Concentrated Effort Pays Off for Pierce

Mary Pierce used a power game Sunday to beat Natalia Zvereva of Belarus and win the Porsche Grand Prix at Filderstadt, Germany.

Pierce, whose father, Jim, has been banned by tennis authorities from her tournaments, beat Zvereva, 6-3, 6-3. The Canadian-born Pierce, who now lives in France, lost only two service points in the first set en route to her seventh title, her first this year.

“All week I played my matches with full concentration,” said Pierce, 18. “That was always my problem before.”

Pierce, ranked 16th in the world, overpowered Zvereva with the same style she used to rout Zina Garrison-Jackson in the semifinals.

Pierce converted her first match point with a forehand that passed Zvereva at the net.

Zvereva, ranked 22nd in the world, was suffering from a slight cold and had played six sets Saturday, including doubles.

“I’ve had a lot of tennis this week,” she said.

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Jonathan Stark won his first ATP event by upsetting Cedric Pioline, 6-3, 6-2, in the $315,000 Bolzano tournament in Italy.

Stark’s performance should put him in the top 50 in the ATP world rankings, to be released today.

Stark, 22, needed 1 hour 17 minutes to beat the second-seeded Pioline, who lost his fifth career final.

Stark broke Pioline’s serve in the match’s second game and was in control thereafter.

“I started off on the right foot, and that was probably the key to the match,” Stark said. “You can sometimes win a match right from the start.”

Stark dropped only one set in the tournament.

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Defending champion Ivan Lendl, avoiding lapses of concentration, overwhelmed Todd Martin, 6-4, 6-4, to win the Seiko Super tournament at Tokyo for the fifth time.

It was Lendl’s second title in a season during which he has lost nine times in first-round matches.

“You can never relax,” Lendl said. “You are never in control. You never know when he (Martin) might come back.”

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Bobby Riggs, 75, and Joe Davis, 80, will play Dodo Cheney, 70, and Corky Murdock, 73--the best over-70 women’s doubles team in the United States--in a two-out-of-three tie-break set match at the Los Angeles Tennis Club today at 5:30 p.m.

Baseball

The San Diego Padres placed catcher Mike Scioscia on waivers for the purpose of giving him his unconditional release. Scioscia, who played 13 seasons with the Dodgers, signed with the Padres as a free agent and spent the entire year on the disabled list with a shoulder injury.

Motor Racing

Eddie Hill, 57, clinched his first NHRA Winston Drag Racing Series championship at the Chief Auto Parts Nationals at Ennis, Tex.

Hill’s bid for his seventh victory of the season was thwarted when he was beaten in the first round, but Scott Kalitta’s loss to Mike Dunn gave Hill the championship.

John Force of Yorba Linda won for the 11th time this season when he defeated Chuck Etchells for the funny-car title.

Kurt Johnson beat his father, Warren, for the pro-stock title.

The final event of the series will be held Oct. 28-31 at Pomona.

Miscellany

Shawn Munro of Australia won the Body Glove San Francisco Cup, the 10th event of the 1993 Bud Surf tour. Mike Stewart of Anaheim won the bodyboarding event.