Hewitt Keeps Bid for No. 1 Alive With Stuttgart Win

U.S. Open champion Lleyton Hewitt of Australia kept alive his bid to become No. 1 in the world and stretched his winning streak to 16 matches by beating Argentina’s Guillermo Canas at the Stuttgart Masters Series on Thursday in Germany.

Hewitt rallied for a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory to reach the quarterfinals. He needs to win the event to become the top-ranked player for the first time.

Qualifier Max Mirnyi of Belarus withstood two match points and 31 aces from Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia for his second victory this week over a Grand Slam champion.

In a battle of big servers, Mirnyi’s ace capped a thrilling 4-5, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (8) upset that put him in the quarterfinals.

Ninth-seeded Pete Sampras rallied to beat Marcelo Rios of Chile, 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 in a showdown between former No. 1 players and next faces Mirnyi.

In a repeat of last year’s final, Hewitt next meets defending champion Wayne Ferreira of South Africa, who saved two match points and beat eighth-seeded Sebastien Grosjean of France, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7).

Thomas Enqvist of Sweden overcame a match point and a 5-1 deficit in the decisive tiebreaker to upset Andy Roddick, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (5).

Seventh-seeded Tim Henman of Britain cruised past Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador, 7-6 (4), 6-2, and next plays No. 15 Tommy Haas of Germany, who outlasted Hicham Arazi of Morocco, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (1).

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Swiss teenager Marie-Gaiane Mikaelian beat Russian Tatiana Panova, 6-1, 6-2, at the Swiss Challenge in Zurich, setting up a quarterfinal with new world No. 1 Jennifer Capriati.

Playing in their first matches after receiving first-round byes, fourth-seeded Jelena Dokic of Australia overcame Chanda Rubin, 6-4, 6-4, while ninth-seeded Sandrine Testud of France downed former French Open champion Iva Majoli of Croatia, 7-6 (6), 6-4.

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Second-seeded Anne Kremer of Luxembourg defeated local favorite Stanislava Hrozenska, 6-1, 6-3, in the Eurotel Slovak Indoor tournament at Bratislava.

Also advancing with a second-round victory was fourth-seeded Rita Grande, who beat Jennifer Hopkins, 6-4, 6-2.

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Security worries have forced organizers to cancel the World Doubles tennis championship next month in Bangalore, India.

Concerns over security since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have forced cancellation of several sports events in India and Pakistan.

Two weeks ago, tournament’s organizers sought only a postponement from the ATP of the $750,000 event.

Soccer

Anson Dorrance became only the third soccer coach in NCAA Division I to win 500 games and the first women’s coach to reach the mark after North Carolina defeated Clemson, 3-0, at Chapel Hill, N.C.

Dorrance, 500-22-11 in 23 years, joins University of San Francisco men’s coach Stephen Negoesco, who won 544 games from 1962-2000, and Jerry Yeagley, who has won 505 games in 29 years as the men’s coach at Indiana. Yeagley won his 500th game on Oct. 5.

Chelsea allowed two late goals in a 2-0 upset loss to Hapoel Tel-Aviv in the first leg of the second round of the UEFA Cup.

Among the 22 other games played around Europe, two lesser heralded teams managed ties with better-known opponents.

Spain’s Real Zaragoza was held to a 0-0 draw by Switzerland’s St. Gallen, while Valencia rallied for a 1-1 draw with Poland’s Legia Warsaw.

Miscellany

Vanderbilt guard-forward Billy Richmond has been dismissed from the basketball squad for violating team rules, Coach Kevin Stallings said. Richmond averaged 8.8 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 29 games last season.

Ice dancers Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev, three-time U.S. champions, withdrew from the International Skating Union’s Grand Prix at Colorado Springs, Colo., because of Tchernyshev’s shin splints.