After Layoff, Sampras Defeated in Germany

Looking rusty after taking a month off and mourning the death of his coach, top-ranked Pete Sampras lost his first match on clay in nearly a year, to unheralded Bohdan Ulihrach on Tuesday in the World Team Cup at Duesseldorf, Germany.

Sampras, who is seeded first at the French Open, which begins next week, at times served impressively. But he was too erratic in the rain-interrupted match for the steadier Ulihrach, who won, 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 6-3.

“It was a very weird match, with many ups and downs. I was trying to hit big shots too quickly. I didn’t have the patience,” Sampras said. “But it was a very important match for me. I haven’t played on clay since last year’s French Open.”

Ulihrach’s victory also meant that the Czech Republic took an unbeatable 2-0 lead over the United States in the ATP World Team Cup.

Earlier, Petr Korda defeated Todd Martin, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, in another upset.

Because the tournament is a round-robin team event, Sampras will have at least two more matches before traveling to Paris. Those will be his only match practice before the French Open.

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Gabriela Sabatini, a six-time semifinalist at the French Open, withdrew from this year’s tournament because she still has not recovered from a stomach muscle problem that forced her to miss the Fed Cup and the Italian Open in the last four weeks.

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Top-seeded Thomas Muster needed only 34 minutes to beat Nasser Al-Khulify of Qatar, 6-0, 6-1, in the first round of the Raiffeisen Grand Prix ATP at St. Poelten, Austria. . . . Austrian Barbara Schett ousted Amy Frazier in the opening round of the Madrid Open and will face top-seeded Monica Seles today. . . . Anne Miller upset second-seeded Kimiko Date of Japan, 6-0, 6-4, in the opening round of the Strasbourg Open in France.

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Top-seeded Florida capped a perfect season with a 5-2 victory over second-seeded Stanford to win the NCAA Division I women’s tennis championship at Tallahassee, Fla. . . . Top-seeded Mark Ellis, a junior at California Lutheran, beat Jason Oliver, 6-2, 6-4, and Jeremy Munson, 6-2, 6-3, both of Redlands, to advance to the finals of the NCAA Division III championships in Atlanta. Ellis will play Todd Bowlby of Gustavus Adophus of St. Peter, Minn.

Jurisprudence

Former Nebraska defensive tackle Christian Peter acknowledged he has a drinking problem and apologized to the woman he was accused of grabbing by the throat.

Peter was sentenced to 10 days in jail and ordered to pay a $300 fine for disturbing the peace--the only charge prosecutors had said they could prove. The jail sentence was stayed pending an appeal.

Peter’s lawyers said their client already had been punished by losing a salary of up to $2 million when he was dropped by the New England Patriots three days after being drafted by the NFL team.

Golf

Sam Torrance splashed into the water three times and still beat fellow Scot Colin Montgomerie, 3 and 1, to win the European stage of the Andersen Consulting World Championship.

Torrance won $200,000--the biggest payday of his 25-year pro career--and will advance to the world finals against the winners of the United States, International and Japanese sections.

Scott Hoch has already won the U.S. section and Hisayuki Sasaki won the Japanese championship. Only the International champion is to be determined, in July with Greg Norman, Nick Price and Ernie Els expected to be among the eight competitors.

Miscellany

A Taiwanese triathlete, Tang Wen-Liang, was reported missing after the death of Chou Han, a competitor who died in the heavy surf at an international triathlon in Hualien, Taiwan.

Organizers said three competitors were rescued from the Pacific Ocean along Taiwan’s east coast Sunday during the Hualien International Triathlon Invitational. Han died in a hospital Monday after being pulled unconscious from the sea.

Names in the News

Len DeLuca, who spent 16 years with CBS Sports as a programming executive, has joined ESPN as its senior vice president of programming development, ESPN president and CEO.

Keiji Yamaguchi dethroned Carlos Murillo of Panama as World Boxing Assn. junior-flyweight champion by winning a split decision in their 12-round bout in Japan.

Jerry Kindall, who coached Arizona baseball teams to 861 victories and three NCAA titles in 24 seasons, announced his retirement.

Fred Taylor, who won 297 games in 18 years as Ohio State’s basketball coach, was in fair condition, recovering from surgery for a brain aneurysm.

Jamaal Magloire, a 6-foot-11 center who became the most heavily recruited high school player in Canada, has signed with Kentucky.

Kevin McGarry was promoted from assistant to head football coach at the University of San Diego.