Becker Defeats Chang and Delights Fans

An emotional Boris Becker won his first major tennis title in three years, defeating Michael Chang, 7-6 (7-3), 6-0, 7-6 (7-5), in the ATP Championship final Sunday in Frankfurt, Germany.

It was a fitting farewell gift to Becker’s faithful Frankfurt fans, who have supported him boisterously in all his appearances in the 9,000-seat Festhalle, which was filled.

After six years, the ATP Championship is moving to another German city, Hanover, next year.

“This was the best crowd I’ve ever had in Germany,” the teary-eyed Becker said, while the fans gave him a standing ovation.

Becker, who also won the tournament in 1992 and in 1988, when it was the Masters and played in New York, has played in 10 of the last 11 season-ending championships of the top eight players in the world. He only missed the 1993 tournament, when he failed to qualify.

He began poorly against Chang, dropping his first service game. But he caught up in the ninth game, breaking Chang with aggressive play, and the set went to a tiebreaker, which Becker dominated.

Becker was devastating in the second set, changing pace and hitting winners from all over the court.

The third set went with serve, although Becker had to save a break point in the seventh game. He finished the match with his 24th ace, after 2 hours, 16 minutes.

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Steffi Graf survived blisters on her right foot and only the second women’s five-set final in 94 years to win the WTA Tour Championships title at Madison Square Garden in New York.

“It’s an incredible end to an unbelievable year,” Graf said, after outlasting German compatriot Anke Huber, 6-1, 2-6, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.

Only when Huber’s backhand was intercepted by the net to cap a long rally and give Graf a service break in the eighth game of the fifth set was Graf close to winning the title and the $500,000 first-place check in this season-ending tournament.

And even then she had to hold serve to close out the match, winning with her 10th ace of the match.

College Football

Nebraska, Ohio State and Florida remained 1-2-3 in the Associated Press poll, while Northwestern moved up one spot to No. 4.

The Wildcats (10-1) passed Tennessee (9-1) in the rankings after the Volunteers struggled to defeat Kentucky, 34-31.

USC dropped six spots to No. 17.

George Jones turned in a record-breaking running performance and Billy Blanton passed for 321 yards and two touchdowns as San Diego State, 8-3 overall and 5-2 in the Western Athletic Conference, romped to a 49-10 victory late Saturday night over Hawaii (4-6, 2-5) in Honolulu.

Jones rushed for 164 yards to raise his season total to 1,755 yards and break the WAC mark of 1,630 yards set by Marshall Faulk of the Aztecs three years ago.

Texas Coach John Mackovic said the status of quarterback James Brown “is more than iffy, it’s highly questionable” for Thursday’s home game against Baylor because of a sprained left ankle.

Golf

Sweden’s Annika Sorenstam shot a four-under-par 69 to win the Australian Ladies Masters championship in Gold Coast, Australia, by a record eight strokes over Jane Geddes of the United States.

Sorenstam, the dominant figure in women’s golf in 1995, had a 72-hole total of 270, finishing 22 under par--also a tournament record.

Jumbo Ozaki rolled in a 30-foot eagle putt on the final hole for a one-shot victory over Robert Gamez, Brandt Jobe and Peter Senior in the $2 million Dunlop Phoenix Golf Tournament in Miyazaki, Japan.

Miscellany

The UCLA men’s soccer team rallied for a 2-1 victory over Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the first round of the NCAA tournament at UCLA. Trailing, 1-0, Justin Selander scored at the 54:21 mark to tie the score and Ante Razov scored at 83:53 for the winning margin.

The Bruins will play Santa Clara in the tournament’s second round at a site and time to be determined today.

Jockey Russell Baze rode Royal Boutique to a wire-to-wire victory at Golden Gate Fields in San Francisco to become the first jockey in history with at least 400 victories in four consecutive years.

Debra Williams scored eight consecutive points in overtime, and fourth-ranked Louisiana Tech gave No. 1 Connecticut its first loss in more than a year with an 83-81 victory in the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic in Knoxville, Tenn.

In the other game, Latina Davis sparked a 14-0 second-half run and No. 6 Tennessee controlled the boards to defeat No. 3 Virginia, 78-51.

Don Larsen, who pitched the only perfect game in World Series history, was released from the hospital in Castella, Calif., two days after being involved in a 30-vehicle highway accident. Larsen was treated for cuts and abrasions to his head and arms, Mercy Medical Center spokeswoman Mary Jo Ashton said. Larsen’s wife, Corrine, suffered back injuries, and was one of three people who remained hospitalized in fair condition.

Susannah Schott scored three goals and Kim Schroll had four assists, leading North Carolina to the NCAA women’s Division I field hockey championship with a 5-1 victory over Maryland in Winston-Salem, N.C.