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By ANTONYA ENGLISH, Times wires
© St. Petersburg Times, published November 16, 2000
Emotional Seles reaches quarterfinal
Playing on emotion in her final tournament at New York's Madison Square Garden, Monica Seles overpowered Sandrine Testud 6-3, 6-4 Wednesday at the season-ending Chase Championships.
The victory put the third-seeded Seles into the quarterfinals of the tournament she has won three times, but not since 1992. She faces Amanda Coetzer.
"I have so many thrills in my life on this court," said Seles, who will not follow the Championships to Munich, Germany, next year. "I was playing on emotion."
Seles has refused to play in Germany since she was stabbed during a match in 1993 and her assailant was never jailed.
Earlier, No. 6 Nathalie Tauziat defeated Amy Frazier 6-3, 6-2.
In a late match, defending champ Lindsay Davenport, seeded second behind Martina Hingis, took on Elena Dementieva.
MORE TENNIS: Marat Safin, the U.S. Open champion trying to hold on to the top spot in the world rankings, beat George Bastl 7-5, 6-4 in the second round of the Paris Masters. Safin, 21, faces Sebastian Grosjean today. Patrick Rafter also reached the third round of the $2.95-million event, beating Julien Boutter 6-3, 6-2. He meets top-seeded Gustavo Kuerten. Seventh-seeded Thomas Enqvist was beaten, giving Lleyton Hewitt one of the two remaining berths for the eight-man Masters Cup in Portugal. ... Silvia Farina-Elia, who defeated top-seeded Silvija Talaja in the first round of the Volvo Open, advanced to the third round with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Marlene Weingartner in Pattaya, Thailand. ... Bothered by the attention focused on her father's temper, Australia's Jelena Dokic is seeking a Yugoslav passport. The family left their native Yugoslavia six years ago.
SAILING: Toronto's Oskar Johansson continued to lead the Sunfish World Championships on Sarasota Bay after six races, but reigning North American champion Jeff Linton of Tampa moved into second with two races remaining. Johansson won two of three races and held a 19.6-point lead.
BASEBALL: The University of South Florida signed nine players to national letters of intent in the just-completed fall signing period. Tampa-area recruits include catcher Brian Baisley and shortstop Jeff Baisley (Land O'Lakes High School), shortstop/second baseman Bryan Hierlmeier (Plant), left-handed pitcher Bubba Ingram (All-Saints Academy, Winter Haven), right-hander Matt McHargue (Wharton) and right-hander Jason Weintraub (Jefferson). First baseman Ronnie Hadley (South Florida Community College, Sebring), outfielder Devin Ivany (Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons) and catcher Craig Carpenter (Nashua, N.H.) complete the class.
SOFTBALL: The University of Florida announced five signees, including East Bay's Mandy Schuerman.
FISHING: Two thousand adult largemouth bass will be released into Lakeland's Lake Hollingsworth today by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to help restore fish stocks. They are up to 14 inches in length.
SKIING: Picabo Street's return to World Cup events will be delayed at least two weeks because of knee surgery. The reigning women's Olympic super-G champion had arthroscopic surgery to repair torn cartilage. ... Wayne Hilterbrand has resigned as the U.S. Freestyle Team's aerials coach.
BOWLING: Danny Wiseman won his eighth PBA Tour title, beating Chris Barnes 252-232 in the championship game of the Columbia 300 Open in Austin, Texas.
WRESTLING: The World Championships will be held in New York for the first time Sept. 25-29.
BOXING: The heavyweight title bout between Lennox Lewis and David Tua on Saturday night generated 420,000 buys, the biggest for a heavyweight fight this year but down 50 to 67 percent from the Lewis-Evander Holyfield bouts.
SWIMMING: Kieren Perkins, 27 and a two-time Olympic 1,500-meter freestyle champ, retired.