Alcaraz claims 2nd Queen’s Club title

Carlos Alcaraz showed he will be the man to beat at Wimbledon again after defeating Jiri Lehecka in the final at Queen’s Club on Sunday. The top-seeded Spaniard replicated his debut triumph on the grass courts of west London in 2023 with a 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-2 victory. It was an 18th-straight match win for Alcaraz — in his fifth consecutive final — following his title successes in Rome and at the French Open. Lehecka had knocked out home hope Jack Draper on Saturday to become the first Czech finalist since Ivan Lendl won the title in 1990. The 23-year-old Lehecka played his part in a high-quality final with some huge serves and powerful ground strokes, forcing the match to a decider via a tiebreaker. But Alcaraz, the defending Wimbledon champ, didn’t face a single break point and slammed down 18 aces on his way to a 21st career title, and second at Queen’s. In other men’s action, Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan beat Russia’s Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 7-6 (4) to win the Halle Open in Germany. It was the 28-year-old’s first win in seven matches with Medvedev.

Briscoe holds off Hamlin at Pocono

Chase Briscoe returned to victory lane Sunday at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, conserving fuel down the stretch to hold off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin for his first win with his new race team. Briscoe raced his way into an automatic spot in NASCAR’s playoffs with the win and gave the No. 19 Toyota its first victory since 2023 when Martin Truex Jr. had the ride. Briscoe lost his job at the end of last season at Stewart-Haas Racing when the team folded. Hamlin, who holds the track record with seven wins, appeared on the brink of reeling in Briscoe over the final laps only to have not enough in the No. 11 Toyota to snag that eighth Pocono win. Briscoe, above, made his final pit on lap 119 of the 160-lap race, while Hamlin — who returned after missing last week following the birth of his son — made his final stop on 120. Hamlin’s team radioed to him that they believed Briscoe would fall about a half-lap short on fuel — only for the first-year JGR driver to win by 0.682 seconds. Briscoe raced to his third career Cup victory and first since Darlington in 2024. Hamlin finished second.

Lee secures 3rd career major victory

Minjee Lee closed with a 2-over 74 but never gave up the lead Sunday in the final round of the Women’s PGA Championship to win her third major title. While Lee had three bogeys in a four-hole stretch on the front nine, she had started the day with a four-stroke lead over Jeeno Thitikul. And the world’s No. 2-ranked player, also in that final group, bogeyed both par 5s that are among the first three holes on Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco in Texas. Lee, ranked 24th, finished at 4-under 284, three strokes ahead of Auston Kim and Chanettee Wannasaen, the only other players to finish under par. With a record $12 million purse that was up from $10.4 million a year ago and matched the U.S. Women’s Open for the most price money, Lee took home $1.8 million. That matches the $1.8 million Lee got for her four-stroke win in the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles. The 29-year-old Australian who’s a Texas resident, living in nearby Irving, got her 11th career win. It was her first this season, making it 16 players to win 16 LPGA tournaments this year. —News services