Wild-Card Entrant Tu Is Defeated by Pierce

Second-seeded Mary Pierce defeated tennis newcomer Meilen Tu of Northridge, 6-2, 6-4, Friday to reach the semifinals of the Virginia Slims of Philadelphia. Also advancing were No. 5 Natalia Zvereva and Anke Huber.

Tu, 16, a wild-card entrant who had played only 10 professional matches before facing Pierce, reached her second quarterfinals.

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Pete Sampras defeated Byron Black of Zimbabwe, 6-1, 6-3, to reach the semifinals of the European Community Championship in Antwerp, Belgium.

Defending champion Marc Rosset of Switzerland defeated Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia, 6-7 (14-12), 6-4, 6-3, in the third round of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.

Colleges

A federal judge in Tallahassee, Fla., has paved the way for the NCAA to investigate possible rule violations at Florida State and the University of Miami by overturning a due-process law for collegiate athletes. The law mandated a two-year waiting period before NCAA investigators can begin looking into possible wrongdoing.

Baylor President Herbert Reynolds has told a fund-raising group he believes the NCAA will impose sanctions on the basketball program on top of those already levied by the school, the Houston Chronicle reported.

The University of Connecticut’s Board of Trustees has approved upgrading the school’s football program to Division I-A status and directed the university president to come up with an implementation plan within a year.

Motor Racing

Former world champion Nigel Mansell of England held onto the pole position for Sunday’s season-ending Australian Grand Prix when torrential rain fell throughout the second qualifying session in Adelaide.

Mansell, who won the provisional pole on Friday with a lap of Adelaide’s 2.348-mile street circuit at 110.960 m.p.h. in a Williams-Renault, will share the front row with current points leader Michael Schumacher of Germany.

Schumacher was second in a Benetton-Ford at 110.934 m.p.h., with Damon Hill, Mansell’s teammate and Schumacher’s only rival for the world title, starting from the second row with a lap at 110.020 m.p.h.

Greg Sacks won the pole position for Sunday’s Hooters 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga. . . . Dave Jensen was reported in stable condition after being injured in a crash during practice for the Jiffy Lube 500K stock car race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Dick Trickle won the pole for the race.

Hockey

King General Manager Sam McMaster has asked the NHL for the return of Robert Lang’s transfer fee from the Czech Republic team Litvinov because Lang resumed playing for the club during the lockout. . . . Oleg Tverdovsky, the Mighty Ducks’ top draft choice in June, is expected to play Canadian junior hockey if the NHL labor dispute remains unresolved and once he receives medical clearance from the Ducks. . . . Former television executive Doug Moss was named president of the Buffalo Sabres.

Soccer

The United States earned a berth in next year’s FIFA Under-17 World Championship in Ecuador by defeating Canada, 1-0, in San Salvador, El Salvador.

A 75th-minute goal by Caleb Norkus gave the U.S. team its second victory in as many games in the final qualifying group and clinched a place in the Aug. 4-20 tournament.

Goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar, accused by an English tabloid of taking bribes to fix soccer matches, has been cleared by FIFA to play for Zimbabwe in an African Nations Cup game against Zaire on Sunday.

Boxing

Julio Cesar Vasquez of Argentina outpointed Tony Marshall of Albany, N.Y., in Tucuman, Argentina, to retain the World Boxing Assn. junior-middleweight title.

Vasquez, who won the title in 1992 with a first-round knockout of Hitoshi Kamiyama of Japan, improved his record to 52-1-0 with 35 knockouts.

Names in the News

Takiyah Jackson of Seattle (basketball) and Mari Burningham of Logan, Utah, (basketball and volleyball) have signed letters of intent to attend UCLA, Coach Kathy Olivier said. . . . Gary Williams, Maryland’s basketball coach, signed a signed a seven-year contract. . . . Dave Stewart of the Toronto Blue Jays testified in a criminal trial in Tampa, Fla., where he and fellow Blue Jay pitcher Todd Stottlemyre are charged with battery of a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest.