Shaughnessy, Rubin Give U.S. 2-0 Lead

Meghann Shaughnessy needed six match points, while Chandra Rubin needed only one to complete an American sweep Saturday as the U.S. took a 2-0 lead over Italy in the Fed Cup quarterfinals at Washington.

Shaughnessy overcame a near second-set collapse, blowing a 5-1 lead before beating Francesca Schiavone, 6-3, 6-4, in the opening match. Rubin had less difficulty with Rita Grande in a 6-3, 6-3 victory.

Rubin plays Schiavone and Shaughnessy plays Grande today in the reverse singles before Rubin and Lisa Raymond play Tathiana Garbin and Antonella Serra-Zanetti in doubles.

The U.S. needs only one more win to clinch the best-of-five competition and advance to the semifinals. The U.S.-Italy winner plays the Belgium-Slovakia winner in November.

Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters gave Belgium a 2-0 lead over defending champion Slovakia at Charleroi, Belgium. Henin-Hardenne beat Janette Husarova, 7-5, 6-4. Clijsters defeated Lubomira Kurhajcova, 6-3, 6-1.

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Second-seeded Guillermo Coria of Argentina and ninth-seeded Tommy Robredo of Spain won their semifinal matches in the Mercedes Cup at Stuttgart, Germany.

Coria defeated Spain’s Feliciano Lopez, 6-4, 6-0 in 59 minutes. Robredo was ahead, 6-2, 4-1, when Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez withdrew because of stomach pain.

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Sixth-seeded Raemon Sluiter of the Netherlands and seventh-seeded Nicolas Massu of Chile advanced to the final of the Dutch Open at Amersfoort. Sluiter beat Albert Montanes of Spain, 7-6 (4), 1-6, 6-3. Massu won when Luis Horna of Peru quit with a right thigh injury while trailing 6-3, 4-0.

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Serena Williams, the world’s top-ranked player, has entered the Acura Classic, beginning July 26 at the La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad.... Lindsay Davenport has withdrawn from this week’s Bank of the West Classic at Stanford because of a left foot injury.

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Motor Racing

Gil de Ferran earned his second Indy Racing League victory of the season, winning the Firestone Indy 200 under a yellow caution flag at Nashville Superspeedway.

The Indianapolis 500 winner took the lead for the second time in his Dallara-Toyota on lap 173 while the other leaders pitted during a caution period caused by debris on the track.

Pole-sitter Scott Dixon finished second in a Panoz G Force-Toyota, followed by Helio Castroneves, De Ferran’s Penske teammate.

David Green held off a charge from Kevin Harvick to win the New England 200 at New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon and retake the lead in the NASCAR Busch Series standings.

Rubens Barrichello upstaged Ferrari teammate Michael Schumacher to win the pole position for today’s Formula One British Grand Prix at Silverstone, England.

Barrichello, stopping the recent dominance of Williams-BMW, was timed in 141.641 mph on the 3.195-mile Silverstone circuit.

Rip Michels made a charge on the final turn to beat Greg Pursley and win the 75-lap Jani-King Super Late Model series feature in front of 5,250 at Irwindale Speedway.

In the 50-lap Ultra Wheels Super Truck series feature, Carson Woods held on for his second win of the season, holding off Pat Mintey and Jim Kondziela. In the 50-lap West Coast Pro Trucks series feature, two multi-car red flag crashes eliminated almost half of the field, and Santa Barbara’s Charlie Carder had to be transported to Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Baldwin Park.

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Miscellany

Deanna Nolan made a 12-foot jump shot with 2.2 seconds left to give the Detroit Shock a 58-57 victory over the Cleveland Rockers in a WNBA game in front of 7,209 at Cleveland.... Chamique Holdsclaw scored 24 points and the Washington Mystics held off a late rally by San Antonio, defeating the Silver Stars, 85-77, in front of 11,530 at San Antonio.... Sheryl Swoopes scored 27 points to lead the visiting Houston Comets to a 74-71 victory over the Sacramento Monarchs before 9,019.... Connecticut’s Katie Douglas had 16 points and Nykesha Sales and Adrienne Johnson each added 15 for the Sun in a 75-67 victory over the Phoenix Mercury before 7,602 at Phoenix.

Heavyweight boxer Brad Rone died after taking a punch from Billy Zumbrun with about five seconds left in the first round of their six-round bout Friday night in Cedar City, Utah.

Less than 10 seconds later -- after the bell rang -- Rone fell to the canvas and stopped breathing. He was later declared dead at Valley View Medical Center, according to Detective Ross Drishinski, Iron County Sheriff’s office medical examiner.

An Arena Football League 2 player died after collapsing during a game in Wichita, Kan. Bakersfield Blitz linebacker Julian Yearwood, 33, collapsed while sitting on the bench in the first quarter of the game against the Wichita Stealth.

Several of the top junior women’s water polo players in the world are scheduled to compete in the USA Water Polo 20-and-under national championships starting Monday at Capistrano Valley High in Mission Viejo.