U.S. Open Draw Tough on Graf, Not Seles

Top-seeded Steffi Graf’s draw in next week’s U.S. Open tennis tournament is full of traps for the three-time winner who lost in the final last year to Arantxa Sanchez Vicario. No. 2 Monica Seles, on the other hand, drew a rosy path Thursday for her first Grand Slam championship since her return.

Graf begins against Amanda Coetzer, who beat her in the first round last week in the Canadian Open. Also Graf’s half of the draw are Nathalie Tauziat, Chanda Rubin and Helena Sukova. If Graf gets past them, she could face Australian Open champion Mary Pierce in the quarterfinals and No. 3 Sanchez Vicario in the semifinals.

Seles, jointly ranked No. 1 with Graf but seeded No. 2, plays in the first round against Ruxandra Dragomir of Romania. The most dangerous players Seles could face before the quarterfinals are Marianne Werdel Witmeyer in the third round and Lori McNeil in the fourth round. Seles is then seeded to face Jana Novotna in the quarterfinals and No. 4 Conchita Martinez in the semifinals.

Top-seeded Andre Agassi, the defending men’s champion, also drew a tough first-round opponent in Bryan Shelton, with the winner perhaps facing two-time champion Stefan Edberg in the third round.

Pete Sampras, seeded No. 2, has a chance for revenge in the second round against Peru’s Jaime Yzaga, who beat the two-time champion last year in last year’s round of 16.

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Top-seeded defending champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov routed fellow Russian Alexander Volkov, 6-1, 6-2, at Commack, N.Y., and advanced to the quarterfinals of the $328,000 Hamlet Cup.

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Magnus Gustafsson of Sweden upset fourth-seeded Gilbert Schaller of Austria, 6-4, 6-0, in the second round at the $375,000 Croatia Open at Umag.

University Games

Host Japan won five gold medals in swimming, judo and gymnastics, while China rebounded from a doping scandal with one swimming gold in the World University Games at Fukuoka, Japan.

The United States had at least one medal in each of the six swimming races, but only one gold, in the women’s 800-meter freestyle relay.

In basketball, the U.S. men’s team trounced Russia, 115-48, led by Connecticut guard Ray Allen’s 17 points. UCLA’s Charles O’Bannon scored nine. The American women started with a 93-54 victory over Ukraine.

Soccer

Major League Soccer signed forwards Roy Lassiter, Brian McBride and Richard Sharpe, bringing to 28 the number of players under contract to the 10-team league, which is scheduled to begin play in April.

Los Angeles Salsa owner William De La Pena has become a part owner of Club Atletico de Celaya in the Mexican first division, assuming the title of vice president and director of international affairs.

Names in the News

The Detroit Red Wings have matched the New York Rangers’ offer to left wing Stu Grimson, the team said. . . . The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals turned down an appeal by former Kansas City Royal first baseman Willie Aikens to overturn his 1994 conviction for selling crack cocaine, which means Aikens must continue serving his 20-year federal prison sentence. . . . The Mighty Ducks have named Paddy Jarit as the team’s trainer and physical therapist, replacing Blynn DeNiro. . . . The pro beach volleyball team of Karch Kiraly and Scott Ayakatubby is seeded No. 1 in the Miller Lite Championships in Hermosa Beach beginning today.

Franzi van Almsick of Germany won two more gold medals in the European Swimming Championships at Vienna, giving her four in three days. . . . Billy Payne, president of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, assured state legislators that he will not need state tax dollars to help finance the $1.6 billion Olympics in Atlanta. . . . Josephine Morabito Fox, the widow of San Francisco 49er co-founder Anthony Morabito and one of the first women to have majority ownership of a professional sports franchise, died of congestive heart failure at age 84. . . . The NCAA said it will cut in half the 20-game suspension issued to basketball player Matt Raydo, one of five University of Maryland athletes alleged to have gambled on university football games.