An erratic Venus Williams prevails in the Korean Open

Top-seeded Venus Williams beat Maria Kirilenko, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, in the championship of the Korean Open on Sunday at Seoul.

“Sometimes in the match I was a little disappointed with the errors I was making, and it made it a lot tougher for me,” said Williams, who won her third title of the season. “But at the end, I guess in the last few games, I started to play much better.”

Williams hadn’t lost a set in the tournament heading into the final, but she had to work to improve to 3-0 in her career against Kirilenko, who had a nine-match winning streak.

Williams had five double-faults and was broken three times in the second set. She finished with 11 double-faults. But Williams broke Kirilenko twice in the third to secure the win.

Top-seeded Richard Gasquet won the Mumbai Open, beating Olivier Rochus, 6-3, 6-4, in India.

Second-seeded Ana Ivanovic won the Fortis Championships, beating Daniela Hantuchova, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, in the final at Luxembourg.

Dmitry Tursunov won his third ATP career title, beating Benjamin Becker, 6-2, 6-1, in the Thailand Open at Nonthaburi. The sixth-seeded Tursunov needed only 56 minutes to beat the erratic Becker, who committed 35 unforced errors.

Second-seeded Virginie Razzano won her first WTA Tour singles title by defeating Tzipora Obziler, 6-0, 6-3, in the Guangzhou International Open final in China.

HORSE RACING

Curlin edges Lawyer Ron

in Jockey Club Gold Cup

Curlin caught Lawyer Ron in the final strides after a riveting stretch duel and won the $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup in New York by a neck, giving the Preakness winner an automatic berth in the $5-million Breeders’ Cup Classic next month.

Curlin reestablished himself as not only a leading 3-year-old but perhaps the favorite for the BC Classic at New Jersey’s Monmouth Park on Oct. 27.

Taking on older horses for the first time, Curlin and jockey Robby Albarado looked relaxed while racing fourth along the backstretch. When the field turned for home, it was Lawyer Ron -- racing’s top older horse -- in the lead with Curlin close.

Down the stretch they dueled, Lawyer Ron on the inside and Curlin on the outside, before Curlin prevailed.

It was yet another thrilling finish involving Curlin, who beat Street Sense by a head in the Preakness and lost by a head to Rags to Riches in the Belmont Stakes.

The victory was worth $450,000 and boosted the colt’s earnings to $2.4 million for controlling owners Jess Jackson, founder of Kendall-Jackson wines, Satish Sanan’s Padua Stables and George Bolton.

MARATHON

Gebrselassie breaks world record in Berlin

Haile Gebrselassie broke the marathon world record, winning the Berlin Marathon in 2 hours 4 minutes 26 seconds.

The 34-year-old Ethiopian lowered the mark of 2:04:55 set by Kenya’s Paul Tergat in 2003 on the flat course that winds through the German capital. Gete Wami, also from Ethiopia, repeated her title in the women’s race in 2:23:17.

Gebrselassie was six seconds off the world-record pace at the halfway point but picked it up over the last six miles, when he ran alone without pacemakers.

This was the 25th world record for the two-time Olympic 10,000-meter champion, and the sixth time the marathon world record has been broken in Berlin.

Two Kenyans finished second and third, with Abel Kirui clocking 2:06:51 and Salim Kipsang running 2:07:29.

Germany’s Irina Mikitenko was second in the women’s race in 2:24:52, and Kenya’s Helena Kirop finished third in 2:26:27.

MISCELLANY

Gay wins 100 meters; Powell injured in 200

Tyson Gay raced to one more win in Japan, and Asafa Powell had another bad experience.

Gay, who won three gold medals at the world championships in Osaka in August, returned to Japan on Sunday, winning the men’s 100 meters in 10.23 seconds at the Super Track and Field Meet in Yokohama.

It was a different story for Jamaica’s Powell, who injured his left hamstring during the 200 meters. Powell, who holds the world record of 9.74 in the 100, pulled up coming off the turn.

Sanya Richards won the women’s 400 meters in 50.27

South Africa defeated the U.S., 64-15, in the final group game at the Rugby World Cup at Montpellier, France, sending the Eagles home winless.

The U.S. finished with four losses and only one point. South Africa topped Group A and goes to Marseille for a quarterfinal Saturday against Fiji.