BELGRADE, Serbia — The Davis Cup run for the United States is over in the first round.
Novak Djokovic withstood 24 aces and outlasted John Isner 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-4 on Sunday, giving Serbia a clinching 3-1 lead against an American team looking for its 33rd Davis Cup title. In the last rubber match, Sam Querrey beat Viktor Troicki 7-5, 6-2 to make the final score 3-2.
It’s the first time since 2005 the Americans were eliminated in the first round, while Serbia advanced for the first time in the World Group and next plays bitter Balkan rival Croatia in the quarterfinals.
Djokovic, ranked No. 2, needed 4 hours and 16 minutes to outlast the 20th-ranked Isner, who was making his Davis Cup debut. The U.S. team played without Andy Roddick and James Blake for the first time since 2000.
• Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia defeated Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova 1-6, 6-1, 6-0 for her first WTA title at the Monterrey Open in Mexico.
K-State’s Martin is rewarded
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas State basketball coach Frank Martin, 67-30 in three seasons, was awarded a new contract that will pay him an average salary of $1.55 million and run through the 2014-15 season.
Martin’s previous contract paid him $760,000 a year and ranked near the bottom of Big 12 Conference coaches. The raise will rank him fourth in the league, and tie him with Missouri coach Mike Anderson. Only Kansas’ Bill Self, Texas’ Rick Barnes and Oklahoma State’s Travis Ford make more.
NFL suspends Ferguson
MIAMI — Free agent Jason Ferguson, a veteran nose tackle most recently with the Miami Dolphins, has been suspended for the first eight games of next season for violating NFL policy on performance- enhancing substances.
• The Jacksonville Jaguars signed free agent Aaron Kampman, a two-time Pro Bowl defensive end in eight seasons with the Green Bay Packers.
• The Cleveland Browns signed linebacker Scott Fujita and offensive lineman Tony Pashos, both unrestricted free agents, to multiyear contracts.
Davis remains perfect at 1,000
ERFURT, Germany — Olympic gold medalist Shani Davis of the U.S. improved to 6-0 at 1,000 meters in the World Cup speedskating season.
• Japan’s Aiko Uemura won a freestyle World Cup moguls event in Inawashiro, Japan, to claim her first title of the season. American Shannon Bahrke, who took bronze in Vancouver, was third.
• Double Olympic champion Simon Ammann of Switzerland won his sixth World Cup ski jumping event of the season at the Lahti Ski Games in Finland.
Dutch cyclist wins prologue
MONTFORT L’AMAURY, France — Lars Boom of the Netherlands won the Paris-Nice prologue, and two-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador was fourth.
• Lance Armstrong finished seventh, 1 minute, 23 seconds behind winner Frantisek Rabon in the Vuelta de Murcia in Spain.
The Associated Press
