Bulls’ Derrick Rose is NBA’s most valuable player

Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls was named the NBA’s most valuable player on Tuesday. He is the youngest player to receive the honor and joined Michael Jordan as the only Bulls players to win the MVP award.

The news was hardly a surprise after Rose had a spectacular season in leading Chicago to the league’s best record. In his third NBA season, the dynamic point guard led the Bulls to their best season since the championship era.

The 22-year-old Rose got 113 first-place votes from a panel of media voters. Orlando’s Dwight Howard finished second, Miami’s LeBron James was third, the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant was fourth and Oklahoma City star Kevin Durant finished fifth.

A product of Chicago’s South Side, Rose established himself as one of the top players in the league after going from Rookie of the Year to an All-Star in his first two seasons. He took another step this year with one of the best all-around performances by a point guard.

He averaged 25 points and 7.7 assists while leading Chicago into contention for its first championship since the Jordan-Scottie Pippen era.

Man charged with stalking Serena Williams

A man was charged with stalking tennis star Serena Williams after police said they caught him trying to walk into her gated subdivision in South Florida.

Palm Beach Gardens police said Patenema Ouedraogo, 40, told officers he was going to Williams’ home Monday night “because he loves her” and “he knows the feelings are reciprocal.”

An attorney for Williams said he had recently obtained a restraining order after Ouedraogo tried to contact the player three times.

It was unclear if Ouedraogo had an attorney. He was being held on $25,000 bond.

According to the police report, Serena Williams’ attorney, Malcolm Cunningham, got a restraining order to keep Ouedraogo away from Williams after he followed her to a meeting with her agent in Los Angeles in October.

Wozniacki advances at Madrid Open

Top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki advanced to the third round of the Madrid Open by beating Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia, 6-4, 6-4.

Samantha Stosur of Australia also advanced, beating Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, 7-6 (1), 7-5.

Third-seeded Francesca Schiavone beat fellow Italian Sara Errani, 6-0, 2-6, 6-3.

On the men’s side, Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina overcame a hip problem to beat 13th-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 to reach the second round, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France defeated Pere Riba of Spain, 6-4, 6-2 to make the third round.

Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and John McEnroe are among the tennis stars set to compete in the redesigned Champions Series for over-30 players.

The tour’s 2011 schedule, announced Tuesday, features one-night stops in 12 cities over five weeks. The season begins Sept. 22 at Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and finishes Oct. 22 at Buffalo, N.Y.

The Los Angeles event, the HSBC Tennis Cup Presented by CCTA, will be at Staples Center on Oct. 14. Sampras, Agassi, McEnroe and Jim Courier are scheduled to play.

Four men participate at each event and play one-set matches. The first-round winners meet in an eight-game, pro-set championship match.

Barcelona moves past Real Madrid to Champions League final

Barcelona, a three-time winner of European soccer’s most prestigious club tournament, Tuesday advanced to the final of the European Champions League by virtue of a 1-1 tie with Real Madrid in rain-drenched Barcelona.

The result gave the Catalan club a 3-1 aggregate victory in the semifinal series and eliminated the nine-time champions. Pedro scored for Barcelona in the 54th minute and Marcelo tied it for Real Madrid 10 minutes later in a game dominated by the home team at the sold-out Camp Nou.

In the May 28 final at Wembley Stadium in London, Barcelona will play the winner of the Manchester United-Schalke ’04 semifinal series, which concludes Wednesday. Manchester United holds a 2-0 lead after the first leg.

— Grahame L. Jones

Ducks’ Toni Lydman has shoulder surgery

Ducks defenseman Toni Lydman underwent successful surgery Monday on his right shoulder at the Kerlan-Jobe Surgery Center in Los Angeles. Lydman is expected to be fully recovered about five months.

NCAA accuses Boise State of infractions

The NCAA has accused Boise State of committing one major violation and a series of infractions over a five-year period in its football program and four other sports.

An inquiry by NCAA investigators also concluded the scope and nature of the 22 violations show Boise State lacked the institutional controls to fully comply with critical rules in collegiate athletics, according to a report made public by the school and NCAA on Monday.

The violations range from coaches organizing low-cost summer housing and transportation for potential Bronco football players to tennis and track and field athletes getting meals and housing in violation of NCAA rules.