Stanley Cup, the Kings fighting to repeat as champions and the Ducks riding one of the better records in the league. The way things have gone for the Lakers and Clippers, and with our baseball teams struggling, the sport from up north could win some new fans.

Sometimes it takes a losing coach to give the best assessment of the next event. Penn State men's volleyball coach Mark Pavlik lost to top-seeded Brigham Young on Thursday night in the NCAA semifinals at Pauley Pavilion, and he saw second-seeded UC Irvine beat Loyola Chicago. Saturday at 6 p.m. the two teams each of which has been in the NCAA finals four times and won three titles (the Anteaters most recently a year ago) will meet for the third time this season. The Cougars (26-4)