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 straight first-round losses.

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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Ninth-seeded Rachel McQuillan, 12th-seeded Ai Sugiyama and 13th-seeded Sung-Hee Park were beaten in first-round matches at the DFS Classic grass-court tournament in Birmingham, England. . . . 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, beating John Force with a 5.125-second, 299.90-m.p.h. ride, and Steve Schmidt beat Warren Johnson in the pro stock final.

Jurisprudence

Forward Scottie Pippen of the Chicago Bulls pleaded not guilty in a Waukegan, Ill., court to a misdemeanor domestic battery charge involving his fiancee, Yvette Deleone.

Miscellany

Paula Jean Myers Pope, a three-time Olympic diver and Times woman of the year in 1960, died in Ojai at 60.

Pope competed in the 1952, ’56 and ’60 games in the three-meter springboard and 10-meter tower diving events, winning a silver medal in Helsinki in 1952, bronze in Melbourne in ’56 and two silver medals in Rome in ’60.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Cancer Society. A memorial service will be Saturday at the LDS church in Ojai.

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 all three races in their classes in Long Beach Yacht Club’s Long Beach 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.

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 its new athletic director. . . . Mark Kotsay, who led Cal State Fullerton to its third national title, was named the winner of the R.E. Smith Award as the collegiate baseball player of the year. . . . UCLA’s Jeff Nygaard has been named Volleyball magazine’s NCAA player of the year.