Spadea Finally Wins First Title

Vincent Spadea won his first ATP Tour title Sunday, beating Germany’s Nicolas Kiefer, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-3, in the Franklin Templeton Classic at Scottsdale, Ariz.

The 29-year-old Spadea broke through in his 223rd tournament, becoming the third first-time winner this season after Antony Dupuis (Milan) and Joachim Johansson, who beat Kiefer in Memphis, Tenn., two weeks ago.

“I was ranked in or near the top 20, and you can’t find many players who have reached that level without winning a title,” said Spadea, who came in ranked 29th. “Winning was important to me.”

Fourth-seeded Rick Leach and Brian MacPhie beat South Africans Jeff Coetzee and Chris Haggard, 6-3, 6-1, in the doubles final, making the 39-year-old Leach the oldest ATP doubles winner since Sherwood Stewart in 1987.

“Every once in a while I surprise myself,” said Leach, who won his 45th title.

Spadea, seeded fourth, beat No. 6 James Blake in the quarterfinals and upset No. 1 Andy Roddick, the world’s third-ranked player, in three sets Saturday.

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Top-seeded Carlos Moya won the Mexican Open for the second time in three years, overpowering fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, 6-3, 6-0, at Acapulco. In the women’s final, Iveta Benesova won her first WTA Tour title, topping Flavia Pennetta, 7-5 (5), 6-4.

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Top-ranked Roger Federer rallied past Feliciano Lopez, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, to become the first man to successfully defend his Dubai Open title at Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Federer extended his record this year to 16-1 with his second title of 2004.

Motor Sports

Brandon Bernstein raced to his fourth career Top Fuel victory, beating Doug Kalitta in the Checker Schuck’s Kragen NHRA event at Firebird International Raceway in Chandler, Ariz.

Del Worsham raced to his 15th Funny Car victory, beating defending series champion Tony Pedregon with a run of 4.970 seconds at 303.78 mph. Kurt Johnson took his 28th Pro Stock victory, edging David Connolly in 6.835 and 203.49.

Arena Football

John Kaleo connected with Shannon Culver for a two-point conversion with no time remaining, giving the Austin Wranglers a 56-55 victory over the Carolina Cobras in front of 10,655 at Austin, Texas.

The expansion Philadelphia Soul handed the Chicago Rush its first loss of the season, 53-47, in front of 17,504 at Philadelphia.

Leon Murray passed for 228 yards and five touchdowns to lead the Georgia Force past the Las Vegas Gladiators, 55-40, and end a six-game losing streak at home before 8,517 at Duluth, Ga.

The defending ArenaBowl champion Tampa Bay Storm fell behind 14-0 and never recovered in a 55-43 loss to the New Orleans VooDoo in front of 14,837 at New Orleans.

Aaron Garcia threw nine touchdown passes and the New York Dragons handed the San Jose SaberCats their first loss of the season, 64-50, in front of 10,192 at Uniondale, N.Y.

Miscellany

Gail Devers failed in her bid for a sprint-hurdle double at the indoor world track and field championships at Budapest, which ended with Russia winning twice as many gold medals as the United States.

Devers won the 60-meter sprint Friday but was runner-up Sunday in the 60-meter hurdles, finishing 0.03 of a second behind Canada’s Perdita Felicien.

Another American, Christian Cantwell, beat countryman Reese Hoffa to win the shotput gold.

Russia won five of the 15 finals on the last day of the three-day competition to finish with eight golds. The United States had four golds and 10 medals overall, second to Russia’s 19.

Olympic champion Netherlands and 2000 silver medalist Spain will compete in the Athens Olympics after victories in the men’s field hockey qualifying tournament at Madrid, Spain. The Netherlands beat Poland, 4-0, and Spain downed Britain, 2-1.

College Sports Television (CSTV), which launched last April, today will announce an agreement to be carried on Time Warner Cable, which serves 10.9-million subscribers in 27 states. CSTV is carried by DirecTV on satellite and Adelphia and Insight Communications on cable television.

Passings

John Henry Williams, the son of Hall of Fame baseball player Ted Williams, died late Saturday of leukemia in a hospital in Los Angeles. John Henry Williams was 35. Story, Section B.

Jack Leaman, 71, who coached Julius Erving in college and was associated with basketball at the University of Massachusetts for more than 40 years, died of a heart attack Saturday in Washington.