Martin Is the Lonesome American in Italian Open

It’s Todd Martin for the defense, which is probably right because he is the only American left in the Italian Open field.

Martin defended U.S. players Wednesday after Thomas Muster said they duck European clay-court tennis tournaments. Today, 15th-seeded Martin plays top-seeded and defending champion Muster in the third round in Rome after beating Alberto Berasategui, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

“It’s unfounded to say they don’t care about these tournaments,” Martin said. “It’s not necessary to talk that way about your peers.”

The Rome field has been weakened by the absence of the top three American players: Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Michael Chang. Those defections prompted Muster to say Europeans were “stupid” to offer big money to American stars, only for them to stay away or withdraw at the last minute claiming injury.

He backed off only on Sampras, who is mourning the death of his coach Tim Gullikson.

“Whatever I said yesterday is pretty right,” said Muster, who advanced with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Petr Korda. “They [Americans] should not enter tournaments all the time and pull out. I don’t think it’s correct. There’s a few guys who always do the same thing.”

One American, two-time Italian Open champion and fifth-seeded Jim Courier, might as well have stayed home. He was an upset loser to No. 61 Hernan Gumy, 6-4, 6-4.

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Steffi Graf beat Yayuk Basuki of Indonesia, 6-2, 6-1, to advance to the quarterfinals of the German Open, but 15-year-old prodigy Martina Hingus, who beat Graf a week ago, was ousted by Karina Habsudova of Slovakia, No. 54.

Football

The father of Brett Favre, Irvin, said his son is addicted to the painkiller Vicodin, a narcotic with an effect similar to codeine, and that he will also be evaluated for alcohol abuse.

Favre, the Green Bay Packer quarterback and NFL’s most valuable player, said he will enter a drug treatment center to deal with his addiction, which he said was the result of medical treatments.

A plan for an almost wholly new stadium within the existing walls of the Coliseum was presented to the Coliseum Commission by Ron Labinsky, a senior vice president of the stadium design firm of HOK.

The new double-deck facility, containing 8,000 club seats and 140 suites and with a capacity of 65,000 fans would cost about $150 million. When financing, architecture and other costs were included, Labinsky said the cost would be close to $190 million.

The Coliseum Commission took no action on the plan, and some members said nothing could happen until a new NFL team and financing were obtained.

Though Nashville will not get the Oilers from Houston for two years, the city has obligated itself to a $25-million relocation fee now that team owner K.S. “Bud” Adams signed a 30-year lease for a stadium that is yet to be built.

Northwestern University stepped back from its plan to push students further back in the stands at games at Dyche Stadium, where the Wildcats’ success last season brought in new fans who complained about the students.

Basketball

Sheryl Swoopes and Ruthie Bolton scored 20 points each for the United States’ women’s national team, which won its 36th consecutive game and the title in a basketball tournament with an 87-78 victory over Australia at Adelaide.

Auburn guard Wes Flanigan underwent surgery to have a cancerous tumor removed from a bone in his left arm.

Though coaches had recommended changing the format to give the regular-season champion a bye into the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, athletic directors voted against it at Amelia Island, Fla.

Senior guard Mack Tuck was kicked off Colorado’s team after his arrest for allegedly threatening a pregnant 17-year-old who refused to have sex with him.

Boxing

Augie Sanchez, who lost his 125-pound spot on the Olympic team when he was beaten by Floyd Mayweather in the box-offs, has signed a contract with promoter Bob Arum and will open his pro career June 1.

Soccer

Juergen Klinsman scored his 15th goal to set a European Cup scoring record for Bayern Munich, which beat Bordeaux, 3-1, for the cup title in France. . . . Greece has been suspended from all international soccer competition for failing to bring its rules of operation into line with the sport’s international governing body.

Names in the News

Golfer Mark McCumber will have rotator cuff surgery after the PGA Championship in August. . . . Stanford catcher A.J. Hinch was named Pacific 10 Conference Southern Division baseball player of the year, and USC sophomore Seth Etherton was named pitcher of the year. USC’s Mike Gillespie is coach of the year. . . . Shortstop Kim Rondina of Nevada Las Vegas is Big West Conference softball player of the year. Danny Dunn of New Mexico State and Amy Miner of Long Beach State shared pitching honors, and Rick Gamez of New Mexico State is coach of the year.