South Africa Gets Historic Victory in Davis Cup

South Africa claimed its first Davis Cup World Group victory since 1979 when Australian Mark Woodforde forfeited his match at Durban, South Africa, because of exhaustion.

His resignation sparked a raucous celebration by South Africa, playing its first World Group match since being banned 16 years ago because of apartheid.

With his team trailing, 2-1, at the start of play in the rain-delayed event, Wayne Ferreira, the world’s 11th-ranked singles player, defeated Australia’s Patrick Rafter, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Woodforde, who had teamed with Todd Woodbridge to win the doubles match Sunday to give Australia the lead, collapsed in his chair trailing Marcos Ondruska, 6-4, 6-2, 1-0.

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Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of Spain replaced Germany’s Steffi Graf as the world’s top-ranked woman.

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Fifth-seeded Amy Frazier rallied to beat Tami Whitlinger-Jones, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, in the first round of the Ameritech Cup at Chicago.

Football

Calling his newest hire “one of the great minds in the business,” Denver Bronco Coach Mike Shanahan introduced former Bronco quarterback Gary Kubiak as the team’s offensive coordinator.

Kubiak, 33, was John Elway’s backup for nine seasons with the Broncos.

U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, claiming that Orange County’s offer to keep the Rams is “equally viable” to the St. Louis deal to attract the team, urged NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue to block the Rams’ move to Missouri.

In a letter to Tagliabue, Boxer cited several reasons to keep the Rams in Anaheim, including a base of more than 15 million potential fans, a surrounding television market that is the nation’s second largest and the city’s plans to upgrade the entire Anaheim Stadium area.

“It seems wrong to destroy 50 years of tradition for no apparent reason,” Boxer wrote. “Please make the right decision for the NFL and professional football by keeping the Rams in Orange County.”

Bennie Thompson, the Cleveland Browns’ special teams captain, offered a $5,000 reward to help solve the murders of his 3-year-old son, his former wife and her fiance. He was also questioned by police.

Tangie Thompson, 28, and her son, Devyn, were found with Andre White, 30, lying on the blood-soaked floor of a den in their New Orleans home. Neighbors said the boy was found in his mother’s arms.

Former Chicago Bear linebacker Otis Wilson was grazed in the forehead by a bullet when a gun discharged during a dispute in the clothing store where he works in Chicago, police said.

Sailing

Stars & Stripes, skippered by Dennis Conner, beat the all-women America 3crew by 28 seconds to keep its lead in the America’s Cup defender series.

But Conner also lost the two points he earned in a victory over America 3on Friday. The second round-robin between the three defense syndicates was shortened from nine races to six because of weather postponements, and the set of three races that was thrown out included Conner’s victory by 4:45 on Friday.

On the challengers’ course, Rioja de Espana nearly upset France 3, but lost its lead on the fifth leg and lost its 11th race in a row.

Names in the News

Former Angel Urbano Lugo pitched seven shutout innings to lead Venezuela to a 3-0 victory over Mexico at the Caribbean World Series. Roberto Alomar had five hits, scored three runs and drove in three more as Puerto Rico routed the Dominican Republic, 16-0.

Earl Holmes, a widely known figure in California quarter horse racing, died Sunday night of complications of a heart attack. He was 64.

Michael Slive will become commissioner of a still-unnamed conference combining the Metro and Great Midwest conferences, according to a broadcast report.