Spain beats U.S. in Davis Cup quarterfinal

Spain’s David Ferrer beat American Mardy Fish, 7-5, 7-6 (3), 5-7, 7-6 (5), clinching a victory for Spain against the United States in a Davis Cup quarterfinal Sunday at Austin, Texas.

Ferrer, who beat Andy Roddick on Friday night, fell backward when Fish’s final shot sailed wide, then jumped into the arms of Spain captain Albert Costa. The win gave Spain an insurmountable 3-1 lead.

Playing without world No. 2 Rafael Nadal, Spain went 3-0 in singles. Spain will host France in a semifinal Sept. 16-18. Spain is seeking its third Davis Cup championship in four years.

Spain had to overcome a rowdy pro-American crowd to earn its first Davis Cup victory in the U.S. After Ferrer’s victory, Sunday night’s scheduled match between Roddick and Feliciano Lopez was canceled.

In other quarterfinals, Serbia beat Sweden, 4-1; France defeated Germany, 4-1; and Argentina wrapped up a 5-0 sweep of Kazakhstan. Spain will host France in one semifinal, and Serbia hosts Argentina in the other.

John Isner became the first No. 1-seeded player to win the title in the 35-year history of the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, beating sixth-seeded Olivier Rochus, 6-3, 7-6 (6), at Newport, R.I. The 6-foot-9 Isner used his overpowering serve to beat the 30-year-old Belgian in a contrast of styles. Rochus, who at 5-6 is the shortest player on the ATP Tour, relies on steady groundstrokes and array of slicing returns. … Top-seeded Roberta Vinci of Italy won her third WTA title of the year by beating Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 in the Budapest Grand Prix in Hungary.

MOTOR RACING

Alonso gives Ferrari first win of season

Fernando Alonso produced Ferrari’s first victory of the Formula One season at the British Grand Prix in Silverstone, England, after championship leader Sebastian Vettel’s hopes were thwarted by a pit-stop blunder.

Vettel was overtaken in the Silverstone pits by Alonso just after the halfway point when the Red Bull driver’s mechanics struggled to attach a wheel.

Alonso’s 27th career victory lifted the two-time world champion to third in the standings behind the Red Bull drivers Vettel and Mark Webber.

Dario Franchitti avoided multiple crashes and a drive-through penalty and won his third title at the Honda Indy Toronto, adding to his lead in the IndyCar points standings. The Scotsman held off Graham Rahal on a late restart, then beat teammate Scott Dixon on the 1.75-mile temporary street course at Exhibition Place.

Franchitti caught a break when his team successfully appealed the penalty he received for nudging rival Will Power into a spin that stalled the pole-sitter’s car on the 57th lap. Franchitti kept going, and Power dropped to 18th place. Ryan Hunter-Reay finished third. Marco Andretti was fourth and Vitor Meira finished fifth.

Mike Neff raced to his fourth funny-car victory of the season at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Joliet, Ill. Neff powered his Ford Mustang to a performance of 4.246 seconds at 293.22 mph to defeat Jeff Arend (5.168 at 186.54). Del Worsham (top fuel), Greg Anderson (pro stock) and LE Tonglet (pro stock motorcycle) also were winners.

ETC.

Bengals cornerback Jones is arrested

Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones was arrested in Cincinnati on misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct while intoxicated and resisting arrest, adding to the list of off-field troubles that have marred his career.

Jones, 27, was jailed around 3 a.m. and released later in the morning. Cincinnati media outlets reported that documents filed in court accuse Jones of being disorderly and shouting profanities in a downtown bar and trying to pull away as officers arrested him.

Jones denied the allegations in an interview with WCPO-TV after leaving jail. He said he hadn’t been drinking and was out with his wife to celebrate her birthday.

Radamel Falcao scored twice and Colombia defeated Bolivia, 2-0, at Santa Fe, Argentina, becoming the first team to advance to the quarterfinals of the Copa America. Colombia’s victory also guarantees that Peru, Chile and Venezuela, all of which have four points after two matches, will advance to the knockout stage. … The Galaxy, which leads MLS with a 10-2-9 record, will have four starters in the All-Star game. Midfielders David Beckham and Landon Donovan and defenders Sean Franklin and Omar Gonzalez were voted onto the MLS team that will play English Premier League champion Manchester United on July 27 at Harrison, N.J.

Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 21 points and Jeremy Lamb tipped in his own miss with 29 seconds to play, giving the United States a 78-77 victory over Australia in the fifth-place game at the FIBA under-19 world basketball championship in Riga, Latvia. The U.S. was the defending champion but lost in the quarterfinals to Russia.

Asafa Powell overcame a tentative start and won the 100 meters in 9.91 seconds at the Aviva Grand Prix Diamond League meet in Birmingham, England, adding to his confidence going into the world championships next month.

He was delayed by a false start and then a faulty start before striding to victory ahead of fellow Jamaicans Nesta Carter and Michael Frater. Powell said in the buildup to the meet that he felt like the “man to beat.” Though fellow Jamaican Usain Bolt is the world champion and world-record holder, Powell is the quickest man this year after running 9.78 in Lausanne 10 days ago.