Becker Comes Up Aces Against McEnroe

Boris Becker served 18 aces and survived a scare by Patrick McEnroe on Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Volvo International at New Haven, Conn.

Becker, the defending Volvo champion and seeded second this year, overcame No. 16 McEnroe, 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4.

Top-seeded Andre Agassi fared better, eliminating No. 15 Patrick Rafter, 6-2, 6-4, improving his record on hard courts this year to 43-2 and advancing to the quarterfinals for the 19th consecutive tournament.

Becker will play No. 8 Richard Krajicek, who defeated No. 10 Paul Haarhuis, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.

In other matches, No. 4 Yevgeny Kafelnikov defeated No. 14 Marcelo Rios, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2); No. 6 Marc Rosset defeated Nicolas Pereira, 6-4, 6-3; No. 7 Sergi Bruguera defeated Wayne Black, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5; Albert Chang defeated No. 11 Arnaud Boetsch, 7-5, 6-2; and Mats Wilander beat Kenneth Carlsen, 6-7 (6-7), 6-3, 7-6 (7-2).

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Top-seeded Pete Sampras defeated Jan Apell, 6-3, 6-4, and second-seeded Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia defeated No. 15 Brett Steven, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, in the third round of the RCA Championships at Indianapolis.

In other matches, No. 12 Bernd Karbacher of Germany upset No. 6 Todd Martin, 6-3, 6-2; No. 4 Thomas Enqvist beat Cristiano Caratti, 6-0, 3-6, 6-0; No. 7 Alberto Berasatequi defeated Petr Korda, 7-6 (9-7), 6-3; and No. 14 Guy Forget of France was ousted by unseeded Richey Reneberg, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.

Jurisprudence

At least four New Orleans Saint players had sex with a nude dancer who claims she was raped at their training camp dormitory in La Crosse, Wis., but there is not enough evidence to pursue charges, prosecutors said.

La Crosse County assistant district attorney Ron Kind closed his investigation into the alleged assault, saying the woman and her story were not credible.

Jim Miller, Saint executive vice president, said the club found that team rules were violated and penalties would be imposed. The Saints refused to identify the players or the penalties.

Former San Francisco 49er quarterback Joe Montana’s challenge of a newspaper’s right to sell posters of him playing in the Super Bowl was rejected by the California Supreme Court. The court left intact an appellate ruling that said the San Jose Mercury News had a right to use the football star’s photo without his permission, both because the event was newsworthy and because the newspaper was advertising the quality of its coverage. He was also ordered to pay $20,000 in attorney’s fees for the newspaper.

Golf

Ernie Els had nine birdies, including four in a row, and only one bogey in holding a three-point lead in the International, a tournament in Castle Rock, Colo., in which the modified Stableford scoring system is used. Els received 18 points for his nine birdies at two points each, and one point was deducted for his bogey, giving him 17.

Greg Norman eagled the final hole for five points, giving him 14 points for the first round and second place alone.

Grouped at 11 points were Tom Kite, Davis Love III and Craig Stadler.

Defending champion Liselotte Neumann of Sweden finished with a birdie on the final hole for a six-under-par 67 and the first-round lead in the British Women’s Open at Woburn, England. One stroke behind were Marie-Laure de Lorenzi of France, Shani Waugh of Australia and Marnie McGuire of New Zealand.

Hockey

The Mighty Ducks agreed to terms with goaltender Mikhail Shtalenkov on a multi-year contract. Terms weren’t disclosed.

The Tampa Bay Lightning acquired left wing Shawn Burr from the Detroit Red Wings and defenseman David Shaw from the Boston Bruins in separate trades.

Center Darren Turcotte, the Hartford Whalers’ second-leading scorer last season, signed a new multi-year contract. Terms weren’t disclosed.

The Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils re-signed defensemen Tommy Albelin and Kevin Dean.

Gymnastics

John Roethlisberger won the U.S. National Gymnastics Championships’ all-around title in New Orleans, becoming the first gymnast in 28 years to win four titles.

Peter Kormann, a bronze medal winner in the 1976 Olympics, was named the men’s gymnastics coach for the 1995 World Championships and the 1996 Olympics.

Miscellany

District Court Judge Raymond Pettine, who had ruled that Brown University discriminates against female athletes, said the Providence, R.I., school’s plan to cut men’s sports and expand women junior varsity teams did not comply with Title IX, the 1972 law prohibiting sexual discrimination at schools that receive federal funding.

Rather than have Brown submit a new plan, Pettine backed one that had been proposed by the female athletes. He ordered the school to create women’s varsity teams for gymnastics, water polo, skiing and fencing, teams that have formed without school money and rely on donations.

The team of Holly McPeak and Nancy Reno is seeded first in this weekend’s Women’s Professional Volleyball Assn. tournament in Huntington Beach.

Names in the News

Marsha Ottey, 19, and Tammy Ottey, 16, cousins of heralded Jamaican sprinter Merlene Ottey, were shot to death in Toronto. . . . Former Cal State Fullerton coach Bobby Dye resigned as coach at Boise State, where he was the winningest coach in school history.