Muster Slows Sampras’ Rise to Top of World

Thomas Muster, the French Open champion, upset Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion Pete Sampras in the semifinals of the Eurocard Open on Saturday in Essen, Germany, delaying the American’s climb back to the No. 1 ranking.

Muster rallied from 4-1 deficits in the first set and its tiebreaker to defeat Sampras, 7-6 (8-6), 6-2. In today’s final of the $2.1-million tournament, the third-seeded Muster will meet MaliVai Washington, who beat Arnaud Boetsch, 7-5, 6-2, in a match of unseeded players.

Muster tamed Sampras’ serve, broke back and turned the match around to post his first victory over Sampras after six defeats.

Sampras, who lost the No. 1 spot to Andre Agassi on April 10, now will have to wait until the end of next week and the Paris Open to climb back atop the rankings.

Agassi, who strained a chest muscle during his loss to Washington, will miss the Paris Open and relinquish the No. 1 spot to Sampras when the new rankings come out after that tournament.

Golf

Billy Mayfair made a 25-foot par to save par on the par-five 13th hole at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Okla., one of five consecutive one-putts that staked him to a three-stroke lead heading into the final round of the Tour Championship, the season-ending, $3-million tournament.

Mayfair shot a one-under 69 for a three-round total of three-under 207, three strokes better than Brad Bryant, Steve Elkington and Corey Pavin.

Mike McCullough, a part-time Senior PGA Tour participant who had to qualify for the event Monday, overcame a near disastrous double-bogey on the 11th hole and posted a four-under-par 67 to take a one-stroke lead over Dave Stockton after two rounds of the Kaanapali Classic in Hawaii.

Anders Forsbrand of Sweden held a one-stroke lead after three rounds of the Volvo Masters despite a two-over-par 73 at Sotogrande, Spain. Tied for second are Colin Montgomerie of Scotland, Per-Ulrik Johansson of Sweden, Ian Woosnam of Wales and Alexander Cejka of Germany.

Motor Racing

Mike Skinner finished the inaugural NASCAR SuperTrucks season the way he began it, winning a the GM Goodwrench-Delco Battery 200K at Phoenix International Raceway to also clinch the series championship.

Ernie Irvan, continuing his comeback from a near-fatal accident in August 1994, was second by 0.35-seconds--about six truck-lengths. Geoff Bodine finished third.

Sixty-year-old A.J. Foyt, who failed to qualify for the Brickyard 400 while also making his first SuperTruck start, was 18th.

The table is set for Jeff Gordon in today’s Dura-Lube 500K at Phoenix, with the championship feast all but assured if Gordon can keep Dale Earnhardt in sight during the Winston Cup season’s penultimate race.

Gordon, who failed to earn the pole but held a 162-point lead over Earnhardt, wound up in third, just behind runner-up Earnhardt, who will start alongside pole-winner Bill Elliott. Gordon can clinch his first major racing title by gaining 23 points on Earnhardt.

Figure Skating

Todd Eldredge skated a near-flawless long program to win the men’s free skate and Michelle Kwan rallied to win the women’s title at Skate America International in Detroit.

Kwan won the long program to overtake China’s Chen Lu, who led after the short program, and win the gold medal.

In pairs, Russia’s Marina Eltsova and Audrey Bushkov successfully completed their long program to win the gold, beating Americans Jenni Meno and Todd Sand.