Hingis Reaches Final in Upset of Davenport

Sixteen-year-old Martina Hingis of Switzerland defeated Olympic champion Lindsay Davenport, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, Saturday to reach the finals of the Porsche Grand Prix at Filderstadt, Germany.

In today’s final, Hingis will face Germany’s Anke Huber, who defeated Judith Wiesner of Austria, 6-1, 6-1.

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Boris Becker came from behind to beat American Todd Martin, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, in the semifinals of the CA Trophy tournament at Vienna.

Becker will face unseeded Jan Siemerink of the Netherlands in today’s final. Siemerink defeated Arnaud Boetsch of France, 7-6 (9-7), 6-4.

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Greg Rusedski of England defeated No. 4 seed Byron Black of Zimbabwe, 6-2, 6-2, to advance to the finals of the Beijing Open.

Rusedski will face Martin Damm of the Czech Republic in the finals. Damm, who upset world No. 2 Michael Chang earlier in the week, defeated Thomas Johansson of Sweden, 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 6-3.

Boxing

Unbeaten Robin Reid of England knocked out reigning champion Vincenzo Nardiello of Italy in the seventh round to capture the WBC super-middleweight title at Milan, Italy.

The fight was stopped at 2:58 of the round for the 22nd career victory--17th by knockout--for the English fighter, an Olympic bronze medalist at Barcelona.

Nardiello suffered his sixth defeat in 36 professional fights in his first defense of the title won from South African Thulane Malinga at Manchester last July.

In another title fight on the same card, Italy’s Giovanni Parisi retained his WBO super-lightweight crown by stopping Spanish challenger Sergio Rey Revilla in the fourth round.

Parisi is 33-2-1, while Rey-Revilla is 18-2.

Hiroshi Kawashima stopped Domingo Sosa of the Dominican Republic in the second round to defend his WBC super flyweight title at Tokyo.

Referee Laurence Cole stopped the fight at 2 minutes 15 seconds of the round as Kawashima pounded Sosa with a volley of punches against the ropes.

It was Kawashima’s sixth title defense, and he improved his record to 20-2-1 with 14 knockouts. Sosa, the WBC’s eighth-ranked challenger, is 28-5.

Motor Sports

Jacques Villeneuve edged Damon Hill for the pole position in the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, Japan.

Hill needs only one more point in today’s season finale to clinch the Formula One championship, a title his late father, Graham Hill, won twice.

Villeneuve, a 1995 IndyCar champion, led 19 other qualifiers with his best lap of 1 minute, 38.909 seconds, only 0.461 seconds ahead of Hill’s 1:39.370.

Dave Dion took the NASCAR Busch North title and Butch Leitzinger extended his mastery at Lime Rock Park by winning his third consecutive race on the 1.53-mile road course in the Dodge Dealers 200K at Lakeville, Conn.

Dion finished 13th in a Ford to beat Andy Santerre for the title. Santerre was 25th in a Chevrolet.

Leitzinger’s Ford averaged 64.844 mph while beating Dale Quarterley’s Chevrolet by .1 seconds.

Jeff Agnew won the pole position for the Taco Bell 300, NASCAR’s richest late model stock car race, with a fast lap of 88.881 mph at Martinsville Speedway.

Ron Hornaday Jr., hoping to strengthen his points lead in the NASCAR Truck series, had a track record lap of 92.540 mph to win the pole for the Ford Dealers 300 at Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield.

Next September’s NASCAR Winston Cup race at Dover, Del., will be shortened from 500 to 400 miles.

NASCAR drivers have been critical of the 500-mile races that often approach five hours around Dover Downs’ one-mile oval.

“The change to 400 miles will definitely make a better show for the fans, with more cars around at the finish,” said defending Winston Cup champion Jeff Gordon, who has won the last three races at Dover Downs.

Baseball

The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball has decided to postpone its opening season for a year, citing delays in stadium construction.

The league, which is not affiliated with major league baseball, was scheduled to begin play in June.

Frank Boulton is confident the ballparks will be ready for the 1998 season.

The Atlantic League has five franchises: Atlantic City and Newark, N.J.; Lehigh Valley, Pa.; Long Island, N.Y.; and a team that will play at an unspecified location in Maryland. It expects to add two more teams before play begins.

The teams will have 23-man rosters and expect to feature a mix of young players and former major leaguers.

Football

San Francisco 49er quarterback Steve Young, who has sat out two consecutive games because of a groin injury, practiced for the second consecutive day, but Coach George Seifert said he has not decided whether to start Elvis Grbac or Young in Monday night’s game at Green Bay.

Miscellany

Barbara Heeb of Switzerland won the women’s road race at the world cycling championships at Lugano, Switzerland. She covered the 62.6 miles in two hours, 53 minutes 5 seconds. Lithuania’s Rasa Polikeviciute was second in 2:53.20, followed by Canada’s Linda Jackson.

New Zealand’s Americas Cup hero Russell Coutts is tied with English skipper Chris Law in the semifinals of Brut Gold Cup match racing series at Hamilton, Bermuda. Coutts and his Team Magic crew are looking for a sweep of this year’s Gold Cup yachting circuit after winning the four previous regattas. But he struggled against Law, winning the second race to level the best-of-five semifinal at 1-1. In the other semifinal matchup, Australian Peter Gilmour, who will skipper the next Japanese America’s Cup challenge, is up, 2-0, against Germany’s Markus Wieser.