Haase advances at Kitzbuehel after Starace retires

KITZBUEHEL, Austria (AP) -Robin Haase advanced to the second round of the Bet-at-Home Cup on Sunday after Potito Starace of Italy pulled out with a lower back injury while trailing 6-3, 2-0 in the only match on the event's opening day. The 52nd-ranked Dutchman will next play second-seeded Feliciano Lopez of Spain, who had a first-round bye. advertisement | your ad here

Ailing Cibulkova withdraws from Stanford tourney

STANFORD, Calif. - Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova withdrew from her semifinal against France's Marion Bartoli at the Bank of the West Classic on Saturday because of a strained abdominal muscle. Bartoli is the lone seeded player left in the main draw and will face Serena Williams or Sabine Lisicki in Sunday's championship match. Cibulkova said the injury has been bothering her all week. Story continues below ↓ advertisement | your ad here "It was painful when I played Marina (Erakovic), but I was able to get through that match," she said. "I thought it would be better in the morning, but I saw a doctor and he recommended not playing since the injury could worsen." Cibulkova had the same problem earlier in the year, missing two tournaments after getting through the quarterfinal at Madrid. "Maybe I rushed to play too quick," she said. "I don't want to make the same mistake." Cibulkova still plans to travel to San Diego, where she is scheduled to play Wednesday. "It's still open and I'm hoping to be ready," she said. "I still have things to do in San Diego." Cibulkova is projected to rise from No. 19 to No. 16 in the WTA rankings by reaching the semifinal. She beat qualifier Marina Erakovic 6-1, 6-1 in the quarterfinals. "It was a great tournament for me," Cibulkova said. "I was looking forward to maybe winning my first tournament. I was so full of confidence." The ninth-ranked Bartoli reached her fourth final of the year and her third final at Stanford. She won the title in 2009. Bartoli reached the semis when Japan's Ayumi Morita withdrew with an injury after the first set Friday night. "This has never happened to me but there's not much I can do about it," Bartoli said. "It's a shame Dominika had to be put out. It will be an extremely tough match tomorrow and I need to get ready."

Del Potro beats Blake to reach quarters

LOS ANGELES (AP) -Juan Martin del Potro battled back in the second set to beat James Blake 6-4, 7-6 (3) on Wednesday to reach the quarterfinals of the Farmers Classic. The No. 2 seed and Blake traded the final eight games of the set, leading to the decisive tiebreak. Del Potro took control from there and won when Blake was unable to return his serve. Del Potro, the 2008 tournament champion, is still working his way back from wrist surgery last year that derailed his season. He is ranked 19th in the world after dropping as low as No. 484 in February. Story continues below ↓ advertisement | your ad here "I think I'm still a little far from the top-10 players," Del Potro said. "It's a long road to get there. I was playing really well before I got here." Teenager Ryan Harrison continued his recent run of strong form by beating fellow American Michael Russell 6-3, 6-4 to claim a spot in the quarterfinals. Lu Yen-hsun of Taiwan had the day's biggest upset, defeating No. 3 seed Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 6-3, 6-4 to set up a matchup against Harrison, who is attempting to make consecutive semifinals appearances. Baghdatis, ranked 30th in the world, was playing his first match after receiving an opening-round bye. "It really helps that it was the same guy from two years ago," said Lu, a quarterfinalist at last year's Wimbledon. "It gave me a little bit of confidence." Harrison is coming off a strong showing in Atlanta, where he won three matches before falling to Mardy Fish. The 19-year-old's win over Russell was his third in four career tries. Fish, the tournament's No. 1 seed, will play his first match on Thursday against Gilles Muller following a bye. Harrison moved into the world's top 100 for the first time with his finish last week. His continual rise has some observers thinking he could assume the title as the next great American player. "It's a privilege to be talked about like that. I've put myself in a position where people are even mentioning my name in the same sentence as Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras," Harrison said. "I haven't accomplished anything near what they have in their careers, so I have a long way to go. But I do believe in myself, I do believe that I have the ability to do it." Ernests Gulbis of Latvia had little trouble in defeating qualifier Daniel Kosakowski 6-2, 6-4. Gulbis will play either No. 2 seeded Juan Martin Del Potro or Argentina and American James Blake, who take the court in Wednesday's late match. Gulbis rode the momentum from Tuesday's upset of fifth-seed Xavier Malisse against the inexperienced Kosakowski, playing in his first year as a professional. This is Gulbis' third tournament under the tutelage of coach Guillermo Canas. The two began working together at Wimbledon and the relationship appears to be paying dividends. "On the court I didn't really have someone to push me," Gulbis said. "We were working hard, spending a lot of hours on court. And then everything just starts to come back. It's all basically about practice and confidence. That's all there really is to it."

Ferrero, Ramos, Berlocq reach Croatia quarters

UMAG, Croatia - Defending champion Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain defeated third-seeded Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 Wednesday to reach the quarterfinals of the Croatia Open. Ferrero rallied from one set down and saved a break point at 3-3 in the second to change the course of the match and beat Ljubicic 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. "I tried not to make mistakes after the first set," he said. "I gave him too many easy points in the first set. ... It worked much better as match went on." Story continues below ↓ advertisement | your ad here Ljubicic, playing for the first time in a month, impressed during the first set but could not keep up the pace and served poorly, with only 36 percent of his first serves in. "My serve was beyond any acceptable statistic levels," he complained. "It was tough to keep concentration for two hours after such a long break." Ferrero will next play Carlos Berlocq of Argentina, who advanced after fifth-seeded Tommy Robredo of Spain withdrew because of a left calf injury. Also Wednesday, Albert Ramos of Spain defeated Gianluca Naso of Italy 6-1, 6-3, and second-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine beat Filippo Volandri of Italy 6-1, 6-2.

Zvonareva tops compatriot Pervak to win Baku Cup

BAKU, Azerbaijan - Vera Zvonareva won her second title of the year Sunday, beating Ksenia Pervak 6-1, 6-4 in an all-Russian final at the Baku Cup. Zvonareva started strong with a break in the opening game. Pervak then received treatment for a toe injury on her right foot after conceding another break. She won her first game to make it 4-1, but two straight double-faults handed Zvonareva a third break and the set. The second set was more competitive, with the players trading breaks twice before Zvonareva broke a third time to clinch the match. Story continues below ↓ advertisement | your ad here "Maybe I didn't play my best tennis this week but I still fought very hard and the level of concentration was very high and I really played every single match from the first point to the last, and it's a great feeling to win at the end of the day," Zvonareva said. "Every single opponent was tough. You look at the draw and look at the rankings, but right now women's tennis is at a very high level and very competitive, and I know if I don't have my full concentration or I don't give my best there is no chance I will win a match." The seventh-seeded Pervak was playing her first WTA tour final and is expected to break into the top 50 when the new rankings are published Monday. "(Zvonareva) is a really good player and has a lot of experience and it was really tough to play against her," Pervak said. "But I think I played not bad in the second set and showed not my best game but I played pretty good I think."

Ramos, Junqueira into 2nd round at Croatia Open

UMAG, Croatia - Albert Ramos of Spain beat eighth-seeded Ivan Dodig 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 in the first round of the Croatia Open on Monday. Dodig appeared unable to move freely during the third set after the Croat complained of an ankle injury. Diego Junqueira of Argentina defeated another Croat, Antonio Veic, 6-4, 7-5. advertisement | your ad here

Serena into US Open with special ranking

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) - Serena Williams is using her special injury-protected No. 1 ranking to get into the U.S. Open field. She is ranked 172nd this week, and only the top 105 players have been granted direct entry into the field for the year's last major championship, which starts Aug. 29 in New York. But because Williams was sidelined more than six months by a series of health issues, she has the right to use her special ranking to enter up to eight tournaments, including one Grand Slam. Story continues below ↓ advertisement | your ad here "I have nothing to lose," Williams said Wednesday at a news conference in New York City before a World Team Tennis event. "I think that's when people are the most dangerous." The U.S. Tennis Association announced Wednesday that the provisional field for the U.S. Open has 97 of the top 100 women in the WTA rankings, including two-time defending champion Kim Clijsters, Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and French Open champion Li Na. Williams said she expects to play in upcoming WTA tournaments at Stanford, Toronto and Cincinnati to get into shape. "It was really awful to miss the Open last year," Williams said. "My goal is to make sure I'm really fit. It's the longest I've taken ever taken off from tennis, so it's a challenge." --- AP Sports Writer Rick Freeman contributed from New York.

Isner reaches Atlanta final

NORCROSS, Ga. - John Isner, in position to win back-to-back tournaments for the first time in his career, is savoring the confidence that has come with his success. Isner overwhelmed Gilles Muller in the third set to win 7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-1 on Saturday to reach the Atlanta Tennis Championships final for the second straight year. Isner, the No. 3 seed, will face either top seed Mardy Fish or 19-year-old Ryan Harrison in Sunday's final. Fish beat Isner in the 2010 final. Story continues below ↓ advertisement | your ad here Coming off a victory in the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships on the grass courts in Newport, R.I., two weeks ago, Isner said his game is soaring with his confidence on Atlanta's hard courts. "I've been waiting for this feeling for about four of five months," Isner said. "Now that I've got it, I don't want to let it go." The 6-foot-9 Isner, who is best known for his powerful serves, said he is making good decisions that help him enjoy a more complete game. "It's as simple as confidence," he said. "I always play my best when I'm confident. I move my best when I'm confident. "I'm not the fastest guy out there but I feel I've been moving well this week and that comes with having a clear mind and making the right decisions on the court." In the key game of the match, the 6-foot-9 Isner hit an overhand winner to break Muller's serve for a 2-0 lead in the third set. Muller reacted by slamming his racket to the court, demolishing the racket. Muller never recovered. Isner broke the left-hander's serve again for a 4-0 lead. "I thought I made a lot of hard work in the second set to win that set and then right away in the beginning of the third one, I threw all my chances away," Muller said. "It was hard to take." Isner said he hit "kind of a junk volley" to set up the key overhand winner. "It took some pressure off, for sure," Isner said. Isner hit 28 aces, including 11 in the third set. Muller had 16 aces, but only three in the final set. Muller never broke Isner's serve. It was the second straight year Isner, the former University of Georgia star, beat Muller, from Luxembourg, in three sets in Atlanta.

Isner overpowers Lu to reach Atlanta semis

ATLANTA - John Isner overwhelmed Yen-Hsun Lu 6-1, 6-2 in less than an hour to advance to the semifinals of the Atlanta Tennis Championships. The 6-foot-9 Isner, who needed almost three hours to beat James Blake in three tough sets on Wednesday night, faced little resistance from 5-foot-11 Lu, Chinese Taipei's top-seeded player, on Friday. Isner, the tournament's No. 3 seed, won in 56 minutes, earning quick relief from the Atlanta heat. Gilles Muller of Luxembourg upset No. 2 seed Kevin Anderson of South Africa 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3) in Friday's first match. Muller advanced to his first ATP semifinal since 2005. He will play Isner on Saturday. Story continues below ↓ advertisement | your ad here Isner beat Muller in a second-round match in Atlanta last year.

Zvonareva easily advances in Baku Cup

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) -Vera Zvonareva cruised into the quarterfinals of the Baku Cup on Thursday when Kristina Kucova retired with a left leg injury. The top-seeded Russian was leading 6-0, 3-0 when Kucova quit. Although she was playing with the lower part of her left leg heavily strapped the Slovak had shown no sign of struggling with her fitness. She ran well in the rallies but made little headway against a more powerful and skillful opponent, managing to salvage just 10 points in the first set and challenging Zvonareva only briefly by holding a break point when down 2-0 in the second set. Story continues below ↓ advertisement | your ad here Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova survived early pressure from fellow Russian Elena Bovina, winning 6-4, 6-0. The second-seeded Pavlyuchenkova struggled at the start as Bovina broke to lead 2-0 and then held a break point for a 4-0 lead. But Pavlyuchenkova fought back and began to gain the upper hand with her more aggressive game forcing an increasing number of errors from her opponent. After securing the opening set, Pavlyuchenkova lost just nine points as she breezed through the second. Kateryna Bondarenko continued her recent good form by upsetting fourth-seeded Ekaterina Makarova of Russia 6-1, 6-4. The Ukrainian endured a miserable first half of the year, winning two matches in her opening tournament of the season in Auckland but then failing to win another main draw match until Wimbledon last month. She was by far the stronger player against Makarova, who was listless and made a succession of clumsy errors. Georgia's Anna Tatishvili also advanced to the quarterfinals when she defeated compatriot Tatia Mikadze 7-6 (4), 6-3. In Friday's quarterfinals Zvonareva plays Tatishvili, Pavlyuchenkova faces Kahzak Galina Voskoboeva, Bondarenko tackles Mariya Korryttseva in an all-Ukrainian clash, and Russia's Ksenia Pervak meets Aravane Rezai of France.

Serena continues comeback at WTT event

ALBANY, N.Y. - Serena Williams leaned against a wall in the bowels of SEFCU Arena, sweat pouring off her muscular shoulders and a satisfied look on her face after a very long day. "It's good to be back. I love playing. I really enjoyed myself out there," Williams said Tuesday night after beating Martina Hingis 5-3 in World Team Tennis. "It was a really long day, but at last I arrived." Williams, who sat out nearly a year with an assortment of health problems before returning to play the Eastbourne International prior to Wimbledon, continued her comeback by also playing mixed doubles and women's doubles. Her team, the Washington Kastles, edged the New York Sportimes 21-20. Story continues below ↓ advertisement | your ad here A six-hour travel delay didn't curb Williams' enthusiasm. After arriving just in time for the start of play and getting virtually no practice or warm-up, she and partner Leander Paes fought hard before losing mixed doubles in a tiebreaker against Hingis and Travis Parrott. "They had mixed first. I kind of wanted to play," Williams said. Teammate Rennae Stubbs had been ready to play mixed doubles in Williams' place, but Williams insisted, to the delight of the crowd of 2,215, who gave her a nice ovation. After struggling at the outset, Williams ripped a hard cross-court winner, then elicited a bow from Paes after two pretty volleys at the net as the crowd roared its approval. But after Williams nailed a hard serve that skipped past Hingis and helped force a tiebreaker, Hingis hit a winner past Williams to give the Sportimes a 5-1 victory and the set. If Williams had chosen not to play the first set, it would have been understandable. She was delayed for several hours on her trip from. She departed Tampa at 8:30 a.m., but her connecting flight in Charlotte was canceled because of mechanical problems. Williams then joined team owner Mark Ein in Washington, D.C., but their flight in a private plane was delayed there by weather and didn't take off until 6:16 p.m., more than four hours after she was supposed to arrive in Albany. "I've always appreciated the game. I don't know if anyone could appreciate it more," said Williams, who teamed with Stubbs to win the women's doubles, besting Hingis and Katie O'Brien 5-2, with Williams serving a love game to put the Kastles up 4-1. Williams endured 352 days of doubt between Grand Slam appearances, her life filled with health problems and hospitalizations, doubts and depression. Since her fourth singles championship at Wimbledon last year, Williams suffered cuts from glass on both feet, underwent two operations on her right foot, had blood clots in her lungs, and another surgery to remove a pool of blood under her skin. It was no wonder she cried when she finally returned and won her opening match at Wimbledon last month. She eventually lost in straight sets to Marion Bartoli in the fourth round. "Obviously, (life's) changed a lot," Williams said. "Having a near-death experience is no fun. I've just always got to keep that in mind when I'm hard on myself as to why I don't think I'm doing better. Once I can get that, I'll just keep going." Williams was given the go-ahead from her doctor just over three months ago and only began practicing at full speed in late May. She played her first match anywhere since July of last year at a grass-court tournament in Eastbourne in early June. Until a WTT match two weeks ago in Washington, D.C., Williams hadn't played a sanctioned match on U.S. soil since she lost to Kim Clijsters in the 2009 U.S. Open semifinals. She helped lead Washington to a 25-10 win over the Boston Lobsters on July 7. Williams said she expects to play in upcoming WTA tournaments at Stanford, Toronto and Cincinnati before the U.S. Open. The year's final grand slam is not yet on her radar. "Yeah. I'm not thinking about that," she said. "I'm just thinking about my next tournament, improving. I need to do a lot of improving. "I love playing Martina. She's such a good player, and more than anything, she's a great practice for me for these tournaments that I have got coming up. It was great. I was a little off. I made a lot of errors, but came through. I'm just having a lot of fun. "I just look at it as, why am I not on top right now?" Williams beat Hingis in the 1999 U.S. Open final for her first grand slam title. Williams ended this one-set contest with a pretty backhand winner that nearly hit the net. "I think we just played really well. It was a good match for both sides," Hingis said.

Wild card Stebe upsets Ferrero at German Open

HAMBURG, Germany (AP) -German wild card Cedrik-Marcel Stebe upset former No. 1 and last week's Stuttgart winner Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain 6-3, 6-2 in the first round of the German Open on Tuesday. Ferrero missed two months earlier this year with wrist and knee injuries but had an impressive week in Stuttgart, where he clinched his first title in 13 months. Stebe, a 20-year-old left-hander, also had a successful week in Stuttgart, winning his first two matches on the tour before losing in the quarterfinals. Story continues below ↓ advertisement | your ad here Another German wild card, Tobias Kamke, also had an upset win, beating seventh-seeded Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina 6-1, 6-4 in the second round. Philipp Kohlschreiber added to the German success when he defeated last year's Hamburg winner, Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan, 7-5, 6-3. Golubev has lost his last 17 matches and is 4-21 for the year. While his countrymen advanced, German Davis Cup player Philipp Petzschner was upset by qualifier Marsel Ilhan of Turkey, then stunned reporters with bizarre answers to questions about the match. Asked to comment on Ilhan's unexpected 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (5) victory, Petzschner replied, "I hope that HSV reaches the Europa League this season." When asked to describe how he managed to double-fault on match point, Petzschner again referred to the Hamburger SV Bundesliga football club, saying it had acquired good new players. Petzschner has been under fire for a lackluster performance in Germany's Davis Cup loss to France and for three straight first-round losses. Jarkko Nieminen of Finland beat 10th-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, fifth-seeded Gilles Simon of France cruised into the third round over Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine, 6-2, 6-1 and Fabio Fognini, the No. 15 from Italy, beat Victor Crivoi of Romania 6-1, 7-5. Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic, Juan Monaco of Argentina, Pablo Andujar of Spain and Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain cleared the first round.

Martinez Sanchez wins 4th title at Gastein Ladies

BAD GASTEIN, Austria (AP) -Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez defeated Austrian wild card Patricia Mayr-Archleitner 6-0, 7-5 in the final of the Gastein Ladies on Sunday to win her fourth career title. The 54th-ranked Spaniard is now 4-1 in finals after also winning in Bogota and Bastad in 2009 and Rome last year. All her victories have been on clay. "It's a really good step for me to play a lot of matches in the same week and build my confidence," Martinez Sanchez said. Story continues below ↓ advertisement | your ad here "At the start I was playing almost a hundred percent perfectly. It's normal to have a bit of difficulty after such a good start, but I stayed calm all the time until the end, and that's why I won." The 109th-ranked Mayr-Archleitner, who trashed the 8th-seeded Ksenia Pervak 6-0, 6-0 Saturday to reach her first career WTA Tour final, won just four points on serve and nine in total in the opening set. The 28-year-old Martinez Sanchez, playing her first final this season, had nine aces and won the first seven games. However, she found herself 4-1 down in the second after dropping serve twice. She saved six more break points to win six of the next seven games as her opponent seemed to struggle with the strong winds, which hampered her throw at serving. Reaching the final means Mayr-Archleitner, who was a career-high 70th two years ago, will return into the top 100 when rankings are updated on Monday.

Juan Carlos Ferrero wins Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart

STUTTGART, Germany (AP) -Former No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero overcame a long rain delay on Sunday to beat Pablo Andujar 6-4, 6-0 in an all-Spanish final of the Mercedes Cup. The 31-year-old veteran fired his first ace of the match to clinch the first set. He then rolled through the next six games to secure his 16th career title and first since winning last August in Umag, Croatia. Ferrero was playing only his third tournament of the year after being out for two months with wrist and knee injuries. Story continues below ↓ advertisement | your ad here The final was delayed for three hours because of rain.

Soderling to face Ferrer in Swedish Open final

BASTAD, Sweden (AP) -Local favorite Robin Soderling will play David Ferrer of Spain on Sunday in a Swedish Open final between former champions. The fifth-ranked Swede routed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-0, dominating from the back of the clay court and sealing the match with an ace. The second-seeded Ferrer beat defending champion Nicolas Almagro 6-1, 6-3 in an all-Spanish semifinal. Story continues below ↓ advertisement | your ad here Soderling won the tournament in 2009, Ferrer in 2007. "It's rare that (a match) floats so well against such a good player as Berdych. I played really, really well," Soderling told national news agency TT. "We play pretty similarly, me and him, we're both attacking. I really tried to be the one who came on court and took control today."

Spain beats U.S.

AUSTIN, Texas - Everything was set up for Andy Roddick and the Americans to win. A Davis Cup quarterfinal against Spain set deep in the heart of Texas, a hard surface that was supposed to complement their big hitters and a rowdy crowd of 16,000 ready to cheer them on. Spain was even missing superstar Rafael Nadal, who skipped the matches to rest after losing the Wimbledon final. Story continues below ↓ advertisement | your ad here None of it mattered to the feisty, passionate and inspired Spaniards, who tore through the singles matches undefeated to build an insurmountable 3-1 lead, denying Roddick a chance to win it in front of his hometown fans. Spain's David Ferrer, the No. 6 player in the world, beat No. 8 Mardy Fish 7-5, 7-6 (3), 5-7, 7-6 (5) in a grueling 4-hour, 11-minute reverse singles match Sunday that clinched Spain's victory. The win — its first on U.S. soil — sends the Spain to the semifinals, where it will host France on Sept. 16-18. Spain is seeking its third Davis Cup championship in four years. "For us, this is a historic match," Spain captain Albert Costa said. History certainly wasn't with the Americans. Spain had already turned Nadal's absence into an afterthought when Feliciano Lopez beat Fish in the first singles match Friday and Ferrer whipped Roddick in straight sets in front of a stunned home crowd. The U.S. is now just 1-37 in Davis Cup when facing an 0-2 deficit. The only time they rallied was back in 1934 against Australia in London. "Spain is probably the deepest team out there right now in men's tennis," said Jim Courier, who suffered his first defeat as U.S. captain. "Playing Spain home or away is going to be tough, with or without Rafa." The U.S. hasn't won the Davis Cup since 2007, and Roddick had lobbied to have this quarterfinal played in his home town. Austin responded with a rowdy reception for the Spaniards, waving American flags and peppering the matches with chants of "U-S-A!" Roddick's wife, model and actress Brooklyn Decker, wore red and blue and waved a red-white-and-blue pom-pom. One sign held up after a Ferrer miss on Sunday read "Rafa would have made that!" But none of the rousing cheers could push the Americans to a singles victory. Fish, who fell to 6-7 in Davis Cup play, played a grueling four-hour, five-set match on Friday and followed it with the longest match in U.S. Davis Cup play since the tie-breaker was introduced in 1989. The U.S. had won Saturday's doubles and a Fish victory would have put the deciding match on Roddick's big serve and broad shoulders. Roddick is 12-0 in Davis Cup-clinching matches, but once Spain clinched the victory, Roddick's late match against Lopez was canceled. "I badly wanted to get to the point we could get Andy out there. It just didn't happen," Fish said. "Andy was ready for the ball. He wanted the ball," Courier said. Fish led Ferrer 5-3 in the first set before Ferrer broke his serve twice in winning the next four games. Frustrated by 20 unforced errors in the set, Fish slammed and broke a racket. Fish dialed up a dominant serve in the second, but Ferrer still pushed the set to a tie-breaker to win it. Fish rallied to win the third set before Ferrer put the match away in the fourth. With the crowd getting louder to support Fish after every winning shot, Ferrer looked frustrated and drew a warning when he smacked a ball deep in the stands. The players traded three service breaks before Ferrer went up 5-4 when a shot by Fish slipped a fraction of an inch wide of the line. Fish still forced a tiebreaker and trailed 0-3 before rallying with three straight points. The match ended on a long rally before Fish's final shot sailed wide. "It was a very long match, a very tough match," Ferrer said. "It's a very special moment for me." After hugging Costa, Ferrer was surrounded by a mob of teammates and team staff. Teammate Fernando Verdasco stood up and pumped his fist toward the small but loud group of Spanish fans who had supported their team with chants of "Ole!" and "Espana!" for three days. The team then danced on the court while Ferrer went to sign autographs and Nadal sent a message of congratulations. "The guys, they are giving everything. It is a pleasure to be their captain," Costa said. "For us, this is a historic match." After the win, the Spanish players were asked if they planned to celebrate their victory in the United States and the city that calls itself the "Live Music Capitol of the World." "Oh my God," Lopez said, drawing huge laughs from his teammates. "I think it's better not to talk about that," Verdasco said with a wide grin. The Americans had planned for the party to be theirs, but simply couldn't deliver. In other Davis Cup play Sunday, Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic beat Michael Ryderstedt of host Sweden 6-2, 7-5, 6-3 to give the defending champs an insurmountable 3-1 lead and a semifinal berth against Argentina. In Germany, France completed a 4-1 victory over the Germans by splitting Sunday's reverse singles. Philipp Petzschner earned Germany's only point by beating Michael Llodra 6-3, 6-4 before Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5) in the final match.

Bammer loses last career match to fellow Austrian

BAD GASTEIN, Austria - Sybille Bammer lost the final match of her career, beaten 6-2, 6-1 by fellow Austrian Yvonne Meusburger on Thursday in the second round of the Gastein Ladies. The 31-year-old Bammer reached a career-high No. 19 ranking in 2007. She retired from professional tennis after losing in the first round at Wimbledon last month but then decided to play her final tournament at the Austrian clay-court event. A two-time tour winner, she never fared well in Austrian WTA events. "I will take a break now and enjoy some time off with my family," said Bammer, who has a 9-year-old daughter. "I won't regret my decision. ... A comeback like Thomas Muster is having won't happen with me." Story continues below ↓ advertisement | your ad here Bammer broke Meusburger in the opening game but immediately lost her own serve and again at 2-3 down. From then on, Meusburger dominated. "We had a lot of good rallies but Yvonne just played better," Bammer said. Meusburger, 2007 finalist, advances to the quarterfinals against Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain, who defeated Sandra Zahlavova of Czech Republic 6-4, 6-2. Martinez Sanchez also reached the quarterfinals last week in Bastad, Sweden. Dia Evtimova of Bulgaria rallied past Austrian wild card Nikola Hofmanova 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to make the quarterfinals for the first time. The 239th-ranked Evtimova, who won two titles on the lower-ranked ITF circuit this year, next plays Patricia Mayr-Archleitner of Austria, who defeated Petra Martic of Croatia 6-1, 6-4.

Vinci opens with a victory at Palermo Open

PALERMO, Sicily (AP) -Fresh off her third title of the year, second-seeded Roberta Vinci beat Kazakh qualifier Sesil Karatantcheva 6-2, 7-5 in the opening round of the Palermo Open on Tuesday. Vinci's victory in Budapest on Sunday made her the first Italian woman to win three titles in one year, and she is threatening Flavia Pennetta to become the second-best ranked Italian after Francesca Schiavone. Schiavone is ranked No. 8, Pennetta is No. 21 and Vinci is up to a career-best No. 23 this week. Story continues below ↓ advertisement | your ad here Third-seeded Sara Errani of Italy beat Regina Kulikova of Russia 6-1, 6-3. Also advancing were No. 4 Klara Zakopalova, No. 5 Anabel Medina Garrigues - a four-time winner of this clay-court tournament - No. 7 Polona Hercog and No. 8 Petra Cetkovska.

Top-seeded Isner stands tall in Newport

NEWPORT, R.I. - Top-seeded John Isner had an overpowering serve all week at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships and it didn't desert him in Sunday's final. Isner became the first top-seeded player to win the title in the 35-year history of the tournament at the International Tennis Hall of Fame, beating sixth-seeded Olivier Rochus, 6-3, 7-6 (6) on Newport's grass courts. "No. To be honest, I don't think so," Isner said when asked if he's ever served better. "I just served excellent. I was just fortunate to have that weapon. I was in a groove all of my matches. It's huge. I was very lucky to have that serve and it carried me to the championship." Story continues below ↓ advertisement | your ad here The 6-foot-9 Isner pulled out the victory over the 30-year-old Belgian in a contrast of styles. The 5-6 Rochus, the shortest player on the ATP Tour, relies on steady groundstrokes and array of slicing returns. On a few serves, Isner had the ball bounce over Rochus' head, drawing laughs from the crowd. "It was perfect serving conditions for me, this court, this tournament," Isner said. "I was surprised how much it was kicking on this grass." The pair even had a little fun before the match, when Isner, towering over Rochus, put his hand on his opponent's head for a photo. It was the second career ATP title for Isner, the second-tallest player on the tour. His other came at Auckland in 2010. Rochus fell to 2-7 in career finals and 11-3 lifetime in Newport. He also lost last year's final, falling to American Mardy Fish. Isner entered the tournament as a wild card after Fish withdrew when he was selected for the United States Davis Cup team. He was given the top seed because he was the highest-ranked player in the draw, coming in at No. 46. He was as high as No. 19 last year. Rochus entered the week ranked 74th. "John was a top-20 player in the world," Rochus said. "He can control the ball, he slices. He's a lot more than the serve." Isner closed out the match with his 22nd ace, not having lost a set all week. Isner broke Rochus in the eighth game of the first set, grabbing a 5-3 edge. In Isner's third break point of the set, Rochus hit a backhand slice wide to end the game. Isner then served out the first set, getting consecutive aces to move up 40-15 before Rochus hit a service return long. Up 6-4 on serve in the tiebreak, Isner hit a forehand return into the net and Rochus evened it at 6-all with a well-placed backhand crossing shot that landed just inside the sideline. But, on the next point, Rochus hit a slicing backhand just wide, setting it up for Isner to close it out. He pumped his fist when it was over and fired his blue wrist band into the crowd. "I feel so great," Isner said. "It turned out great. I owe a big thanks (to the tournament director) for the wild card. It's a great start to the summer." The 26-year old earned $76,500 and Rochus $40,300.

Vinci beats Begu in final of Budapest Grand Prix

BUDAPEST, Hungary - 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 Sunday in the final of the Budapest Grand Prix. Vinci took a 4-1 lead in the first set but Begu fought back for a 5-4 advantage before Vinci broke again. After easily taking the second set, Begu was up 4-2 in the third but Vinci then won the last four games. Vinci said "in the third set, I managed to turn things around especially by playing stronger on my forehand." Story continues below ↓ advertisement | your ad here Temperatures in Budapest reached at 101.1 degrees Sunday, the hottest July 10 on record in the Hungarian capital.

France reaches DCup semis; Serbia, Spain stalled

LONDON (AP) -France beat Germany again to reach the Davis Cup semifinals while Sweden stalled Serbia's progress with an unexpected doubles victory on Saturday. Meanwhile, Argentina wrapped up a 5-0 sweep of Kazakhstan in Buenos Aires, and France was awaiting to learn the winner in Austin, Texas, where the United States stayed alive against Spain. In Stuttgart, Michael Llodra and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France defeated Christopher Kas and Philipp Petzschner 7-6 (4), 6-4, 6-4, dropping serve only once, to earn an unbeatable 3-0 lead in their quarterfinal. Story continues below ↓ advertisement | your ad here "I knew the tie was going to be close and difficult, even though we've won by Saturday night," France captain Guy Forget said. "All the matches were really tight, and I'm really glad the French players took it so seriously and played with a lot of heart." The result continued France's domination of Germany in Davis Cup. France has not lost to its neighbor since 1938, and not lost a live rubber since 1953. Where France, last year's runner-up, plays in September, depends. If Spain beats the U.S., it will host France. If the U.S. pulls off a comeback win, its first from 2-0 down since 1934 against Australia in London, France has already booked Roland Garros for the semi. In Halmstad, the reappearance of new No. 1 Novak Djokovic was not enough for defending champion Serbia to secure a semifinals berth. Djokovic decided to skip Friday's singles to rest his sore left knee, and Serbia still won both matches against host Sweden. The chance to clinch the quarterfinal prompted Djokovic to replace Janko Tipsarevic and join Nenad Zimonjic, a three-time Grand Slam doubles winner. But the pair lost to Robert Lindstedt and the retiring Simon Aspelin 6-4, 7-6 (5), 7-5. Djokovic netted an easy overhead to give up the only break in the first set, and Serbia blew a 5-3 lead in the second-set tiebreak, losing four straight points. The Swedes broke Djokovic to win the third set and match. "I expected myself to adjust a little bit better in the rhythm of the return - one of my main weapons wasn't working well as I was missing a lot of returns but that's because of their serves as well, which were great, and they were playing really well at the net," Djokovic said. Serbia still led 2-1, however, and will be expected to win the quarterfinal in the reserve singles on Sunday. Tipsarevic will play Michael Ryderstedt in the first match, and the second was still undecided after an injury to Sweden debutant Ervin Eleskovic. Argentina expects to travel to Serbia in September. "The opponent is going to be Serbia, 100 percent," Argentina captain Tito Vazquez predicted. "The doubles was the only chance for Sweden to win a rubber. Definitely Serbia is going to be the winner, so we're thinking about playing Serbia away. It's a difficult match, a very solid team. We'll try to do our best, give them a good fight." Argentina beat Kazakhstan 3-0 on Friday, and added the dead singles rubbers on Saturday. Juan Ignacio Chela beat Evgeny Korolev 2-6, 6-2, 6-0, and Juan Monaco downed Mikhail Kukushkin 6-4, 6-1. Argentina has reached the semifinals in seven of the last 10 years. Brothers Bob and Mike Bryan, the world's No. 1 doubles team, kept the Americans alive by beating Marcel Granollers and Fernando Verdasco 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. Granollers and Verdasco had never played doubles together. Granollers was a substitute for Feliciano Lopez, who won a four-hour singles over Mardy Fish on Friday. Sunday's reverse singles will pit David Ferrer against Mardy Fish and Lopez against Andy Roddick.

Agassi thanks sport for life, wife

NEWPORT, Rhode Island - Andre Agassi used his induction speech at the International Tennis Hall of Fame to thank the sport for all it has given him — including his wife, fellow Hall of Famer Steffi Graf. Agassi acknowledged there were times he resented the sport, which his father pushed him into as a small child. But the 41-year-old, eight-time Grand Slam champion said on Saturday it was all part of the journey that brought him to the Newport shrine. Agassi was No. 1 in the world for 101 straight weeks before dropping to No. 141. Only then did he really appreciate tennis. Also inducted was Fern "Peachy" Kellmeyer, who fought for women's athletic scholarships while at college in the U.S. and was one of the trailblazers in women's professional tennis. advertisement | your ad here

Argentina takes 3-0 Davis Cup lead vs Kazakhstan

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Argentina took an unbeatable 3-0 lead Friday in its Davis Cup quarterfinal against Kazakhstan. The Argentine doubles team of Juan Ignacio Chela and Eduardo Schwank defeated the Kazak pair of Evgeny Korolev and Yuriy Schukin 6-3, 6-2, 7-5. Juan Monaco and Juan Martin Del Potro won their opening singles matches on Thursday. The Kazakhs led 4-2 in the final set before Argentina rallied on the red outdoor clay at Parque Roca, on the outskirts of the Argentine capital. Story continues below ↓ advertisement | your ad here The start of the five-match series was moved up a day to avoid a conflict with elections on Sunday in Buenos Aires. Argentina, which has reached the semifinals for the seventh time in the last 10 seasons, has never won the Davis Cup. It was runner-up in 1981, 2006 and 2008. Argentina will face either Sweden or Serbia in the semifinals.

Serena ready for Team Tennis match

WASHINGTON - Serena Williams is set to play her first sanctioned match in the United States in two years. The 29-year-old Williams is playing for the Washington Kastles of World Team Tennis on Thursday night. The 13-time grand slam singles champion, who was sidelined for nearly a full year due to foot injuries and a pulmonary embolism, hasn't played a sanctioned match on U.S. soil since losing to Kim Clijsters in the 2009 U.S. Open semifinals. Williams returned to the WTA Tour last month. She and her sister Venus, who made her season debut with the Kastles on Tuesday, both lost in the fourth round at Wimbledon. Story continues below ↓ advertisement | your ad here Prior to Thursday's match, Serena Williams participated in a clinic with kids from various youth organizations.

Djokovic proudest of putting lone loss behind him

WIMBLEDON, England - Novak Djokovic is on the path to greatness, and one way to fully grasp that is to focus not on his many successes but instead on a setback. Indeed, for all of his accomplishments already in 2011 — rising to the No. 1 ranking Monday; two Grand Slam titles, including a victory over Rafael Nadal in the Wimbledon final Sunday; $7.5 million in prize money; a 48-1 record — what Djokovic himself relishes the most is how he set aside his lone loss. He was unbeaten in 43 matches, dating to the Davis Cup final in December, until that run ended against 16-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer in four sets in last month's French Open semifinals. Story continues below ↓ advertisement | your ad here Djokovic could have been devastated. He could have gone into a tailspin. But after taking a brief break, he returned to the tour at Wimbledon and started a new winning streak. "I'm proud of many things, to be honest, in this moment, but something that comes up to my mind is after having an incredible run, an incredible year up to Roland Garros, and then losing that really epic semifinal against Federer — a great match — I managed to recover and to come back in a great style and to win Wimbledon for the first time in my life," Djokovic said Monday morning at the All England Club during a 10-minute interview with two reporters. "I think that's something that I maybe wasn't managing to do in the past," he added, "and right now, I am able to mentally switch off and just recover quickly and look to the next challenge." The key, Djokovic explained, was that he didn't allow himself to get too low after losing to Federer. That was a problem for Djokovic in the past, such as when he went through what he called "a crisis" during the first half of 2010. He lost in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and French Open — both times frittering away substantial leads — and in one stretch played in five consecutive tournaments without ever winning more than three matches in a row. He dwelled on those defeats. "But now I just didn't allow myself to get to that position anymore, because it's just not worth it. It's sport. You win; you lose," Djokovic said Monday. "And I have played good (against Federer). I didn't have anything to regret, because the (other) player was better that day. So I just needed to sleep, get some rest and come here and perform my best. And I have done that." Among the things on the 24-year-old Serb's career "To Do" list now are adding championships at the two major tournaments he hasn't won — the French Open and the U.S. Open, where he was the runner-up to Federer in 2007, and to Nadal last year — and a prolonged stay at No. 1. "This is what I'm made for: I want to win. I'm a professional. I want to win more majors, more titles," he said. "Obviously, the U.S. Open is the next big thing." As well as he's playing currently, Djokovic still sees room to work on his game, particularly his serve and getting to the net more frequently. He pointed to Nadal — the man he replaced atop the ATP rankings — as someone who's set an example by constantly figuring out ways to get better. As it is, the stroke that Djokovic has improved the most this season is his serve. In Sunday's 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 victory over Nadal, for example, Djokovic didn't face a single break point in either of the first two sets. But the area in which Djokovic has made the most strides over the past year is his self-belief, something he and those around him say received a big boost when he helped Serbia beat France for the 2010 Davis Cup title. "He realized lots of things," Djokovic's mother, Dijana, said Sunday about those matches in Belgrade. "You know, he matured, and then he start to play as he play now." France led the best-of-five series 2-1 when Djokovic faced top-10 player Gael Monfils on the final day. If Monfils had won that match, France would have clinched the trophy. But Djokovic won in straight sets, and Serbia went on to win its first Davis Cup. "I proved to myself that I can really play like this, you know, on the big stage, under big pressure, in big events, the same way," Djokovic said. And that's exactly what he's managed to do, over and over and over. "I do experience that very high confidence level that I have. And I do experience that I'm mentally stronger than ever," Djokovic said. "So probably that gives me a slight advantage over my opponents." Even the best opponents. After entering 2011 with a 39-50 record against top-10 players, Djokovic is 14-1 against them this year. That includes a 5-0 mark against 10-time major champion Nadal, all in tournament finals, and on three different surfaces. It also includes a 3-1 mark against Federer. And, perhaps most impressively, a perfect turnaround after the only blemish on an otherwise perfect season. Only 19 hours after crouching down on Centre Court to pluck and eat a few blades of grass, Djokovic said he hadn't had time to digest everything he's done. "I'm still euphoric. I'm still on an adrenaline rush. I'm still under great joy of winning Wimbledon and of having a magnificent season so far. I have Davis Cup coming up this weekend, and then after that, I have two weeks of rest. And then, I guess, when I go down to the beach, leave my racket in the room and then just close my eyes in the sun," Djokovic said with a chuckle, "I'll probably reflect on everything that happened." ___ Follow Howard Fendrich at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich

Wozniacki through to 2nd round at Swedish Open

BASTAD, Sweden - Top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki advanced to the second round of the Swedish Open on Tuesday by defeating Alize Cornet of France 6-4, 6-4. The Dane will next face Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden, who beat Andrea Hlavackova 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 in the clay-court WTA tournament. In other first-round action, second-seeded Flavia Pennetta of Italy defeated Australia's Olivia Rogowska 6-2, 7-5, while sixth-seeded Iveta Benesova of Russia crashed out of the tournament with a 6-2, 6-0 loss to Spain's Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez. advertisement | your ad here

Bryans win record-tying 11th Slam title

WIMBLEDON, England - American twins Bob and Mike Bryan won a record-tying 11th Grand Slam men's doubles title together Saturday, beating Robert Lindstedt of Sweden and Horia Tecau of Romania 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (2) in the Wimbledon final. The Bryan brothers won at Wimbledon for the second time and matched Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge's Open era record of 11 major titles. "To equal the Woodies - a team that we idolized, the greatest team in our mind - is unbelievable," Mike Bryan said. "To get their title record and get the Grand Slam record, I mean, I'm trying to figure out what's left. We weren't even thinking about 11 until Mark Woodforde came up and said, 'Congrats on getting that 11th."' Story continues below ↓ advertisement | your ad here In the women's final, Katarina Srebotnik of the Czech Republic and Kveta Peschke of Slovenia won their first Grand Slam title by beating Samantha Stosur of Australia and Sabine Lisicki of Germany 6-3, 6-1.   Slideshow  

Djokovic new No. 1; Serena drops to 175th

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic is No. 1 in the ATP rankings for the first time, while Serena Williams is 175th on the WTA list, her lowest spot since 1997. Djokovic moves up Monday from No. 2 after beating previously top-ranked Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 Sunday at the All England Club. It's the first time in nearly 7 1/2 years that a man other than Nadal or Roger Federer is ranked No. 1. Djokovic is 48-1 with eight titles this year, including two Grand Slam trophies. Story continues below ↓ advertisement | your ad here Williams is a former No. 1 who was 25th entering Wimbledon after missing nearly a full year because of a series of health scares. She was the defending champion but lost in the fourth round. She hasn't been ranked outside the top 150 since Nov. 3, 1997, when she was 304th.

Wimbledon leaving NBC, appears headed to ESPN

NEW YORK - Wimbledon is leaving NBC after 43 years and appears headed to ESPN. NBC said in a statement Sunday that "while we would have liked to have continued our relationship, we were simply outbid." A person with knowledge of the negotiations confirmed that ESPN was working on a contract with the All England Club to televise all of the Grand Slam tournament. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal was not ready to be announced. Story continues below ↓ advertisement | your ad here The switch was first reported by SportsBusiness Journal. ESPN had owned the rights to extensively televise early rounds of Wimbledon, with NBC picking up coverage as the tournament progressed, culminating with the "Breakfast at Wimbledon" broadcasts of the finals. It would be the latest major sporting event to move from the traditional four over-the-air networks to cable. College football's Bowl Championship Series title games are on ESPN, and NCAA basketball's Final Four will be on TBS in alternating years starting in 2016. Months into its new partnership with Comcast, NBC is losing a marquee event. The network did keep an even bigger one when it outbid ESPN and Fox last month for four Olympics. This year was the 32nd anniversary of "Breakfast at Wimbledon," with coverage ending Sunday when Novak Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal in the men's final.