Sports briefly: Sebastian Vettel holds of Lewis Hamilton to win Formula 1 race

Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel held off a tremendous late charge from Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton to win the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday in Sahhir and take the overall lead in the Formula One title race.

Hamilton was catching the German on every lap but ultimately ran out of time and finished almost seven seconds behind.

"The car was really amazing to drive," Vettel said. "Lewis was a threat towards the end, and with the traffic you never know."

Vettel and Hamilton were level with a win each, but Vettel's second victory of the season and 44th of his career puts him in command heading into the Russian GP in Sochi in two weeks.

"We just have to make sure we keep it going. But for now the team has done a really, really great job," Vettel said. "I had a good feeling yesterday and after a couple of laps [Sunday] I thought everything was making sense."

Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas finished third after starting from pole position for the first time. It was his 11th podium.

"I didn't have enough pace today, and we have to find the reasons why," the Finnish driver said. "It was a really tricky race today. I was oversteering all through the race."

Johnson, 27, won his second ATP Tour title and became the seventh American to win the event since it moved to Houston in 2001. He also won a grass-court title last summer in Nottingham, England.

• Borna Coric of Croatia claimed his first tour title after saving five match points to defeat German veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber 5-7, 7-6 (3), 7-5 in the Grand Prix Hassan II final Marrakech, Morocco.

• Tenth-seeded David Goffin won an all-Belgian match to reach the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters as the first big tournament of the clay-court season began. Goffin broke Steve Darcis five times and posted a 6-2, 6-1 victory.

• Seventeen-year-old Marketa Vondrousova won her first WTA Tour title, beating Anett Kontaveit 6-4, 7-6 (6) in the Biel (Switzerland) Ladies Open.

Police in Panama said national team player Amilcar Henriquez was shot dead Saturday while leaving his home. Panama's National Police said the killing happened in the country's Colon province, where a gunman shot the 33-year-old midfielder several times. Henriquez had made 75 national team appearances.

• A French league match between Bastia and Lyon was abandoned at halftime after fans from Bastia twice invaded the pitch to attack opposition players.

A pair of WNBA players led Dynamo Kursk past Fenerbahce 77-63 to win the EuroLeague championship.

Angel McCoughtry scored 20 points and Nneka Ogwumike 19 for Dynamo Kursk. Ogwumike also won a WNBA championship last fall with the Los Angeles Sparks.

"Another championship to celebrate never hurt," she said.

Road cycling: Former world champion Philippe Gilbert of Belgium won a two-man sprint to claim a fourth victory in the Amstel Gold Race classic in Volkenburg, Netherlands.