Muster’s Feats on Clay End at 38 in a Row

Thomas Muster finally showed he can lose on clay and Boris Becker showed he still can’t win on it Saturday in the BMW Open at Munich, Germany.

Muster’s clay-court winning streak was ended at 38 matches by Carlos Moya, a 19-year-old tennis player who is ranked 40th in the world and who needed only 69 minutes to win, 6-3, 6-3, in the semifinals.

The streak dated to early August and included seven tournament titles for Muster, ranked second. In the last three of those tournaments, Moya had been one of his victims.

Becker’s streak is even longer. He has never won a clay-court tournament, and has been particularly frustrated at Munich, where the courts are 10 minutes from his house.

The most recent frustration was administered by Slava Dosedel, an unseeded Czech who beat Becker, 7-6 (7-2), 2-6, 7-6 (8-6), in a three-hour match.

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Two-time defending champion and top-seeded Michael Chang fell victim to hard-serving Moroccan Karim Alami, 6-4, 6-4, in the semifinals of the AT&T; Challenge on clay in Atlanta. Alami’s opponent will be Nicklas Kulti of Sweden, who fought off a match point and outlasted second-seeded Richey Reneberg, 6-7 (7-5), 7-6 (8-6), 6-2.

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Defending champion Bohdan Ulihrach defeated Emilio Sanchez, 6-3, 6-1, and second-seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov beat Christian Ruud, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3, in semifinal-round matches in the Skoda Czech Open and will play each other today in Prague for the title. . . . Conchita Martinez routed a flu-weakened Mary Pierce, 6-1, 6-1, and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario beat Julie Halard-Decugis, 6-2, 6-0, to reach the finals of the Rexona Cup at Hamburg, Germany.

Golf

Jeff Maggert, playing on his home turf at the Tournament Players Course at The Woodlands, shot a six-under-par 66 to claim a one-shot lead over David Duval after three rounds of the Houston Open. Maggert, who had seven birdies, has a 14-under 202 after three rounds. Duval had a 67.

Larry Gilbert and Graham Marsh shared the lead in the PaineWebber Invitational in Charlotte, N.C., with Gilbert shooting a two-under-par 70 and Marsh a 71, both totaling 137. Among the 15 players within four shots of the co-leaders was Arnold Palmer, 66, who shot his second consecutive 70.

One shot off the lead were Dick Hendrickson, who shot a 67, and Jack Kiefer, who carded a 68 on a day when gusty winds helped make scoring difficult.

Catrin Nilsmark holed out a 60-yard sand wedge for eagle on the par-five ninth hole and birdied the other par-fives en route to a four-under-par 68 that gave her a 13-under 203 for 54 holes and a one-shot lead over Val Skinner in the LPGA’s Sprint Titleholders Championship at Daytona Beach, Fla.

Laura Davies shot a 67 and was within three strokes at 206, tied with Australian rookie Karrie Webb and Dawn Coe-Jones.

Auto Racing

Reigning Formula One champion Michael Schumacher set a qualifying record in his Ferrari, averaging 126.952 mph at Imola, Italy, in earning the pole for today’s San Marino Grand Prix.

Ron Hornaday Jr. outraced hometown favorite Mike Bliss after a late caution period to win the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Craftsman 200 at Portland (Ore.) Speedway, averaging a track-record 64.217 mph for the 100 miles and earning $36,375.

Blaine Johnson, John Force and Warren Johnson were the top qualifiers in top fuel, funny car and pro stock in the National Hot Rod Assn. Pennzoil Nationals in Dinwiddie, Va., where final eliminations are scheduled today.

Blaine Johnson turned a 4.721-second 295.27-mph pass in top fuel.

Force was No. 1 in funny car in 5.025 seconds and 294.11 mph.

Warren Johnson topped pro stock at 7.007 seconds, 196.16 mph, in a Pontiac Firebird.

Olympics

The controversial scoring of Olympic boxing will be modified for the 1996 Games. Although the boxing federation has decided to continue using the widely criticized electronic scoring system, the tabulation will not be revealed until the end of each bout, said Anwar Chowdhry, president of the International Amateur Boxing Assn.

Gavin Maxwell of Canada, who missed the 1992 Olympics by one spot, qualified for this year’s Games by winning the men’s canoe 1,000 meters in Atlanta, beating American Jim Terrell by about a canoe-length at the last Olympic hemispheric qualifier for eight countries.

Alexandra Harbold of Rockaway Beach, N.Y., joined her husband, Michael Harbold, on the U.S. Olympic team. He had previously qualified in the 1,000-meter men’s single kayak. She was on the winning team in the women’s kayak four.

Laser sailor Andy Lovell held off Nick Adamson to win the first race of the U.S. Olympic Yachting Trials in Savannah, Ga., then edged Adamson for runner-up in the second race and took the overall lead.

Among the other class leaders were: Robbie Daniel and Enrique Rodriguez, Tornado class; Jayne Fenner-Benedict and Lanee Butler, women’s Mistral windsurfer; Mike Gebhardt, men’s Mistral; Courtenay Becker-Dey, Europe class; Tyler Moore and Ryan Cox, men’s 470 class; and Kris Stookey and Louise Van Voorhis, women’s 470.

Miscellany

Dutchman Leon van Bon cycled to a stage victory in a 110.5-mile Raleigh-to-Greensboro, N.C., run and Lance Armstrong retained his race lead in the Tour DuPont.

Ernie Schlegel rolled strikes on his final six balls to beat defending champion Mike Aulby, 236-200, in the title match of the American Bowling Congress Bud Light Masters at Salt Lake City.

Striker Niall Thompson scored on a rebound in the 83rd minute to give Canada a 2-1 victory over the United States in an under-23 men’s soccer game at Calgary. Midfielder Temoc Suarez scored for the United States on a free kick.

Names in the News

Kentucky basketball Coach Rick Pitino said sophomore forward Antoine Walker intends to make himself available for the NBA draft, though Pitino said the decision is not final. . . . The Chicago Bears reportedly have exercised their option to extend the contract of Coach Dave Wannstedt through the 1997 season. . . . Buffalo Bills long snapper Adam Lingner has decided to retire after 13 years in the NFL.