JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Sam Querrey beat Thiago Alves 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3) on Sunday to give the United States a dramatic 3-2 victory over Brazil and a spot in the Davis Cup quarterfinals. Querrey lifts US to victory in
Querrey lifts US
to victory in Davis Cup
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Sam Querrey beat Thiago Alves 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3) on Sunday to give the United States a dramatic 3-2 victory over Brazil and a spot in the Davis Cup quarterfinals.
The U.S. will host Serbia in the next round in Boise, Idaho, from April 5-7.
Querrey stepped up after teammate John Isner lost 2-6, 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-3 to Thomaz Bellucci earlier Sunday, forcing a deciding fifth match. It was the first time since 2000 that a U.S. team needed to win the fifth match to advance.
The 25-year-old Querrey started fast, breaking Alves in the second game of the match. But Alves, ranked No. 141, responded with breaks of his own in the third and ninth games to take the opening set.
Querrey responded with a consistent array of cross-court winners to control play the rest of the way.
Kirilenko beats Lisicki
to win Pattaya Open
PATTAYA, Thailand — Second-seeded Maria Kirilenko of Russia won the Pattaya Open on Sunday by coming from a set down to beat Sabine Lisicki.
Kirilenko dominated a third-set tiebreaker to defeat the fifth-seeded German 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (1).
It was the 15th-ranked Kirilenko’s sixth WTA title — and her first since 2008.
Barthel upsets Errani
to win Open GDF Suez final
PARIS — Unseeded Mona Barthel of Germany won her second career title Sunday, upsetting top-seeded Sara Errani of Italy 7-5, 7-6 (4) in the Open GDF Suez final.
The seventh-ranked Errani was a heavy favorite as she chased her seventh career title and first this year, but the 45th-ranked Barthel stayed on a roll after beating fifth-seeded Roberta Vinci and No. 3-seeded Marion Bartoli on her way to the final.
Barthel played aggressively, with 53 winners and 50 unforced errors. She clinched the victory with a forehand winner. Her previous title came in Hobart, Australia, in January 2012, when she came through the qualifiers.
Texas regents mull coaches’ conduct with students
AUSTIN, Texas — University of Texas regents Sunday ordered a review of policies regarding inappropriate relationships between employees and students after a two-hour, private telephone meeting to discuss incidents involving assistant football coach Major Applewhite and former women’s head track coach Bev Kearney.
The call between the regents, their legal staff and Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa was scheduled after the disclosure Friday that Applewhite, the Longhorns’ offensive coordinator, had been disciplined by the school in 2009 for his conduct with a student during a trip to the Fiesta Bowl.
Applewhite was ordered at the time to undergo counseling, and his pay was frozen for a year. The regents did not order any further discipline against him after Sunday’s meeting. The revelation about Applewhite’s conduct came almost a month after Kearney resigned while under investigation for a 2002 relationship with an athlete in her program. Texas officials have said they were in the process of firing her.
In both cases, the university has said the relationships between the coaches and students were consensual. But Kearney’s lawyer, Derek Howard, has suggested the track coach was treated unfairly and may sue the university.
Howard did not immediately respond to an email message.
Kearney, who won six national championships since 1993, was in line for a large pay increase until the former athlete reported their relationship in October. Kearney was placed on paid leave in November and resigned Jan. 5.
Gallacher wins Dubai Desert Classic by 3 shots
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Stephen Gallacher holed an eagle on No. 16 and won the Dubai Desert Classic on Sunday, overcoming early jitters to beat playing partner Richard Sterne by three shots.
Gallacher (71) finished with a 22-under total of 266 to take his second European Tour win and the first since 2004. The 111th-ranked Scotsman had a three-shot lead over Sterne at the start of the final round but three-putted to bogey the first, and then hit his drive far right and missed a six-footer to drop a shot on the next hole. Sterne chipped to two feet on the second for a birdie and a share of the lead.
The two traded places several times after that as each struggled in windy conditions. Sterne took the lead on the eighth hole when Gallacher missed an 8-foot par putt and found more trouble on No. 9 when his tee shot landed on sandy rough behind a tree.
But Gallacher hit a blind approach 185 yards — perhaps the shot of the tournament — that cleared the trees and landed to within two feet for an easy birdie to draw level with the South African.
Sterne sank a six-foot birdie on the 10th to go back into the lead but then fell apart with four bogeys in his final eight holes. Gallacher took the lead on No. 12 after Sterne’s second consecutive bogey and clinched the win with his fifth eagle of the week. He holed a sand wedge from 115 yards that landed a foot from the hole and rolled in to give him a four-shot lead when Sterne had his third bogey.
Webb wins 8th Australian
Ladies Masters title
GOLD COAST, Australia — Karrie Webb won her eighth Australian Ladies Masters title on Sunday, coming from two strokes behind in the final round with birdies on three of her last five holes for a 5-under-par 67 and a two-stroke victory.
The 38-year-old Webb birdied the 14th hole at Royal Pines to take the lead for the first time during the final round, and then tapped in for birdie after her eagle putt just missed on 15.
Webb finished with a 13-under-par total of 203 in the 54-hole tournament, the season-opening event on the European Ladies Tour. Her eighth win in the same tournament matched the U.S. PGA Tour record of Sam Snead, who won the Greater Greensboro Open eight times. South Korea’s Chella Choi finished tied for second after a 69, with second-round co-leaders Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand, and Australian amateur Oh Su-hyun, who both shot final-round 71s.
Last year’s Australian Open winner at Royal Melbourne, American Jessica Korda, was fifth after a 71, three shots behind.
First woman calls men’s soccer game on German TV
BERLIN — German soccer fans are hearing an unfamiliar voice, with a woman providing commentary on a men’s soccer game on national TV for the first time.
Christina Graf became the country’s first female commentator at a men’s professional soccer game when she called Hertha Berlin’s 5-1 win at Jahn Regensburg in the second division Sunday.
The 27-year-old Graf beat out around 1,200 applicants to win a casting show for her new job with broadcaster Sky.
By wire sources
