Sampras, Stich Advance in Grand Slam Cup

Pete Sampras and Michael Stich reached the quarterfinals of the Grand Slam Cup on Wednesday at Munich, Germany, moving a step closer to a big-money duel in the world’s richest tournament. Stich began defense of his title by defeating MaliVai Washington, 6-3, 6-1, and Sampras beat Thomas Muster, 6-3, 6-1.

They could meet in the final of the $6-million event.

Stich, Sampras and Michael Chang, who defeated Wally Masur, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, each earned $262,500 for making the quarterfinals.

Stich’s victory last year was worth $2 million, but this year’s top award has been reduced to $1.625 million.

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Jim Courier and Todd Martin were selected to play singles for the United States in Davis Cup first-round matches against India on March 25-27, team captain Tom Gullickson announced. Patrick McEnroe and Richey Reneberg will play doubles.

Basketball

The NBA failed to persuade the Ontario government to remove NBA games from the province’s sports betting lottery. The NBA awarded Toronto a franchise five weeks ago on the condition the province withdraw basketball from its Pro Line lottery, which allows betting on sports games, including basketball.

NBA Commissioner David Stern has refused to say Toronto would be stripped of the franchise if the matter cannot be resolved.

UC Irvine Coach Rod Baker has suspended sophomore forward Shaun Battle through Saturday for “not adhering to team rules.”

Jurisprudence

The NHL filed suit against the NHL Players Assn., claiming its clubs have the right to sell team jerseys that carry the players’ names. The NHL said its suit comes in response to recent threats by the NHLPA to sue many of the league’s teams and independent retailers unless they agreed to pay a fee for the use of players’ names on jerseys.

Two Louisiana State football players, including top running back Jay Johnson, were arrested and accused of stealing items worth more than $5,000 from dormitory rooms. Johnson and cornerback Robert Hawkins were booked on five counts of simple burglary and 38 counts of unauthorized use of an access card, campus police said.

Ladd Herzeg, former general manager of the Houston Oilers, is being sought for allegedly failing to pay more than $100,000 in child support.

Miscellany

UCLA Chancellor Charles Young was appointed by the NCAA Presidents Commission to study the positives and negatives of a Division I-A football playoff. The study could result in a vote on the playoff issue in 1995. . . . The three major golf tournaments in the United States--the Masters, U.S. Open and PGA Championship--will count toward places for Europe’s next Ryder Cup team, the European PGA announced.