Injured Thigh Puts Becker Out of French Open

Boris Becker, who has never won a title on clay, is pulling out of next week’s French Open because of a thigh injury.

The world’s fifth-ranked player and the Australian Open champion was playing in this week’s World Team Cup at Duesseldorf, Germany, a warm-up for the French Open, the second Grand Slam event of the year. He was seeded fifth for the clay-court tournament.

“I have a double muscle pull in my left thigh. I am very disappointed but I am, unfortunately, seriously injured,” Becker said Wednesday.

Becker, a three-time Wimbledon champion, said he was flying to Munich to begin his therapy, planning to take a 10-day break from tennis. He then will start to practice again, hoping to be fit in time for Queens, a major tuneup for Wimbledon, starting June 10.

Becker has won all the other Grand Slam tournaments.

With Becker out, Spain easily beat Germany for its second victory at the World Team Cup and will play Switzerland for a place in the final. Switzerland clinched its series with Sweden by winning both singles matches.

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Monica Seles returned to the courts of Europe with an emotional victory over Austrian Barbara Schett in her first match at the Madrid Open. Seles, playing in Europe for the first time since a spectator stabbed her in the back in Hamburg three years ago, won, 3-6, 7-6 (10-8), 6-2, surviving five match points with the help of the crowd.

“I knew coming in that it would be tough on me emotionally and it was,” said Seles, who has not played in a tournament since early February because of a shoulder injury.

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Thomas Muster saved four match points in the third-set tiebreaker to outlast Marc Goellner of Germany, 6-7 (7-4), 6-4, 7-6 (9-7), and advance to the quarterfinals of the Raiffeisen Grand Prix ATP tournament at St. Poelten, Austria. . . . Illness forced Mary Joe Fernandez to quit her match with Alexia Dechaume-Balleret in the Strasbourg Open. . . . Mark Ellis of Cal Lutheran won the NCAA Division III men’s singles championship at Atlanta, beating Todd Bowlby of Minnesota’s Gustavus Adolphus, 6-4, 6-4.

Jurisprudence

Undefeated heavyweight boxer Jo-el Scott pleaded not guilty to an 11-count indictment that charged him of raping three young girls. Scott was freed on $100,000 bail after his arraignment in Albany (N.Y.) County Court. The 25-year-old faces charges ranging from first-degree rape to endangering the welfare of a child, and he could be sentenced to 12 1/2 to 25 years in prison.

Not-guilty pleas were entered in Athens (Ohio) Municipal Court for two college football players charged with assaulting Ohio University students last weekend. Ohio State defensive end Matt Finkes and Ohio University quarterback Chet Feldman were charged with assault and resisting arrest after an altercation Friday night at a street party in Athens.

Luis Sharpe, a former offensive lineman for the Arizona Cardinals, was freed from jail after being put on probation and ordered to undergo drug treatment. He had been held without bond after he failed to take a drug test, which violated a condition of his release from jail last month.

Miscellany

UCLA (45-9) opens defense of its NCAA softball title today against Michigan (51-12) at the College World Series at the Olympic venue in Columbus, Ga.

Arizona freshman Maria Baena shot a two-under-par 70 to take a four-shot lead in the opening round of the NCAA women’s golf championships at La Quinta. Texas led the team competition with a 25-over 313 total. UCLA was at 315.

Juventus of Italy won the European Champions’ Cup by beating defending champion Ajax of Amsterdam, 4-2 on penalty kicks, after a 1-1 tie in Rome.

The U.S. water polo team withstood a late rally by Italy and beat the defending Olympic and world champions, 11-10, in the U.S. Open at Nashville.

Steve Hegg won the second leg of the U.S. Olympic road cycling trials at Martinsburg, W.Va., and Frankie Andreu again finished second to take the overall lead.

Reversing a decision from the previous day, Big 12 Conference officials agreed that instead of giving up two years of eligibility to transfer within the conference, athletes will have to sit out only one.

Names in the News

Jeff Gordon turned a fast lap of 183.773 to win the pole for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. . . . NBC Sports President Dick Ebersol received the longest contract ever extended to an executive of NBC or its parent company, General Electric, signing through 2004. . . . Seymour H. Knox III, who along with his brother founded the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, died at his home after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 70. . . . Maria Elena Romero of USC has qualified for a spot on the Mexican Olympic team in the three-meter diving competition. . . . The British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League signed former Heisman Trophy winner Andre Ware.