Muster Says He’ll Skip the Grass at Wimbledon

After winning his first Grand Slam tournament, Thomas Muster said he won’t try for his second at Wimbledon.

Muster, who moved up to No. 3 in the world rankings Monday after his victory over Michael Chang in the French Open final, said he had other things to do.

“I have a few days off and I’m playing a tournament in Austria,” he said. “Then I have another two weeks off and will play the second part of the season.”

Muster has won 35 consecutive clay-court matches but has another streak going on the grass at Wimbledon--four first-round losses in a row.

Steffi Graf moved back into the No. 1 spot among women after beating Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the French Open final and said she would move on to Wimbledon, which begins June 26.

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Ninth-seeded David Wheaton was upset by Jared Palmer, 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, in the first round of the Queens Club tournament in London and complained about the new ball that is designed to slow grass-court tennis.

“Grass is a fast-court surface,” Wheaton said. “I think it should stay that way. If you want slow-court tennis you should watch the French Open.”

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Hernan Gumy ousted third-seeded Alex Corretja, 6-2, 6-4, in the first round of the Maia Open in Oporto, Portugal.

Auto Racing

Scott Kalitta, the defending Winston series top-fuel champion, hit a top speed of 305.18 m.p.h. in 4.772 seconds to beat Eddie Hill and win his first drag racing final of the year in the rain-delayed Oldsmobile Springnationals in Kirkersville, Ohio. Al Hofmann was the funny-car winner, and Steve Schmidt the pro-stock champion.

Jurisprudence

Chicago Bull forward Scottie Pippen pleaded not guilty in a Waukegan, Ill., court to a misdemeanor domestic battery charge involving his fiancee, Yvette Deleone.

Former Kansas City Chief wide receiver Tim Barnett has been convicted of second-degree sexual assault of a child for an incident involving a 14-year-old hotel maid last year in a Milwaukee hotel. Sentencing was set for July 5.

Miscellany

Paula Jean Myers Pope, a three-time Olympic diver and Times woman of the year in 1960, died in Ojai at 60. She competed in the three-meter springboard and 10-meter tower Olympic diving events, winning a silver medal in Helsinki in 1952, a bronze in Melbourne in ’56 and two silver medals in Rome in ’60.

Olympic champion Linford Christie, frustrated by criticism and his disputes with British track authorities, said he will not defend his 100-meter title at next year’s Atlanta Games.

Fans of the Lazio soccer club smashed windows in Rome, overturned trash cans and threw smoke bombs after hearing reports of plans to sell World Cup forward Giuseppe Signori to rival Parma. Dino Zoff, the Lazio president, said Signori would remain with the club.

Five boats swept their classes in Long Beach Yacht Club’s Race Week: William Miller’s Reichel/Pugh 65 Exile in IMS, Peter Moss’ Kookaburra in PHRF-A, James Forquhar’s J-120 Windshear in the Sprit (for bowsprit) class, Debra and Mark Wilson’s Speedway in the J-35s and Kevin Wolfe’s B-25 Jezebelle in PHRF-C.

The Supreme Court ended the NFL’s eight-year-long labor troubles by rejecting the appeals of 18 players who said they were wrongly forced to join the $200-million settlement of the antitrust lawsuit.

Jesse Magana retained his North American Boxing Organization junior featherweight title with a unanimous decision over Ricardo Medina before 3,692 at The Forum.

Names in the News

UCLA’s Charles O’Bannon joins six players from the Big East Conference and others named to the U.S. team for the World University Games in Gainesville, Fla., Aug. 12-18. . . . Nevada Las Vegas has hired Charles Cavagnaro, University of Memphis athletic director, as athletic director. . . . UCLA’s Jeff Nygaard is Volleyball magazine’s NCAA player of the year.