Roddick makes certain French are toast

Andy Roddick proved dominant again in the Davis Cup, sending the defending champion United States past France yesterday and into the semifinals against Spain. Behind a blistering serve, Roddick defeated Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2, for the deciding victory in the five-match quarterfinal in Winston-Salem, N.C. It was Roddick's second singles victory in three days. A day after a loss by the No. 1 doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan kept France's hopes alive, Roddick was never threatened in giving the Americans an insurmountable 3-1 lead. While he was held to 17 aces, he lost only 13 points on his serve to improve to 10-0 in clinching situations for the United States. Next up for the United States is a road matchup against Rafael Nadal and Spain in the semifinals Sept. 19-21. In other quarterfinals, Russia eliminated the Czech Republic, 3-2, and Argentina ousted Sweden, 4-1. Spain advanced Saturday by defeating Germany . . . Maria Sharapova entered the Bausch & Lomb Championships in hopes of gaining experience on clay before next month's French Open. She got a lot more than that - she won her first clay-court title. Sharapova overcame five double-faults and 33 unforced errors to beat Dominika Cibulkova, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, in Amelia Island, Fla.

Ottawa's leading scorer Jason Spezza, who injured his leg in Friday's 5-3 loss in Pittsburgh, is the latest V.I.P. addition to the Senators' crowded casualty ward. With Daniel Alfredsson, Mike Fisher, and Chris Kelly sidelined by injuries for Ottawa's opening-round series, Spezza did not take part in practice and might not play in Game 3 tonight in Ottawa with the Senators facing a 2-0 series deficit . . . The Sabres agreed to terms with Denver junior defenseman Chris Butler and the Coyotes signed Michigan forward Chad Kolarik . . . The Providence Bruins finished the regular season with an AHL-best record of 55-18-3-4 after a 4-1 loss to visiting Lowell. The P-Bruins begin the playoffs at home against Manchester Wednesday . . . Wakefield's Joe Cannata stopped 16 shots as the US beat Switzerland, 7-2, in Kazan, Russia, in its opening game at the World Under-18 Championship.

Ryan Lochte of Daytona Beach, Fla., led the way as the short-course world championships concluded in Manchester, England. Six more world records were set, bringing the total for the meet to 18. Lochte set four and Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe established three. All but one of the records were set by athletes wearing the Speedo LZR Racer swimsuit, which has also been worn in 18 of the 19 long-course world-record-setting performances since it was introduced in February. Lochte improved on his 100-meter individual medley record, set in the semifinals, finishing in 51.15 seconds. The other records set yesterday were by Austria's Markus Rogan in the 200 backstroke (1:47.84), Sanja Jovanovic of Croatia in the women's 50 back (26.37), Felicity Galvez of Australia in the women's 100 butterfly (55.89), Marleen Veldhuis of the Netherlands in the women's 50 freestyle (23.25), and Russia in the men's 400 medley relay (3:24.29).

Elaine Sortino became the 11th softball coach in NCAA history to reach 1,000 wins as Massachusetts swept a doubleheader against visiting Temple with 9-0 and 10-0 victories. Sarah Reeves set a school record with two home runs in a game in the 10-0 win. In the first game, Brandice Balschmiter set a school record for strikeouts in a five-inning game with 14 . . . Kansas State freshman Michael Beasley plans to announce today whether he will enter the NBA draft . . . Newbury College celebrated the baseball program's first victories in NCAA games, sweeping a doubleheader against St. Joseph's (N.Y.), 10-9 and 10-1, in Cambridge.

Eight Belles, winner of the Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn Park April 6 in her last start, is set for a workout tomorrow at Keeneland. If trainer Larry Jones believes the filly is on her game and training well, then owner Rick Porter plans to enter Eight Belles in the May 3 Kentucky Derby. However, Porter also said he will enter the filly in the May 2 Kentucky Oaks. Which race Eight Belles runs in will be determined after the Derby post-position draw April 30 . . . Jimmie Johnson gave Hendrick Motorsports its first win of the year Saturday night at Phoenix International Raceway. Johnson led 120 laps, but the win wasn't secure until crew chief Chad Knaus successfully gambled on going the last 80 laps without stopping for gas . . . Ryan Hall of Big Bear Lake, Calif., shaved more than two minutes from his personal-best time in the London Marathon, finishing fifth in 2 hours 6 minutes 17 seconds. Kenyan Martin Lel won with a course-record time of 2:05:15. Irina Mikitenko of Germany won the women's race in 2:24:14. Heading into next week's Boston Marathon, Lel leads the World Marathon Majors leaderboard by 25 points over Abderrahim Goumri, who finished third. Ethiopia's Gete Wami's third-place finish gave her a 25-point lead over Mikitenko atop the women's leaderboard . . . Kenyan William Kipsang set a course record, winning the Rotterdam Marathon in 2:05:49 . . . Jeff Cunningham's late goal gave Toronto FC a 3-2 victory over the host Los Angeles Galaxy . . . The Seattle Mariners scratched Erik Bedard as their starting pitcher before their game against the Angels because of inflammation in his left hip . . . Canadian skip Kevin Martin won his first title in the World Men's Curling Championship, scoring two points in the ninth end in a 6-3 win over Scotland in the final in Grand Forks, N.D. . . . World Boxing Association welterweight champ Miguel Cotto, who stopped Alfonso Gomez after five rounds Saturday in Atlantic City, will take on new International Boxing Federation champ Antonio Margarito in late July.