Roddick carries the U.S. to Davis Cup semifinals

Andy Roddick’s Davis Cup dominance led the U.S. to the title last year, and his victory Sunday eliminated France and clinched a spot in the semifinals against Spain.

After France’s top player, Richard Gasquet, begged out of the matchup, Roddick defeated Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2, behind a blistering serve for the deciding victory in the best-of-five quarterfinal in Winston-Salem, N.C.

James Blake beat Gasquet in the meaningless finale, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4.

In other quarterfinals, Russia eliminated the Czech Republic, 3-2, Argentina ousted Sweden, 4-1, and Spain defeated Germany, 4-1.

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Top-seeded Maria Sharapova overcame five double-faults and 33 unforced errors to win her first clay-court title with a 7-6 (7), 6-3 victory over Dominika Cibulkova in the Bausch & Lomb Championships at Amelia Island, Fla.

GOLF

Ochoa qualifies

for Hall of Fame

Lorena Ochoa qualified for the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame, winning the Corona Championship at Morelia, Mexico, by 11 strokes for her third straight victory.

The Mexican star became the second-youngest player to qualify for the Hall of Fame, though she still must be a tour member for 10 years -- in her case, until 2012 -- to be eligible for induction.

After opening with three straight seven-under 66s, Ochoa closed with a 69 for a 25-under 267 total. She earned $195,000 for her 21st victory on the LPGA Tour.

SWIMMING

Lochte leads the way as 18 world records set

Ryan Lochte led the way as the short-course swimming world championships ended in Manchester, England, with six more world records to bring the total for the meet to 18.

Lochte set four records and Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe established three.

All but one of the records involved the Speedo LZR Racer swimsuit.

On Sunday, Lochte improved on his 100-meter individual medley record, set a day earlier, finishing in 51.15 seconds to shave 0.10 off his previous mark.

The other records on the final day were set by Markus Rogan in the 200 backstroke, Sanja Jovanovic of Croatia in the women’s 50 back, Felicity Galvez of Australia in the women’s 100 butterfly, Marleen Veldhuis of the Netherlands in the women’s 50 freestyle and Russia in the men’s 400 medley relay.

Rogan finished in 1:47.84. The previous record of 1:49.05 was set by Lochte in 2006.

Jovanovic improved on her world record, finishing in 26.37 seconds. Her old mark was 26.50, set in December.

Galvez’s time was 55.89 seconds, which shaved 0.06 off the previous mark, set by teammate Lisbeth Lenton in 2006.

Veldhuis improved her world record in the women’s 50 free, finishing in 23.25.

MOTOR RACING

Wilkerson finally wins, denies Ashley Force

Tim Wilkerson raced to his first funny car victory since 2004, beating Ashley Force in the NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Wilkerson reached 292 mph to finish in 4.96 seconds, while Force was denied in her attempt to become the first female funny car winner.

Force still made history. Her run to the final gave her enough points (326) to take the points lead, the first time a female driver has held the top spot.

In top fuel, Cory McClenathan won for the first time in 30 races by beating Antron Brown with a time of 4.65 seconds in 315 mph.

MISCELLANY

Ullrich reportedly reaches deal on doping

Charges against former Tour de France champion Jan Ullrich were dropped in exchange for a $1.59-million fine, German magazine Focus reported.

The district attorney’s office declined to comment, saying a news conference about Ullrich will be held today.

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Owen Hargreaves’ free kick gave Manchester United a 2-1 victory over Arsenal in London, putting his team closer to the Premier League title.