Sports: Sports briefs

Sports briefs

Compiled from Times wires

Kuerten advances at Monte Carlo

Gustavo Kuerten escaped a wave of upsets Wednesday at the Masters Series Monte Carlo.

The second seed beat Fernando Vicente 6-2, 6-2 and is the only seeded player left among the top seven entering the third round.

Eliminated from the $2.95-million tennis tournament were No. 3 Magnus Norman, No. 7 Juan Carlos Ferrero, No. 11 Thomas Enqvist, No. 12 Franco Squillari and No. 16 Carlos Moya.

Former Monte Carlo champion Marcelo Rios also exited, withdrawing because of a thigh injury.

Norman's big-hitting game unraveled as he was beaten 6-2, 6-4 by Hicham Arazi. Arazi sped around the court, easily returning Norman's first serves and powerful forehands.

MORE TENNIS: Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario's record 15th singles appearance at the Family Circle was one of her shortest as she lost to Elena Likhovtseva 6-3, 6-4 in the first round at Charleston, S.C. Australian Open champion Jennifer Capriati and Amelie Mauresmo, who has won her past three events, each opened with victories. The second-seeded Capriati, playing for the first time since losing the Ericsson Open final to Venus Williams on March 31, won eight games in a row to defeat Rossana de los Rios 6-4, 6-3. Mauresmo, seeded seventh, ran her match streak to 15 in a row by beating Marissa Irvin 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. Other seeded players who won included No. 4 Amanda Coetzer, No. 6 Mary Pierce, No. 9 Paola Suarez, No. 11 Lisa Raymond and No. 15 Henrieta Nagyova. Qualifier Emilie Loit upset third-seeded Tathiana Garbin 6-4, 6-3 to reach the third round of the $110,000 Budapest Open. In other second-round action at the clay-court event, No. 2 seed Anne Kremer needed nearly three hours to beat unseeded Sarah Pitkowski 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-4, Francesca Schiavone defeated Miriam Oremans 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, and Cristina Torrens-Valero eliminated Miroslava Vavrinec 6-3, 6-0. Timothy Neilly of Wesley Chapel won the Boys' 14 title at the Easter Bowl junior championships at Palm Springs, Calif., by beating Alex Kuznetsov of Richboro, Pa., 6-4, 6-4.

SOCCER: The sport's governing body is considering punishing clubs, leagues or national associations that fail to meet international safety standards. The discussion by FIFA's emergency committee came a week after 43 people died in a stampede at South Africa's Ellis Park Stadium. "In this case we are almost sure that the basic FIFA recommendations had not been observed," FIFA general-secretary Michel Zen-Ruffinen said. "The match was apparently allowed to start even though the situation inside and outside the stadium was not under control. There was inadequate cooperation between stadium organizers and civil security forces. And the presence of metal fences inside the ground once again proved to be a deathtrap." ... Chris Brown and Mo Johnston scored three minutes apart as host Kansas City beat Miami 2-1 in MLS. Pele will miss an NASL reunion to be held before Saturday's MLS game between New York/New Jersey and Mutiny. Pele canceled his appearance because of personal reasons.... Plans to stage the semifinals and finals of the Copa Caribe in Miami have been scrapped because of logistical problems, said Rick Lawes, a spokesman for CONCACAF. The problem of obtaining visas and moving four teams from Trinidad, where the quarterfinals will be held, to Miami in less than four days was the reason the plan was abandoned, Lawes said. Although one of the eight quarterfinal teams is Cuba, the switch was not in response to potential political demonstrations in Miami, Lawes said.

BOXING: Mike Tyson will fight David Izon on June 2 at the MCI Center in Washington. The 10-round bout was confirmed by Showtime, which will televise it live beginning at 10 p.m. Izon is ranked the No. 9 heavyweight contender by the WBA.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: South Carolina dismissed linebacker Pat Fleming from the team for breaking unspecified team rules, coach Lou Holtz said. ... All-America receiver Antonio Bryant was reinstated to Pitt's team after being suspended for the second time in a month and missing the Panthers' spring scrimmage for fighting with two teammates and arguing with assistant coach David Blackwell.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Mick Cronin, the top assistant to Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins, resigned to take a similar position with Rick Pitino at Louisville. ... Rob Lanier, an assistant at Texas the past two seasons, was hired to replace Louis Orr at Siena. ... UTEP point guard Eugene Costello was suspended indefinitely from the team after being charged in El Paso, Texas, with marijuana possession.

COLLEGE BASEBALL: FSU's Robby Read retired the first 17 hitters he faced and allowed one hit in eight innings in an 8-1 win against host JacksonvilleFrank Corr hit a two-run home run and Vinnie Rinaldi doubled and had two RBI to lead host Stetson to a 9-8 victory against Florida.

COLLEGES: Florida sophomore Sarah Close, from Dunedin High, finished 22nd on the platform at her first Indoor Diving Championships in Midland, Texas. The 1-meter springboard competition is today and 3-meter springboard is Friday. The U.S. national diving team will be determined in the six-day competition. The top six in the 3-meter and platform, along with the top four 1-meter divers and top synchronized teams in each event will make the team. ... Florida State beat host Florida 5-3 and 3-1 for a sweep of a softball doubleheader and the season series. ... South Florida scored two unearned runs in the seventh for a 2-1 softball victory and a doubleheader split with host Stetson. The Bulls lost the opener 1-0. ... Tampa swept Florida Tech in softball 5-0 and 6-0 to tie the school record for victories in a season at 28. The Spartans host Florida Southern on Saturday. ... Florida beat Vanderbilt 4-0 in women's tennis in Starkville, Miss., to clinch the regular-season title in the SEC. ... Medalist Steve Sokol (218) led Florida Southern (874) to the team championship at the Sunshine State Conference golf tournament. Sokol parred the first hole of a playoff with Rollins' Rob Oppenheim for the individual title. Tampa (928) was fifth, Eckerd (930) was sixth and host Saint Leo (1,084) was seventh. ... Sophomore Jordan Code of Tampa was one of five Florida golfers named to the SEC's academic honor roll.

OLYMPICS: Five athletes on U.S. national teams and two from other nations tested positive for banned drugs during the first quarter of 2001, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency reported. Tests were conducted at U.S. competitions and at random during training. The agency said it did 1,112 tests on athletes in 30 sports. Four of the tests on U.S. athletes found traces of prohibited stimulants and the fifth found a steroid. Their names and sports were not disclosed. Anti-Doping Agency review panels will decide on any sanctions. The detection of a banned substance might not be ruled a violation, the agency said.

HORSE RACING: Point Given, the likely Kentucky Derby favorite, arrived at Churchill Downs. The horse was placed in Stall 28 -- the same one used by former Bob Baffert-trained Derby champions Silver Charm (1997) and Real Quiet (1998). The towering chestnut colt will take a light morning gallop today.

WNBA: Lauren Jackson, top scorer and rebounder for Australia at the Sydney Olympics, signed with the league to become eligible for Friday's draft.

RUNNING: Former Olympic champion Dieter Baumann lost his appeal of a drug ban and will not be allowed to run in Sunday's Hamburg Marathon. Many leading runners had threatened to withdraw if Baumann was cleared. Track and field's ruling body can suspend any athlete competing against a banned runner. The court ruled the 1992 Olympic 5,000-meter champion was not eligible to run in Germany as long as he remains ineligible internationally.