Capriati Comes Back in More Ways Than One

Playing in her native South Florida for the first time in three years, Jennifer Capriati rallied to defeat Lea Ghirardi-Rubbi, 7-5, 6-1, Thursday night in the opening round of the Lipton Championships at Key Biscayne.

Capriati fell behind, 0-5, then won the next 11 games.

“I was a little nervous,” she said. “I haven’t been playing in front of a lot of people, and you can’t go right into that like it is nothing. I think every human has feelings and gets those jitters, and I am only human.”

Wild-card entrants Aaron Krickstein and Pam Shriver slipped a little more at the Lipton.

Krickstein, 29 and ranked 196th, lost his 12th consecutive match, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, to 144th-ranked Wojtek Kowalski. Shriver, 33, was losing to 202nd-ranked Corina Morariu, 6-1, 1-0, before retiring because of a hip injury.

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Magnus Gustafsson defeated Swedish compatriot Anders Jarryd, 6-2, 6-2, in the second round of the St. Petersburg Open in Russia.

Olympics

Atlanta officials have begun Project Homeward Bound, a program in which Fulton County will buy one-way bus tickets out of town for the homeless before the Olympic Games.

At a meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, the IAAF, track and field’s world governing body, is expected to change the Atlanta Olympic schedule to afford Michael Johnson a shot at a sprint double in the 200 and 400 meters, and move the men’s marathon starting time from evening to early morning.

The Daily Telegraph in London said Jon Clark, an Englishman appointed as U.S. Olympic men’s field hockey coach, was not on Britain’s 1984 bronze-medal team, as claimed on his resume, nor had he played 147 times for the English and British national teams, which he also had claimed.

Football

The Maryland House of Delegates approved $70.5 million worth of improvements around a planned Redskin stadium in Prince George’s County and $200 million for a Baltimore facility for the former Cleveland Browns.

The Cincinnati Bengals signed cornerback Jimmy Spencer, a starter the last two seasons for New Orleans, to a two-year deal worth $1.4 million. . . . The New England Patriots signed free-agent defensive tackle Mark Wheeler, who has spent his four seasons with Tampa Bay. . . . The Miami Dolphins signed fullback Keith Byars to a one-year contract. . . . The Tampa Bay Buccaneers waived veteran safety Thomas Everett. . . . Defensive end Trace Armstrong of the Dolphins is the new president of the NFL Players Assn.

Jurisprudence

Alfredo Roberts, former Dallas Cowboy tight end, appeared before a grand jury investigating the arrest of a woman on drug-possession charges, but Cowboy receiver Michael Irvin did not appear and will testify on Tuesday.

Angus Charles Drogo Montagu, the 12th Duke of Manchester and a member of Britain’s House of Lords, could go to jail for three to seven years after a federal jury convicted him of conspiracy and wire fraud in a scheme to bilk Tampa-area banks and the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning out of $27 million.

Miscellany

Iowa had seven of its 10 wrestlers reach today’s NCAA quarterfinals in Minneapolis, keeping the team on track for a second consecutive national title and fifth in six years.

Four-time defending champion Stanford held a 45-point lead over Southern Methodist after the first day of the NCAA women’s swimming and diving championship at Ann Arbor, Mich. USC is in fourth place.

Brazilian stars Bebeto and Rai scored goals, leading Deportivo de La Coruna and Paris-St. Germain into the semifinals of the European Cup Winners Cup soccer semifinals.