Agassi and Sampras to Meet Again in Final

Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras, the world’s top-ranked tennis players, beat Swedish opponents Saturday to advance to the final of the Canadian Open in Montreal.

“I always want to play Pete,” said the top-ranked Agassi, who routed Mats Wilander, 6-2, 6-0, in a windy afternoon match.

Sampras, in his first tournament since winning his third consecutive Wimbledon title, defeated 12th-seeded Thomas Enqvist, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), in a night match.

Agassi, who replaced Sampras at No. 1 on April 10, is seeking his 400th match victory. Sampras has won 395 matches.

Agassi used the wind to his advantage against Wilander.

“I think I have more ability to hit through the wind,” Agassi said. “Usually, the wind is an equalizer, but today I got on top of him early and he struggled with it. He didn’t get the depth on his shots he wanted and that meant I could stay on the offensive.”

Motor Racing

Dale Earnhardt, a seven-time NASCAR Winston Cup champion, was knocked out early from the 50-lap, 100-mile all-star race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich., but still won his second International Race of Champions title thanks to Al Unser Jr.

Earnhardt won his second overall points title when defending IndyCar PPG Cup champion Unser held off SCCA Trans-Am star Tommy Kendall to earn a record ninth IROC victory.

Mark Martin, who came into the fourth and final IROC race of the season trailing fellow NASCAR competitor Earnhardt by 10 points, never got higher than third in the 11-car field and wound up fifth, losing the title by four points, 61-57.

Martin stalked away after the race after angrily telling Indy car driver Scott Pruett, who raced with him most of the way and finished just ahead of him, “I wouldn’t want to race with you every week. Someone would get hurt.”

Earnhardt won $225,000 from the total IROC purse of $760,000.

Unheralded Parker Johnstone, in his first oval race, won the pole with a speed of 230.458 m.p.h. for today’s Marlboro 500 at Michigan International Speedway.

Damon Hill put his Williams Renault into the No. 1 starting position for today’s German Grand Prix with a lap at 146.127 m.p.h. Michael Schumacher, the German who leads the driver standings by 11 points, will start beside Hill after a top lap of 146.015 m.p.h.

Blaine Johnson, in top fuel; John Force, in funny car, and Kurt Johnson, in pro stock, are the No. 1 qualifiers for eliminations today in the NHRA Autolite Nationals at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma.

A faulty fuel pickup, which his crew fixed during the mid-race break, was the only thing that kept Ron Hornaday Jr. of Palmdale from leading every lap on the way to victory in the $161,550 Heartland Tailgate 175 SuperTruck race at Topeka, Kan.

Mark Tate, at the wheel of the Smokin’ Joe’s unlimited hydroplane, set a qualifying record of 169.05 m.p.h. on the Columbia River in Kennewick, Wash., breaking the mark of 168.58 set Friday by Dave Villwock in preparation for today’s Budweiser Columbia Cup.

Jurisprudence

Brian Grant of the Sacramento Kings and Tyrone Hill of the Cleveland Cavaliers were among four people arrested after a run-in with police in Cincinnati. Sgt. Alan March said Hill was charged with resisting the arrest of another person and disorderly conduct. Grant was charged with resisting arrest.

Juan Arroyo, a once-promising fighter who saw his career slide after bouts with drugs and alcohol and a stay in a jail, was arrested on multiple robbery charges in Miami.

Miscellany

The United States held onto its lead in the Admiral’s Cup despite a disappointing finish by its three-boat team in the first offshore yacht race of the 1995 competition. The Irish boat Jameson I, with U.S. America’s Cup Coach Jon Kolius as tactician, was first across the line, 37 minutes ahead of the nearest rival, only to be dropped to fifth place in the big boat class because of the Admiral’s Cup handicapping system.

Miguel Indurain, showing no signs of fatigue from his victory in the Tour de France, made a last-lap breakaway to win Russia’s first major professional cycling race in Moscow.

Holly McPeak and Nancy Reno defeated Linda Hanley and Angela Rock to win the FIVP Beach Volleyball World Championship Series event at Osaka, Japan.