Sports

In brief

Serena is out of French

By wire services
Published May 21, 2005

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PARIS - The French Open lost some of its luster Friday when former champion Serena Williams pulled out hours before the draw.

Williams, who sprained her left ankle in early April, said she still hasn't recovered enough to play the Grand Slam event, which starts Monday. Elena Dementieva replaced Williams as the No. 4 seed.

No. 1 Lindsay Davenport, who has never gotten past the semifinals at the French, starts against Slovenia's Katarina Srebotnik.

ISTANBUL CUP: Top seed Venus Williams beat Tszvetana Pironkova 6-1, 6-3 on a windy day to reach the final in Turkey. Williams faces No. 2 seed Nicole Vaidisova today for the title. Vaidisova beat No. 3 Anna Smashnova 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 in the clay-court tuneup for the French.

STRASBOURG INTERNATIONAL: Top seed Nathalie Dechy lost in the semifinals in her native France, beaten by Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-4, 6-1. Medina Garrigues faces Marta Domachowska for the clay-court title. Domachowska defeated Dally Randriantefy 6-3, 6-3.

WORLD TEAM CUP: Germany beat Spain 2-1 with a decisive victory in doubles in Duesseldorf to reach the final today against Argentina.

BTM POWER GRAND PRIX: Top seed Nikolay Davydenko reached the final in St. Poelten, Austria, by beating Jose Acasuso 6-4, 6-2. Davydenko faces Jurgen Melzer in today's final.

NHL: A bit of progress

The NHL and players' union made some progress and promised further negotiations after 22 hours of talks over two days. Negotiators for the players and the owners talked for eight hours and plan to get together again next week, though details haven't been worked out between commissioner Gary Bettman and players' association executive director Bob Goodenow. The sides were trying to agree on a way that a team-by-team upper salary cap could move each year depending on revenues.

STEROIDS: Another committee probe

A third congressional committee opened an investigation into steroids in U.S. sports, asking Major League Baseball, the NBA, NFL, NHL and their unions to turn over documents about their drug programs. The House Government Reform Committee and a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee are carrying out separate inquiries.

OLYMPICS: USOC warns lawmakers

U.S. Olympic Committee chairman Peter Ueberroth warned New York state's top lawmakers that New York City will lose its chance to land the 2012 Summer Games if a plan for a Manhattan stadium is not approved. The host city will be chosen July 6.

RESIGNATION: Kim Un Yong, a South Korean IOC vice president who had been one of the leading voices of the Olympic movement in Asia, resigned in the wake of his conviction last year on corruption charges.

SOCCER: Former USF star traded

Five-time MLS All-Star and former South Florida standout Mark Chung was traded from Colorado to San Jose, sending the midfielder to a club that has lost four starters in two weeks with injuries. Colorado received the right to acquire a major transfer from outside MLS.

ITALY: Juventus clinched its record 28th Italian League title when second-place AC Milan tied Palermo at 3. Juventus, based in Turin, holds a four-point lead over AC Milan, which has one game left.

BOXING: Last shot for Golota?

Andrew Golota, fighting in his adopted hometown of Chicago, faces champion Lamon Brewster for the WBO heavyweight title tonight at the United Center and Golta says if he doesn't win, he'll retire. Golota, 37, is 38-5-1 with 31 knockouts; the 31-year-old Brewster is 31-2 with 27 KOs. On the undercard, Paul Briggs faces Tomasz Adamek for the vacant light heavyweight championship and Alejandro Garcia meets Rhoshii Wells for the WBA 154-pound interim title.

ET CETERA

CYCLING: Italy's Alessandro Petacchi won the 12th stage of the Giro d'Italia in a mass sprint finish and countryman Ivan Basso kept the overall lead. All the favorites completed the 110-mile ride from Alleghe to Rovereto in 4 hours, 50 minutes. Basso was 33rd and held an 18-second overall lead over Italy's Paolo Savoldelli, who was 30th. Today's stage is a mountainous 135-mile route from Mezzocorona to Ortisei.

RUGBY: Canterbury beat Wellington 47-7 in the semifinals of the Super 12 event. The Crusaders of New Zealand host Australia's New South Wales Waratahs or South Africa's Bulls next week in the final of the Southern Hemisphere's top provincial tournament.

[Last modified May 21, 2005, 01:04:09]

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