In brief

Ill Hewitt falls to qualifier in opener

KEY BISCAYNE -- Top-ranked Lleyton Hewitt, left vulnerable by an upset stomach and wobbly groundstrokes, lost his opening match at the Nasdaq-100 Open to a 34-year-old qualifier who plans to retire at the end of the year.

Francisco Clavet came into the tournament winless this year and as the oldest player, but came up with a 6-4, 6-4 victory Friday night.

Earlier, sixth-seeded Andy Roddick survived his opening match against a qualifier to lead a parade of American men into the third round. Roddick defeated Cyril Saulnier 6-7 (1-7), 7-6 (7-2), 6-4; Mardy Fish of Tampa upset 11th-seeded Sebastien Grosjean 6-4, 7-6 (7-3); James Blake of Tampa beat Fernando Meligeni 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, and 32-year-old Todd Martin eliminated Andrei Pavel, who retired with a back injury trailing 6-7 (2-7), 6-4, 2-0.

Two women seeded in the top 10 were eliminated: No. 5 Daniela Hantuchova failed to convert two match points, faded in the 90-degree heat and lost to Alicia Molik 2-6, 7-5, 6-0 and No. 10 Monica Seles withdrew before her first match, saying she hasn't fully recovered from a stress fracture in her left foot.

COLLEGES: UF swimmers in 5th

FOOTBALL: Tailback-turned-receiver Willie Reid continued to impress FSU coaches a day before the first scrimmage and has been tabbed as a starter.

WRESTLING: Oklahoma State closed in on its 31st NCAA title by putting two wrestlers in today's finals at Kansas City, Mo. Two-time defending champion Minnesota, which has three finalists, trailed the Cowboys by 181/2 points. Lehigh was third, 211/2 points behind the Gophers.

HOCKEY: Harvard beat Minnesota 6-1 and Minnesota Duluth ousted Dartmouth 5-2 in the women's Frozen Four semifinals at Duluth. They meet Sunday. Minnesota Duluth has the only two titles in women's hockey history.

WINTER SPORTS: Mancuso wins again

SKI JUMPING: World record-holder Matti Hautamaeki led Finland to victory in the final World Cup team competition at Planica, Slovenia.

ET CETERA:

SAILING: St. Petersburg's Ethan Bixby and Hans Birkholz led the 505 Midwinters after the first day of racing. In Flying Dutchman, St. Petersburg's Chris Russick and Stan Hyatt were second.

HIGH SCHOOLS: Likely No. 1 NBA draft choice LeBron James had 19 points, nine rebounds and six assists as Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary reached the Ohio boys basketball final with a 71-46 victory over Canton South.

SOCCER: The U.S. women's team beat China 2-0 to win the 12-nation Algarve Cup at Loule, Portugal. Sharon MacMillan and Mia Hamm scored during a four-minute span in the second half. ... Japan canceled its U.S. tour because of the war in Iraq, and the Americans instead will play Venezuela on March 29 at Seattle.

GOLF: The fifth annual world ice championship, scheduled next weekend on a Greenland fjord 367 miles north of the Arctic Circle, was canceled because unusually warm weather has left the ice too thin.

OBITUARY: Former Georgia fullback Alphonso Ellis, who blocked for star runners Tim Worley, Rodney Hampton and Garrison Hearst, died Friday in Dallas after a lengthy fight with colon cancer. He was 35.

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