Tennis

Italy tops U.S. in Fed Cup — Karin Knapp won her second match of the weekend and gave Italy a 3-1 win over the United States in their Fed Cup first-round match on Sunday in Cleveland. Knapp defeated American Alison Riske 6-3, 7-5 to give Italy the victory in the best-of-five series. She held a 5-2 lead in the second set, only to let Riske tie it at five. But Knapp regained the momentum and closed out the match. Knapp also defeated Christina McHale on Saturday, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Camila Giorgi defeated Madison Keys 6-2, 6-1 in Saturday’s second match.

Cilic defeats Haas to win Zagreb Indoors — Marin Cilic from Croatia overcame problems with his serve to win the Zagreb Indoors tournament on Sunday in Croatia, defeating top-seeded Tommy Haas from Germany 6-3, 6-4. Fifth-seeded Cilic gained his fourth title in Zagreb and became the third Croat to win at least 10 career titles. Cilic also lifted his career record in Zagreb to 22-4, winning 20 of his past 21 matches at the event. Cilic — champion here in 2009, ’10 and last year — struggled with his first serve in the opening set but played some great returns with a solid baseline performance.

Monfils beats Gasquet in Open Sud de France final — Gael Monfils beat top-seeded Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday in the final of the Open Sud de France in Montepellier to claim his fifth career title. In an all-French match against the defending champion, Monfils did not face any break points — hitting 34 winners to 17 for Gasquet, and serving nine aces to zero for his opponent. Monfils broke for a 4-3 lead when Gasquet’s forehand sailed wide and the 30th-ranked Frenchman fired an ace to take the opening set.

Fognini takes Royal Guard Open — Italian Fabio Fognini, the No. 1 seed, took a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer to claim the Royal Guard Open championship in Vina del Mar, Chile, on Sunday.

Basketball

Stewart leads UConn to 81-64 win over Louisville — Breanna Stewart had 24 points and 10 rebounds to lead top-ranked UConn to an 81-64 victory over No. 4 Louisville on Sunday in Storrs, Conn., in a rematch of last season’s national championship game. Just as in the matchup last April, which UConn won by 33 points, Stewart and the Huskies were too much for Louisville. The win was UConn’s 31st straight dating back to last season’s title run. That’s the fifth-longest winning streak in school history. The Huskies (25-0, 12-0 American Athletic Conference) led by 11 at the half and when Louisville (23-2, 11-1) got within 47-40, Stewart answered with five straight points to ignite a 16-5 run that put the game away.

Oregon staff spit on at ASU game — Oregon coach Dana Altman is concerned about safety at Arizona State’s Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe, Ariz., after two of his staffers claim an ASU student spit at them at halftime of Saturday’s night’s game. Oregon assistant coach Brian Fish said the student spit at him and trainer Clay Jamieson and reported the incident to arena security, but did not want charges pressed. The incident was addressed and the student had his season tickets revoked, according to an Arizona State official. Altman said after the Ducks’ 74-72 loss it was not a good situation having visiting teams go past the student section on their way off the court at Wells Fargo Arena. Ducks guard Jason Calliste had a verbal confrontation with at least one student late in the first half.

Motor sports

Force wins season-opening Winternationals — John Force won the season-opening NHRA Winternationals with a record-setting run. The 64-year-old Force beat Matt Hagan in the Funny Car final Sunday at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, Calif., powering his Ford Mustang to a record time of 3.965 seconds at 323.58 mph. Force raced past Paul Lee, Tommy Johnson Jr. and Bob Tasca in the earlier rounds, won from the No. 1 qualifying position and also set the Funny Car speed record at 324.12 mph.

Football

NFL prospect comes out as gay — Coaches at the University of Missouri divided players into small groups at a preseason football practice last year for a team-building exercise. One by one, players were asked to talk about themselves. As Michael Sam, a defensive lineman, began to speak, he balled up a piece of paper in his hands. “I’m gay,” he said. With that, Sam set himself on a path to become the first publicly gay player in the National Football League. “I looked in their eyes, and they just started shaking their heads — like, finally, he came out,” Sam said Sunday in an interview with The New York Times, the first time he spoke publicly about his sexual orientation. Sam, a 6-foot-2, 260-pound senior, went on to a stellar season for Missouri, which finished 12-2 and won the Cotton Bowl. He was named a first-team All-American. He was the defensive player of the year in the Southeastern Conference. Teammates voted him Missouri’s most valuable player. Sam, 24, is projected to be chosen in the early rounds of the NFL draft in May, ordinarily an invitation to a prosperous professional career. He said he decided to come out publicly now because he sensed that rumors were circulating.

— From wire reports