Sampras Defeats Becker to Win Paris Open

Pete Sampras affirmed his return to the No. 1 ranking with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 6-4 victory over Boris Becker in the final of the Paris Open on Sunday.

Sampras regained the No. 1 spot because of the withdrawal of Andre Agassi, who has a chest injury.

It was the 36th career title for Sampras, who won $342,000.

With both players less than 50% successful on their first serves, it came down to who was more consistent at hitting winners or setting up the point after second serves.

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Prize money for next year’s Australian Open is not negotiable despite threats of a boycott by leading women players, Tennis Australia president Geoff Pollard.

Pam Shriver, Mary Joe Fernandez and Lindsay Davenport said last week that they would support a boycott of the Australian Open if the tournament did not raise the women’s prize money to equal that offered to men.

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Davenport, seeded fifth in the Advanta Championships at Philadelphia, withdrew because of a sprained back.

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Magdalena Maleeva took advantage of six double faults by Ai Sugiyama in a 6-3, 6-4 victory in the final of the Bank of the West Classic in Oakland.

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Brenda Schultz-McCarthy of the Netherlands defeated Dominique Monami of Belgium, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, in the final of the Bell Challenge in Quebec City, Canada.

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Steffi Graf’s father, who is jailed on allegations of evading taxes on the tennis champion’s earnings, allegedly beat and kicked her during training, Der Spiegel magazine reported. Quoting a former close associate of the Graf family, Horst Schmidt, Spiegel said Peter Graf “treated her like a dog” when they were once at a training camp in Spain.

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Bohdan Ulibrach of the Czech Republic won his second ATP tour title, defeating defending champion Alberto Berasategui of Spain, 6-2, 6-3, in the Topper Open final in Montevideo, Uruguay.

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Cecil Mamitt of USC defeated Alex Decret of UC Santa Barbara, 6-2, 2-6, 6-2, in the final of the Rolex-Intercollegiate Tennis Association Southern California Regional at UC Irvine. In the doubles final, Jason Thompson and Eric Lin of UCLA beat Simon Aspclin and Chris Hill of Pepperdine, 6-4, 7-5.

College Football

USC quarterback Brad Otton was scheduled to spend a second night at USC University Hospital, after suffering a mild concussion in Saturday’s 31-30 victory over Stanford.

Seldom-used Johnny Macon rushed for two touchdowns and passed for two more late Saturday night to lead Hawaii, 4-4 overall and 2-3 in the Western Athletic Conference, to a 42-37 upset of Fresno State (4-5, 1-4) at Honolulu.

Notre Dame quarterback Ron Powlus had surgery to stabilize his broken left arm. A 15-inch metal rod was inserted into Powlus’ humerus to stabilize the break so it can heal cleanly, said Notre Dame spokesman John Heisler. The rod will be removed in three months.

Golf

Jim Furyk followed a unplayable lie on the 16th hole with a birdie on 18 and won the Kapalua International in Kapalua, Hawaii, by two strokes over Russ Cochran, Barry Lane and Jim McGovern. Furyk was cruising without a bogey when he sliced his tee shot on the 365-yard 16th into an area of heavy growth. After the penalty stroke, Furyk opted to hit from the 17th fairway and made bogey. It narrowed his lead to one stroke, but he capped the tournament with a birdie to finish with a 19-under 271 total.

New Zealander Frank Nobilo birdied four holes on the back nine to win the Sarazen World Open in Braselton, Ga., by a stroke. On a day when sleet capped a week of bad weather, Nobilo shot a four-under-par 68 to outlast the likes of John Daly, Fuzzy Zoeller and Mark Calcavecchia to win the $1.9-million tournament.

Raymond Floyd made a six-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole to defeat Tom Wargo and win the rain-shortened, inaugural Emerald Coast Classic on the Senior PGA Tour in Milton, Fla. Floyd’s putt on the 17th hole won the $1-million event after both golfers made par on the 18th. In regulation, Floyd shot a five-under-par 66 to force the playoff by tying Wargo at seven-under 135 for 36 holes.

Miscellany

Lisa Leslie scored 20 points as the U.S. national team defeated NCAA women’s basketball champion Connecticut, 83-47, in Storrs, Conn. . . . James Cotton, the 1993-94 Big West Conference freshman of the year who sat out last season because of an ankle injury, scored 19 points to lead Long Beach State to an 86-80 victory over High-Five America at Long Beach. . . . The USC men’s basketball team will play the Washington Son Blue Angels in an exhibition game at the Lyon Center tonight at 7. Admission is free. . . . South African Phillip Holiday defended his International Boxing Federation lightweight title with a 12-round decision over American Raymondo (Rocky) Martinez in Sun City, South Africa.