By PETE YOUNG, Times wires
Published February 26, 2004
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Venus Williams' return from injury was a success. Jennifer Capriati's was not.
Williams beat Alicia Molik 6-3, 6-4 Wednesday to reach the Dubai Open quarterfinals, while Capriati lost to Eleni Daniilidou 6-4, 7-6 (7-2).
Williams was playing her first competitive match in three weeks after a right leg injury.
"It was one of my most exciting wins ... because of all the hurdles I've been through," said Williams, a four-time major champion. "My leg is a lot better. It's not 100 percent, but I was able to do much more than before."
Saddlebrook's Capriati, who was out with a bad back, saved three match points at 5-3 in the second set before losing her first match of the year.
"I was a little rusty, movement-wise," the third-seeded Capriati said. "I was fairly fatigued at the end. A third set would have been too much for me."
OPEN 13: French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero was upset by Gregory Carraz 7-6 (7-2), 6-7 (3-7), 6-3 in Marseille, France. Carraz had 27 aces and four double faults, saving five of the six break points he faced.
DAVIS CUP: The United States plays Sweden on hardcourts at Delray Beach for the April 9-11 quarterfinals. The matches will be at the Delray Beach Stadium and Tennis Center.
BASEBALL: Four players disciplined
Brian Ward of the United States was banned three months and issued a warning after testing positive for banned drugs during recent World Cup and Americas Olympic qualifying tournaments. Colombia's Rafael A. Barrios and Panama's Roger Deago were banned until Dec. 4, 2005. France's Samuel Meurant was warned and his provisional suspension lifted. The federation did not identify the drugs for which the players tested positive.
BOXING: N.Y. officials nix bout
The proposed bout between Paul Spadafora and Floyd Mayweather Jr. was rejected by New York authorities. The unbeaten champions were to fight May 8 at Madison Square Garden. New York State Athletic Commission chairman Ron Scott Stevens said his group decided "the event as constituted" should not go forward. Spadafora awaits trial stemming from the Oct. 26 shooting of his girlfriend in suburban Pittsburgh. The fight was proposed as an elimination bout leading to a junior welterweight title bout against champion Arturo Gatti.
OLYMPIC HOPES: Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Common Pleas Judge Burt W. Griffin granted a restraining order for 19-year-old welterweight Juan McPherson, which could lead to him getting back into this week's Olympic team box-offs. McPherson is trying to be reinstated after he was given a medical disqualification when he was injured during a fight last week in Tunica, Miss., against Winter Haven's Andre Berto. Griffin ruled USA Boxing, which sanctions the U.S. Olympic team, must postpone fights in McPherson's class until an arbitrator rules on the medical disqualification.
ET CETERA
BASKETBALL: Lisa Leslie of the WNBA's Los Angeles scored 19 to lead the United States 73-37 over the Cuban national team in Havana in a tuneup for the Athens Olympics.
COLLEGES: South Florida's five-year gender equity plan allows for the addition of a women's sport should it be required to remain in compliance with Title IX. The Bulls join the Big East in 2005, and the conference competes in four women's sports USF does not offer: field hockey, swimming and diving, lacrosse and rowing. ... The USF softball team (15-2) jumped to No. 22 in the NFCA poll after going 5-0 last weekend. The Bulls face No. 2 Arizona and No. 7 Stanford on Saturday at Arizona. USF opens the tournament Friday against Oklahoma State and Boston.
SOCCER: Shannon Boxx had three goals, and the United States beat Trinidad and Tobago 7-0 to open regional Olympic qualifying in San Jose, Costa Rica. The United States faces Haiti on Friday.
