Chang Puts a Crimp in Muster’s Run for No. 1

Michael Chang hurt Thomas Muster’s bid for the No. 1 ranking Tuesday with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory in opening-round play at the ATP Championships at Frankfurt, Germany.

The third-ranked Muster has 12 tour titles this year and is bidding to replace Pete Sampras as the top-ranked player.

Sampras opened defense of his title with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Yevgeny Kafelnikov.

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Reversing one of her two defeats this year, Steffi Graf defeated Amanda Coetzer, 6-2, 6-2, to reach the quarterfinals of the WTA Tour Championships at New York.

Graf will face Mary Joe Fernandez, who eliminated 19-year-old Chanda Rubin, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. In another first-round match, Brenda Schultz-McCarthy overpowered Magdalena Maleeva, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4).

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Monica Seles, forced to withdraw from her last two tournaments because of injuries, will lead the U.S. team that will play Spain this month for the Fed Cup title.

Baseball

Baseball’s labor negotiations, basically dormant since March, resume in New York today, with Randy Levine, the owners’ new lead negotiator, prepared to make “a comprehensive proposal.” Players union officials said they expect the owners to resume their hard-line pursuit of a payroll constraint, be it a salary cap or luxury tax.

The Dodgers were selected as baseball’s organization of the year by The Sporting News. . . . Free agent Colorado shortstop Walt Weiss said it would take a three-year contract for him to leave the Rockies, which makes it unlikely he’ll join the Dodgers.

Basketball

Wake Forest center Tim Duncan and Villanova guard Kerry Kittles tied as the leading vote-getters on the Associated Press’ preseason All-American team. They were joined by Connecticut guard Ray Allen, Massachusetts center Marcus Camby and Oklahoma forward Ryan Minor.

Jennifer Rizzotti, whose spectacular drive to the basket helped secure Connecticut’s national championship, received the most votes on the AP’s preseason All-American team in women’s basketball. She was joined by teammate Kara Wolters, Virginia’s Wendy Palmer, Louisiana Tech’s Vickie Johnson and DePaul’s Latasha Byears.

After leading the AP women’s poll for the final nine weeks last season and winning the national championship, Connecticut was voted No. 1 in the 1995-96 preseason poll. Georgia was No. 2, Virginia No. 3, Louisiana Tech No. 4 and Vanderbilt No. 5.

Fresno State Coach Jerry Tarkanian, whose record is rivaled only by his disputes with the NCAA, was nominated to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Meanwhile, ESPN reported American College Test officials invalidated the score of Fresno State freshman forward Terence Roberson because of a large increase on his fourth test and he will not play tonight against Weber State.

Jurisprudence

The jury deliberating the fate of Don King in the boxing promoter’s insurance fraud trial asked to rehear testimony from a former employee, a current employee and boxer Julio Cesar Chavez. . . . The head of Colombia’s soccer federation, Juan Jose Bellini, long suspected of ties to the Cali drug cartel, was arrested on charges of illegal enrichment. . . . Former NFL offensive lineman Luis Sharpe was arrested on suspicion of drug possession after he was pulled over for driving a vehicle with only one operating headlight. . . . Tyrone Rodgers, a former Seattle Seahawk lineman, has been released on $75,000 bail after his arrest for allegedly choking a house worker with a dog chain and striking him with a piece of wood.

Names in the News

Mark Kotsay of Cal State Fullerton was awarded the Golden Spikes Award, given to the nation’s top college baseball player. . . . Allan Chartrand, one of Canada’s top wheelchair athletes, has been caught using steroids and banned from competition for four years.