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Sports briefs

Compiled from Times wires
© St. Petersburg Times
published September 10, 2002

V.Williams eschews tourney, faces fine

Saying she needed to rest, Venus Williams, who lost to sister Serena in Saturday's U.S. Open final, pulled out of the Brazil Open, which started Monday at Costa Do Sauipe. The WTA said Williams would be fined an undisclosed amount because she had committed to play.

Juan Ignacio Chela, the tournament's top-ranked men's player, also withdrew because of a back injury.

No. 5 seed Iva Majoli beat Carla Tiene 6-2, 6-1 in the first round. In men's play, American Brian Vahaly beat Ricardo Mello 6-1, 6-4.

MORE TENNIS: CBS drew its best preliminary ratings for the U.S. Open men's final in 12 years. Sunday's match between Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi drew a 7.9 rating (percentage of all TVs), up from 5.5 for the 2001 final between Sampras and Lleyton Hewitt. ... Davide Sanguinetti beat Magnus Norman 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) at the ATP President's Cup in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. ... Michael Stich was fired as Germany's Davis Cup captain.

GOLF: European Ryder Cup player Colin Montgomerie will play in this week's German Masters after missing two weeks with a back ailment. ... Ken Moody and Cliff Brown shot 70 to lead 10 qualifiers for the Florida State Mid-Amateur Championship in St. Augustine. The championship is Oct. 3-6 in Ocala. ... The PGA Tour of Australasia canceled this year's Tour Championship because it couldn't find a major sponsor for the event.

NHL: Tom Hicks said he wants to sell the Stars to concentrate on his ownership of baseball's Texas Rangers. ... The Avalanche re-signed center Alex Tanguay to a one-year contract. ... The Flames re-signed left wing Craig Berube and signed defenseman Jan Vodrazka. ... Free-agent Jamie Langenbrunner agreed to a multiyear deal with the Devils. ... Left wing Mike York re-signed to the Oilers for three years. ... Gary Suter, a four-time All-Star defenseman who played for the Sharks last season, will retire today.

COLLEGES: A federal appeals court upheld a lower court's 2001 ruling that dismissed a lawsuit against Miami of Ohio for eliminating three men's sports. Male athletes from the programs cut -- soccer, tennis and wrestling -- sued the university. ... Florida will host the 2003 NCAA women's tennis championships. The event will be May 15-24. Notre Dame was slated to host but backed out.

CYCLING: Mario Cipollini won the third leg of the Tour of Spain in Murcia and second-place Joseba Beloki retained the overall lead.

SKATING: The International Skating Union conducted "highly successful" tests of new judging and scoring systems designed to eliminate manipulation of results. The ISU said trials were carried out last week at the Nebelhorn Trophy event in Oberstdorf, Germany. The systems did not determine results of the competition.

HORSES: Siberland, the 13-10 favorite, won the I'm Smokin Stakes at Del Mar, Calif., by 61/2 lengths over Martinblestme. ... Rock of Gibraltar, which won a record seven straight Group 1 races in Europe, will enter the Breeders' Cup Mile, Oct. 26 at Arlington Park.

SOCCER: MLS won an arbitration case against three players who claimed they were improperly released. Arbitrator Richard Bloch ruled against Ian Bishop, Danny Pena and Johnny Torres, who weren't selected in January's dispersal draft after the Tampa Bay Mutiny and Miami Fusion folded. ... The Daily Telegraph reported former England midfielder Paul Gascoigne accepted an offer to play for Auckland Kingz, a New Zealand team in Australia's Premier League.

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