CYCLING

Farrar becomes first American to win leg of Tour de France on Fourth of July

Tyler Farrar became the first American to win a Tour de France stage on July 4, dominating a sprint finish in the third leg in Redon, France, on Monday as teammate Thor Hushovd kept the yellow jersey.

It was the first Tour stage victory for Farrar, one of the world’s best sprinters, and showcased the dominance of the Garmin-Cervelo team over the past two days at cycling’s greatest race.

The 123-mile flat route from Olonne-sur-Mer to Redon in western Brittany favored sprinters like Farrar, Mark Cavendish of Britain, Italy’s Alessandro Petacchi, Tom Boonen of Belgium and Hushovd.

As he crossed the finish, Farrar held up his hands to make out a “W” with his fingers to honor Wouter Weylandt, the Belgian who died in a crash during the Giro d’Italia in May.

SOCCER

MLS: Fabian Espindola scored the tying goal in the 83rd minute to give Real Salt Lake a 3-3 draw with the visiting New England Revolution. RSL defender Nat Borchers was shown a red card and ejected in the third minute after he took down Revolution midfielder Benny Feilhaber from behind in the box.

TENNIS

RANKINGS: Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic rose to No. 1 in the ATP rankings for the first time while Serena Williams dropped to 175th on the WTA list, her lowest spot since 1997.

Djokovic officially moved up from No. 2 one day after beating previously top-ranked Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 for his first title at the All England Club. It’s the first time in over seven years that a man other than Nadal or Roger Federer is ranked No. 1.

Federer first took the top place on Feb. 2, 2004, and he or Nadal had been No. 1 every week since then.

• Djokovic received an adoring welcome in Serbia after his championship at Wimbledon and on his first day as the world’s top-ranked tennis player.

Tens of thousands of fans chanted Djokovic’s nickname, “Nole, Nole,” as they gathered in front of the national assembly building in downtown Belgrade at a boisterous welcoming ceremony.

“You made this day the best day of my life,” Djokovic told the screaming crowd of mostly young people as he held a replica of the Wimbledon trophy that is given to the winners to keep.

BUDAPEST GRAND PRIX: Klara Zakopalova defeated Han Xinyun of China 6-0, 6-2 to advance to the second round in Budapest, Hungary.

The third-seeded Czech lost her serve just once, when leading 4-1 in the second set, but otherwise had little trouble with her opponent.

Fifth-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues cruised to a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Anastasia Pivovarova, while Irina-Camelia Begu rallied to beat Laura Pous-Tio 6-4, 6-4.

The only seeded player to lose was No. 8 Evgeniya Rodina, who was beaten 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 by Olga Savchuk.

SWEDISH OPEN: Vesna Dolonts upset third-seeded Lucie Safarova 6-3, 6-4 in the first round in Bastad, Sweden.

Last year’s winner, Aravane Rezai, also advanced to the second round at the clay-court WTA tournament by defeating player Akgul Amanuradova 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.

BASEBALL

NECBL: Trey Mancini was 3 for 4 with two home runs and six RBI to lead the Holyoke Blue Sox to a 9-3 win over the Old Orchard Beach Raging Tide at Holyoke, Mass. Riley Palmer was 3 for 4 with a triple and two RBI for Old Orchard Beach (3-15).

• Conrad Gregor was 3 for 4 with two home runs, three runs scored and four RBI to help the Newport Gulls defeat the Sanford Mainers, 9-2, at Newport, R.I. Mike Montville had a two-run homer for Sanford (8-9).

— From staff and news services