Musher Lance Mackey seeks his 4th consecutive Iditarod victory | Sled-dog racing

Iditarod

The 1,100-mile race is on in Alaska: The festivities are over and the serious competition has started in the 1,100-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Alaska.

Mushers for 71 dog teams took off Sunday from frozen Willow Lake to begin the race to the finish line in Nome.

Largely gone was the carnival atmosphere of Saturday's 11-mile ceremonial start in Anchorage, 49 miles from Willow.

"Get the heck out of Dodge, just like all the other mushers," Zack Steer said of his plan.

Lance Mackey of Fairbanks, Alaska, is seeking his fourth consecutive victory. He is among five past Iditarod winners in this year's event.

Tennis

Djokovic clinches victory for host Serbia: The Davis Cup run for the United States didn't get past the first round.

Novak Djokovic of host Serbia withstood 24 aces and outlasted John Isner 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 6-4 in Belgrade, giving Serbia a clinching 3-1 lead against an American team seeking its 33rd Davis Cup title. American Sam Querrey beat Viktor Troicki 7-5, 6-2 to close out the day and make the final score 3-2.

It was the first time since 2005 the Americans were eliminated in the first round.

Meanwhile, Serbia advanced for the first time in the World Group and next plays Croatia.

Djokovic, ranked No. 2 in the world, needed 4 hours, 16 minutes to defeat the 20th-ranked Isner. The U.S. team competed without both Andy Roddick and James Blake for the first time since 2000.

"Isner fought like crazy, and his serve was unbelievable," Djokovic said of the 6-foot-9 American. "His serves are coming like from the fourth floor, and I had no idea where they would go."

Spain, the two-time defending champion, beat Switzerland 4-1 to advance.

Pavlyuchenkova wins her first title: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia defeated Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 1-6, 6-1, 6-0 for her first WTA Tour title at the Monterrey Open in Mexico.

The 28-year-old Pavlyuchenkova played her second match of the day after earlier beating Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 in a semifinal that was rained out Saturday. Hantuchova was seeking her fourth WTA Tour title.

Soccer

Donovan scores for Everton: American Landon Donovan scored one goal and set up another in Everton's 5-1 English Premier League victory over Hull.

Donovan said he would be happy to extend his loan spell from the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer a little longer.

Donovan is to play one more game in England before he returns to the United States for the start of the MLS season but said he would be happy to stay with Everton.

"There is a chance," Donovan said of a longer stay. "We will know more this week. If that was it, then I'm happy. Maybe we can stay a little longer, we'll see. The fans, the people here are fantastic, the players are fantastic. I've enjoyed it."

FA Cup quarterfinals: In English FA Cup quarterfinal action, defending champion Chelsea beat Stoke 2-0 on goals by Frank Lampard and John Terry, and Aston Villa rallied to win 4-2 at second-tier Reading, which knocked out Liverpool in the third round.

John Carew scored three second-half goals for Aston Villa.

In the semifinals next month at Wembley Stadium in London, Chelsea and Aston Villa will meet and Portsmouth will face either Fulham or Tottenham in the other match.

Fulham and Tottenham must replay Saturday's scoreless draw.

Speedskating

Davis dominates: Olympic gold medalist Shani Davis of Chicago improved to 6-0 at 1,000 meters during the World Cup season, winning a race in Erfurt, Germany, in 1 minute, 9.25 seconds.

Stefan Groothuis of Netherlands was second.

Davis' victory came a day after he clinched his third consecutive overall World Cup title.

Skiing

Gisin edges Vonn: Dominique Gisin of Switzerland won her first World Cup super-giant-slalom race, beating Lindsey Vonn of Vail, Colo., by 0.15 seconds in Crans-Montana, Switzerland.

Gisin's time was 1 minute, 24.14 seconds. Julia Mancuso of Olympic Valley, Calif., was third.

Canadian Guay triumphs: Erik Guay of Canada won a men's World Cup Super-G in Kvitfjell, Norway, in 1:31.95. Hannes Reichelt of Austria was second in 1:31.97.

Scott Macartney of Kirkland was 41st.

Swimming

Phelps surpasses his record: Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps has surpassed his U.S. short-course record in the 200-yard butterfly at the Maryland Swim Championships in Annapolis.

Phelps triumphed in 1:39.65. His previous mark of 1:39.70 was set March 3, 2006.

Cycling

Armstrong seeks improvement: Texan Lance Armstrong, a seven-time Tour de France winner, is likely to add an extra race to his preparations for the Tour — which is in July — after a seventh-place finish in the five-day Vuelta de Murcia in Spain. He was 1 minute, 23 seconds behind winner Frantisek Rabon of Team HTC-Columbia.

Team RadioShack rider Armstrong said improvement was needed. "Worried would be too strong of a word," he said. "I'm aware of (my performance), but not too stressed."

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