By PETE YOUNG, Times wires
Published October 11, 2003
FILDERSTADT, Germany - Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne moved closer to a showdown for No. 1 with straight-set quarterfinal victories Friday at the Porsche Grand Prix.
Top-ranked Clijsters beat Amelie Mauresmo 6-4, 6-3, and No. 2 Henin-Hardenne defeated Elena Dementieva 7-5, 6-0.
Henin-Hardenne faces Elena Bovina, who upset third-seeded Lindsay Davenport 6-3, 6-2. Clijsters plays Mary Pierce, who lives in Sarasota and was a 7-5, 7-6 (8-6) winner over Magdalena Maleeva.
Clijsters, the defending champion, could be replaced atop the WTA Tour rankings by Henin-Hardenne. If Henin-Hardenne reaches the final and Clijsters does not, they will swap spots. If they meet in the championship match, the winner will be No. 1.
"It's a goal for me for sure. I always did everything all the time to be No. 1," Henin-Hardenne said. "But we will see on the court."
Henin-Hardenne, the French Open and U.S. Open champ, is 23-1 since losing to Serena Williams in the Wimbledon semifinals.
LYON OPEN: Top-seeded Rainer Schuettler beat Xavier Malisse 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 in France to reach the semifinals and clinch a berth at the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup. Schuettler, runner-up to Andre Agassi at the Australian Open, has won eight straight matches.
OBITUARY: Walter Elcock, a former USTA president who equalized prize money for men and women at the 1973 U.S. Open, died in Brookline, Mass. He was 81. He was the only American to serve as ITF president in the Open era.
COLLEGES: USF women fare well
The South Florida women's tennis team advanced three to the second round of the Gator Fall Classic in Gainesville. Marie Andrade, a transfer from Alabama, defeated Central Florida's Annabel Stefanchuk 6-0, 6-3, and Gabriela Duch and Luisa Obando advanced in three-set matches. Florida's Boglarka Berecz and Nina Suvak advanced in singles and doubles. But at the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships in Pacific Palisades, Calif., all four Gators were eliminated, including Bradenton's Jennifer Magley.
VOLLEYBALL: USF fell 3-0 to visiting Southern Miss for its firstC-USA loss. The Bulls (8-11, 2-1) were outhit by the Golden Eagles 55 kills to 42. Junior Shameka Mitchell of Lakeland led the Bulls with 14 kills. ... Tampa topped host Lynn 3-0, keeping the Knights winless (0-6) in the Sunshine State Conference. ... Rollins defeated visiting Saint Leo 3-0. Hudson's Alison Baker led the Lions with 10 kills.
WOMEN'S GOLF: Host USF opened with 293 to lead the Beacon Woods Invitational by three over Central Florida. USF's Jill Crowe and UCF's Megan Bursey shot 69 to tie for first.
OLYMPICS: Extradition ordered for IOC official's son
John Kim, son of IOC vice president Kim Un-yong, was ordered extradited from Bulgaria to the United States on charges related to the Salt Lake City bid scandal. His lawyers plan to appeal, making it unclear when Kim might be returned. The South Korean was one of three minor players indicted in the bribery scandal surrounding Salt Lake City's winning bid for the 2002 Winter Games.
The main case, against Salt Lake bid chief Tom Welch and deputy Dave Johnson, goes to trial in federal court Oct. 28. Kim faces his proceedings for taking a "sham" job allegedly arranged by Welch, who has denied doing anything improper helping Kim find employment. Kim was indicted for fraudulently obtaining a U.S. green card and lying to the FBI.
DRUG TESTS: Twenty-five percent more drug tests will be done at the Athens Games. At Sydney in 2000, more than 3,000 tests were conducted, the most in Olympic history. All endurance athletes will be tested for the first time for the endurance-boosting hormone EPO. The first EPO test was introduced during the Sydney Games, though there were questions about its effectiveness.
BOXING: Basheer Abdullah, a coach at Army since 1993, will head the U.S. team in Athens. Abdullah was an assistant for the U.S. team at this year's Pan American Games in the Dominican Republic.
ET CETERA
BOXING: Silvio Branco stopped Mehdi Sahnoune in the 11th round in Marseille, France, and took his WBA light heavyweight title. The 37-year-old Italian won his first world title. ... WBC super-middleweight champion Markus Beyer will defend his title against ex-champ Eric Lucas on Nov. 22 in Riesa, Germany. Lucas lost the title to Beyer in a disputed decision April 5 in Leipzig. Beyer defended it in August against Danny Green, who demanded a rematch. The WBC ruled Thursday that Beyer must give Lucas a rematch first, with the winner to defend the title against Green.
CYCLING: Holland's Loes Markerink and Uzbekistan's Sergey Lagutin won road races at the World Championships in Hamilton, Ontario. Markerink won the junior women's race in 2 hours, 5 minutes, 39 seconds. Lagutin won the men's under-23 race in 4:14:05.
SOCCER: Defender Evan Whitfield of Chicago was suspended three games for elbowing Los Angeles' Paul Broome in the face, which resulted in a cut that needed stitches. Whitfield was suspended two games by MLS and another for an accumulation of caution points. He was fined $1,000 and will be eligible to return for the postseason. Chicago leads the East and has clinched a playoff spot.
