Sanchez Vicario Overcomes Rain Delays, Graf

Second-seeded Arantxa Sanchez Vicario withstood four rain delays and four match points Sunday to defeat top-seeded Steffi Graf, 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (7-4), and win the Matinee International women’s tennis tournament at Montreal.

The victory was worth $150,000 to Sanchez Vicaro.

Graf, who has seven tournament victories in 11 appearances, earned $60,000. It was Graf’s first loss on hardcourts this season after 32 consecutive victories.

The four rain delays lasted a combined five hours, the first a 90-minute delay before the match.

Graf lost the first set after being broken in the 11th game but came back strongly to break Sanchez Vicario three times in the second.

Graf, who is 24-7 against Sanchez Vicario, was on the verge of another victory in the 10th game of the third set. She led, 5-4, 40-15, only to see Sanchez Vicario overcome four match points.

“I’ve had two match points against me, but never four,” Sanchez Vicario said. “Steffi had two match points against me at Hamburg and I came back to win.”

Graf, bothered by a sore back off and on in the last year, said the injury flared up at the end of the first game in the second set. She stretched out on the sidelines and went back on the court wearing a corset-like brace.

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Boris Becker completed his sweep through the Volvo International by defeating seventh-seeded Marc Rosset, 6-3, 7-5, in the final at New Haven, Conn.

Becker, seeded third, didn’t drop a set in the tournament, which was plagued by numerous rain delays.

“I really had a dream week here,” he said. “Too bad we only had two days of good sunshine.”

Becker, a three-time Wimbledon champion and former No. 1 player, was true to his old form all week on his way to his 41st title and third this year.

“To tell you the truth, over the whole week, none of my opponents have reached six games (in a set),” Becker said. “In all of my 41 titles, I don’t remember it happening before.”

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Seventh-seeded Wayne Ferreira, who had to wait more than seven hours because of rain during a semifinal match on Saturday, needed only 59 minutes to defeat Olivier Delaitre in the final, 6-2, 6-1, to win the RCA Championship at Indianapolis.

It was the second-fastest final match on the ATP Tour this year.

A light rain hit the Indianapolis Tennis Center stadium court during the first set, but the match continued without interruption.

The unseeded Delaitre, who did not lose a set and saw his serve broken only three times in five previous matches, was broken four times by Ferreira, who is ranked 15th. Ferreira took advantage of 22 unforced errors by the Frenchman, who was seeking his first tour title and had not faced a seeded player before the final.

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Kyle Spencer of Rancho Palos Verdes defeated seventh-seeded Brian Patterson of Falmouth, Maine, 6-2, 6-2, in the final of the USTA Junior Grass Court Championship at Philadelphia.

In the girls’ doubles final, Traci Green of Philadelphia and Amanda Augustus of Rancho Palos Verdes defeated top-seeded Lilia Osterloh of Columbus, Ohio, and Bonnie Bleeker of Indianapolis, 6-0, 6-3. Osterloh defeated Green in the girls’ singles final Saturday.

Track and Field

Dennis Mitchell won the 100-meter dash in 10.13 seconds at the Telekom Sportfest Grand Prix meet in Cologne, Germany.

Fellow American Jon Drummond was second in 10.17, while Osmond Ezinwa of Nigeria placed third in 10.28.

The Americans swept the sprints when Gwen Torrence beat double European champion Irina Privalova of Russia in 10.95.

Privalova was second in 11.03, while Zhanna Tarnopolskaya of Ukraine was third in 11.14.

Boxing

Funeral services were held for Jerry Nathanson, whose membership on the California State Athletic Commission was the longest-running in its history.

Nathanson, 83, chaired the state’s boxing overseeing body in the 1980s. Nathanson died Wednesday.

“He was the elder statesman for the commission,” said Bill Eastman, CSAC chairman. “Jerry really was our link to another era--in fact, probably a couple of eras.”

Argentina’s Julio Cesar Vasquez handed American Ron (Winky) Wright his first defeat, scoring a 12-round unanimous decision to retain his WBA junior middleweight title in St. Jean de Luz, France.

Miscellany

Becky Ruehl won the women’s 10-meter diving title and Bryan Gillooly won the men’s title in the National Diving Championships at Moultrie, Ga.

Italy won the world amateur title in the men’s 100-kilometer team cycling time trial at Palermo.

Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes defeated Mike Dodd and Mike Whitmarsh, 11-10, in sudden-death overtime to win the U.S. Beach Volleyball Championships at San Diego. In the women’s final, Jackie Silva and Sandra Pires defeated Cammy Ciarelli and Holly McPeak, 12-10. . . . Gail Castro and Elaine Roque defeated Monica Rodrigues and Adriana Ramos, 12-4, 14-12, 15-12, to win a women’s tournament at Isla Verde, Puerto Rico.