Hingis Hangs On, Makes It to Indoor Final

Martina Hingis of Switzerland defeated third-seeded Anke Huber of Germany, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (8-6), Saturday to advance to the final of the European Indoors tennis tournament at Zurich, Switzerland.

Hingis, seeded fifth, will play fourth-seeded Jana Novotna of the Czech Republic in today’s final. Novotna upset second-seeded defending champion Iva Majoli of Croatia, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, in the other semifinal.

Hingis, 16, won her first tournament title last Sunday and breezed through the early rounds of the Zurich tournament and spent less than an hour on court in her three previous matches. She needed one hour 50 minutes to defeat Huber.

After surging to a 6-1 lead in the tiebreaker, Hingis let five match points slip through her fingers as Huber tied the score, 6-6. Supported by the crowd, Hingis won the next two points to close the match.

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Vincent Spadea, a late replacement for ailing fellow American Richey Reneberg, defeated Sweden’s Jonas Bjorkman, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, to reach the final of the Marlboro Championships at Hong Kong. Spadea will play Patrick Rafter of Australia today. Spadea was put into the semifinals after fourth-seeded Reneberg pulled out an hour before the match because of a stomach virus.

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Unseeded David Prinosil of Germany upset Tim Henman of Britain, 6-4, 6-3, to advance to the final of the Czech Indoor tournament at Ostrava. Petr Korda of the Czech Republic beat countryman Martin Damm, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, in the other semifinal. . . . Magnus Larsson of Sweden gained his first final in 18 months when he beat top-seeded Marcelo Rios of Chile, 6-4, 6-4, in the Toulouse Grand Prix at Toulouse, France. Larsson will meet Mark Philippoussis, who rallied past fellow Australian Mark Woodforde, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (9-7). . . . South African Marcos Ondruska, ranked 121st in the world, saved three match points to upset second-seeded Alberto Costa of Spain, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6, (7-4), in the semifinals of the Israel Open at Ramat-Hasharon. . . . Top-seeded Kathrin Keil of Baton Rouge, La., defeated Kristi Noble of Mesa, Ariz., 6-1, 6-4, at San Antonio to defend her USTA Women’s 30 Hard Courts title.

Football

Ailing Indianapolis Colt owner Robert Irsay is in much better condition than many believe, his wife said Saturday.

Nancy Irsay issued a statement to dispute “continuing national media confusion” about her husband’s condition.

“There just seems to be this raging rumor that he’s on his death bed. It’s unkind, untrue, and I just want to set things straight.”

Irsay, 73, suffered a major stroke Nov. 29 and missed the Colts’ run through the playoffs last season, which ended in an AFC championship game loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

A high school football player died after collapsing during a game in western Kansas. Kevin Zimmerman, a quarterback and defensive back for Oakley High, came off the field in the fourth quarter with about five minutes left in Friday night’s game against Hoisington. Zimmerman told coaches he needed to be replaced, school officials said. He then collapsed.

The Logan County Hospital would not release the cause of death.

Motor Racing

Mark Martin earned his sixth Busch Grand National Series victory of the season and second in a row at the North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham, N.C. He passed Dale Jarrett for the lead with 15 laps remaining in the AC-Delco 200.

It was Martin’s 13th Busch Series start of the 26-race season.

Seventy cars set off from Hong Kong on the first leg of the 2,356-mile Hong Kong-Beijing Rally, the last time the event will be held. Italian Piero Liatti grabbed the early lead on the first leg.

Defending champion Matt Wait held off Dave Estook by less than a bike length to win the first round of the Harley-Davidson Twin Sports World Final for motorcycles at Daytona Beach, Fla.

Alex Criville of Spain failed to improve his time but held onto the pole position after the final qualifying session for today’s 500cc race at the Australian Grand Prix meet at Sydney. Australian Garry McCoy won the 125cc race and Japan’s Haruchika Aoki finished second to seal his second world title.

Boxing

World Boxing Assn. middleweight champion William Joppy retained his title with a sixth-round technical knockout of Ray McElroy of Long Beach at Upper Marlboro, Md. . . . Former British champion Chris Eubank returned to the ring after a year’s absence with a fifth-round light-heavyweight knockout of Argentina’s Luis Barrera at Cairo. . . . South Africa’s Phillip Holiday outpointed Mexico’s Joel Diaz to retain the International Boxing Federation lightweight title at Johannesburg, South Africa. . . . Samarn Sor Jaturong of Thailand knocked out Chilean challenger Ally Galvez in the second round to retain his World Boxing Council light-flyweight title at Bangkok. It was Samarn’s fifth defense of his title. . . . Canadian Shawn O’Sullivan, 34, announced he will return to the ring after a four-year absence. O’Sullivan, an Olympic silver medal winner in 1984, plans to take on American Frank Newton on Nov. 2.

Miscellany

Cleveland Indian designated hitter Kevin Seitzer underwent successful surgery to his left knee, removing floating cartilage, the team said. He is expected to begin rehabilitation immediately and be ready for spring training.

Cleophas Boor pulled away from Kenyan countryman Jonah Kiptarus, both of the University of Nebraska, and UCLA’s Mebrathom Keflezighi with 400 meters remaining to win the Pre-NCAA cross-country invitational at Tucson.

Arizona sophomore Amy Skieresz defeated her high school rival Amy Mortensen, now a freshman at UCLA, in the women’s race.