New York — Kim Clijsters cradled the baby in one hand, the trophy in the other.

The joy of motherhood. The joy of winning the U.S. Open.

Clijsters made history Sunday night, capping a comeback from two years out of tennis to become the first unseeded woman to win the Open — and the first mom to win a major since 1980 — with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over No. 9 Caroline Wozniacki.

When it was over, Clijsters collapsed to the ground and started crying — tears of joy, probably mixed in with a little bit of shock, too. Her 18-month-old daughter, Jada, watched from a suite with a pacifier in her mouth, but later came down to the court to take part in the celebration of a Grand Slam title.

“It was not really our plan,” Clijsters said. “I just wanted to start these three tournaments and get back into the rhythm of playing tennis and get used to the surroundings again.”

Talk about your quick transitions.

It was all quite a different scene from the night before, when Clijsters’ semifinal victory over Serena Williams was decided on a point penalty, and the 26-year-old Belgian stood behind the baseline, looking bewildered as Williams ran over to shake her hand.

Williams’ tirade may have been the talk of the U.S. Open. But Clijsters was the winner. This was her second U.S. Open title, the last coming in 2005 — her last appearance at Flushing Meadows and before a spate of nagging injuries eventually drove her out of the sport and led her to start a family.

Some might have called this the mother of all upsets, but by the time she reached the final, against the resilient but still-learning 19-year-old from Denmark, it was hard to view it that way.

Clijsters beat both Williams sisters and two other players seeded in the teens. She matched Venus and Serena power shot for power shot and showed she could play Wozniacki’s patient game — and play it better.

This match was nothing like the Williams match, which was filled with short, hard-hitting rallies.

Instead, it was a waiting game. A 29-shot rally here, a 25-shot rally there. Drop shots and lobs. Clijsters finished with two more winners than unforced errors (36-34).

Tennis

Federer advances to finals

New York — Roger Federer punctuated his latest U.S. Open victory Sunday with a shot he called, quite simply, the greatest of his life: a between-the-legs, back-to-the-net, cross-court winner from the baseline.

A point later, with the crowd in hysterics and opponent Novak Djokovic still in shock, the world’s top-ranked player closed out the victory, 7-6 (3), 7-5, 7-5, to move one win from his sixth straight U.S. Open title.

Juan Martin del Potro is the lucky guy whose first career Grand Slam final will come today against Federer, who made his 17th in the last 18. Earlier Sunday, No. 6 Del Potro beat No. 3 Rafael Nadal, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.

Williams fined $10,000

New York — Serena Williams was fined $10,000 Sunday for a profanity-laced tirade directed at a U.S. Open line judge, and an investigation is under way to determine whether there should be additional punishment.

The $10,000 penalty — not quite 3 percent of the $350,000 in prize money Williams earned by reaching the semifinals — is the maximum on-site fine that can be issued for unsportsmanlike conduct at a Grand Slam tournament.

Auto racing

Barrichello rolls in Italy

Monza, Italy — Rubens Barrichello picked up his second win in three races to lead Brawn GP to a 1-2 finish at the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday that put the British team in the driver’s seat for the Formula One title.

Barrichello and teammate Jenson Button both used one-stop strategies to get the sweep at the Monza circuit and severely hamper Red Bull’s championship aspirations.

“It was a great decision. The guys with KERS (power boost) had 20 meters on us in the start, and we had to have that in mind,” the 37-year-old Barrichello said of the strategy. “Our pace was good enough to be in front of them by the last pit stop.”

Golf

Woods cruises at BMW

Lemont, Ill. — Tiger Woods left the drama to everyone else at Cog Hill.

One day after his course-record 62 gave him a seven-shot lead, Woods made sure no one else had a chance Sunday in the BMW Championship. He closed with a 3-under 68 for an eight-shot victory over Jim Furyk and Marc Leishman.

It was his sixth victory of the year and assured Woods the No. 1 ranking going into the final tournament of the FedEx Cup and its $10 million prize. Woods won for the fifth time at Cog Hill, and it was his 10th career victory by at least eight shots.

U.S. wins Walker Cup

Ardmore, Pa. — The United States won its third straight Walker Cup on Sunday, taking five singles matches and halving another for a 161/2-91/2 victory over Great Britain and Ireland at Merion Golf Club.

Shin triumphs in playoff

Rogers, Ark. — Jiyai Shin shot a 7-under 64, then beat Angela Stanford and Sun Young Yoo on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff to win the P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship on Sunday.

Kingston claims 2nd title

Cologne, Germany — James Kingston of South Africa captured his second European Tour title on Sunday, beating Anders Hansen of Denmark on the first playoff hole at the Mercedes-Benz Championship.

Bae wins Korean

Seoul, South Korea — Bae Sang-moon of South Korea won the Korean Open for the second straight year, shooting a 4-under 67 to beat countryman Kim Dae-sub by one shot.

MLB

Lincecum starting tonight

San Francisco — Tim Lincecum will return to the mound today for San Francisco after the Giants ace missed his last start due to spasms and inflammation in his lower back.

Lincecum (13-5) will pitch the opener of a key home series against the Colorado Rockies, who lead the Giants by 41/2 games in the NL wild-card race.

College basketball

Self hits recruiting trail

Kansas University basketball coach Bill Self today will visit the Queens, N.Y., home of Doron Lamb, a 6-foot-4 senior shooting guard from Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va.

Self last week visited Lamb at prep school in Virginia. Today, he will meet with Doron’s dad, Calvin, Rivals.com reports. Calvin Lamb already has visited with coaches from Kentucky and Arizona and Tuesday will meet with coaches from Oklahoma. Lamb, Rivals.com’s No. 21-rated player, has yet to schedule his campus visit to KU.

Meanwhile, Brandon Knight, the country’s top-ranked player, will not visit KU for Late Night in the Phog as previously planned.

The 6-3 senior point guard from Pine Crest High in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has a conflict at school that weekend, thus plans to reschedule the KU trip.

Perry Ellis, a 6-8 sophomore forward from Wichita Heights, tells Rivals.com he’ll make an unofficial visit to KU on Saturday for the KU-Duke football game. Ellis has received scholarship offers from KU, Kansas State, Kentucky, Memphis, Oklahoma and Wichita State.

College football

UCLA freshman QB out

Los Angeles — UCLA freshman quarterback Kevin Prince will be out three to four weeks after his jaw was broken late in the Bruins’ victory at Tennessee. UCLA will play host to Kansas State on Saturday.

Cycling

Zabriskie claims Tour title

Kansas City, Mo. — American David Zabriskie was never challenged in the final stage of the Tour of Missouri, cruising along with the main pack while others made runs toward the front.

The race’s future won’t be such an easy ride.

Zabriskie won the first professional stage race of his career on Sunday, holding onto his 30-second lead during a 71.4-mile ride through the streets of downtown Kansas City in what could be the final stage for Tour of Missouri.

Its three-year sponsorship deal with the state complete, the Tour of Missouri will have to convince state legislators to continue funding a cycling race at a time when they’re trying trim expenditures in a weak economy.