Sports briefs: Czech Republic beats Spain for Davis Cup championship

tennis • The Czech Republic won the Davis Cup for the first time as an independent nation Sunday in Prague, beating Spain 3-2 in the final after Radek Stepanek upset Nicolas Almagro in the last reverse singles.

The 37th-ranked Stepanek beat his 11th-ranked opponent 6-4, 7-6 (0), 3-6, 6-3, converting his second match point to send the 14,500 fans at the O2 Arena into wild celebration as they blew trumpets and beat their drums.

Earlier Sunday, David Ferrer kept alive Spain's hopes of winning a fourth Davis Cup title in five years by beating Tomas Berdych 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 in the first reverse singles match to tie the final at 2-2.

Hamilton winsU.S. Grand Prix

auto racing • Lewis Hamilton made a bold pass on Sebastian Vettel at the end of a long straightway, and the McLaren driver went on to win the U.S. Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, in the first Formula One race on American soil since 2007. The drivers' championship will be settled next week in Sao Paolo, Brazil, after Red Bull's Vettel finished second and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso third.

Vettel, seeking his third straight title, still leads the drivers' championship race by 13 points over Alonso.

Choi ends LPGA season with victory

golf • U.S. Women's Open champion Na Yeon Choi won the Titleholders in Naples, Fla., making a highly lucrative season even better. Locked in a battle with So Yeon Ryu along the back nine, Choi pulled away with a wedge that had to hit a tiny spot on an elevated green with three tiers. It came off perfectly, and spun to 3 feet for birdie. She closed with two pars for a 2-under 70 and a two-shot victory.

The 25-year-old from South Korea won for the second time this year, and she captured the two biggest paychecks on the LPGA Tour. She won $500,000 at the Titleholders, pushing her season earnings to a career-best $1.9 million.

From wire reports