Becker Overcomes Sampras With Strong Inside Game

Boris Becker demonstrated that he has recovered from a serious wrist injury, defeating top-ranked Pete Sampras, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, to win the Eurocard Open tennis championship Sunday in Stuttgart, Germany.

Serving 29 aces, Becker rallied from a set down for the victory.

“He’s to Germany what Michael Jordan is to the United States,” Sampras said. “There’s only one king in Germany and his name is Boris.”

Playing in his third tournament since injuring his wrist at Wimbledon in June, Becker won his 48th title, his 29th indoors.

“My muscles started to hurt in the fifth set, but I gritted my teeth and hung on,” Becker said. “Being this good this soon after the injury is the best Christmas gift I could have.

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Top-seeded Anke Huber of Germany defeated fifth-seeded Karina Habsudova of Slovakia, 6-3, 6-0, to win the championship of the Seat Luxembourg Open.

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Lisa Raymond won her first WTA title, beating Els Callens of Belgium, 6-4, 6-4, at the Bell Challenge at Quebec City.

Motor Racing

Bobby Hamilton won the Dura-Lube 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, earning his first Winston Cup victory and giving car-owner Richard Petty his first victory in 13 years.

Hamilton led the final 30 laps on the one-mile oval.

Winston Cup stock car points leader Terry Labonte overcame his injured hand and drove to the brink of his second championship, finishing third.

Labonte can wrap up the series title by finishing eighth or better during the season-finale Nov. 10 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Skiing

Steve Locher of Switzerland won his first World Cup race in three years, capturing a men’s giant slalom in Soelden, Austria.

Locher was timed in 2 minutes, 3.20 seconds on a course that dropped 1,184 feet through 42 gates on the first run and 45 on the second. He led after the first run with 58.56.

Locher beat teammate, Michael Von Gruenigen, by .31 seconds.

Miscellany

Isaac Garcia, a physical education instructor in the Mexican Navy, ran 2 hours 15 minutes 9 seconds to win the Marine Corps Marathon in Arlington, Va.

Garcia’s time was 68 seconds off the race record set by Jeff Scuffins in 1987.

Emma Cabrera of Mexico was the fastest woman in 2:48:34.

Canada tied host Panama, 0-0, in a World Cup 1998 qualifying soccer game and will advance to next year’s CONCACAF regional finals.

Leading Group 2 play with 10 points, Canada secured its berth in the second round next year for teams from North and Central America and the Caribbean. El Salvador was second with four points, followed by Cuba with three and Panama with two.

Two teams in each of CONCACAF’s three groups will advance to the next round in 1997, which will select three teams for the World Cup tournament in France.

Nine of the 11 coaches in the Big Ten Conference favor a conference basketball tournament, but a final decision will be made by school presidents during a December meeting.

Indiana’s Bob Knight and Minnesota’s Clem Haskins spoke against the conference tournament during the Big Ten preseason media day. The Big Ten, Pacific 10 and Ivy League are the only major conferences without a postseason tournament.

Switzerland’s Mauro Gianetti won the final leg of the World Cup cycling championships, beating France’s Pascal Herve by 23 seconds for the Japan Cup in Utsunomiya, Japan.

John Museeuw of Belgium finished 26th, but had enough points to clinch the overall title for the 11-race World Cup for the second year in a row.

Nancy Deschamps scored on a rebound at 11:30 of the third period to give Canada a 1-0 victory over the United States in the finals of the inaugural Three Nations Cup women’s hockey tournament in Ottawa.

Deschamps shot over fallen goaltender Erin Whitten to give Canada a 6-0 record in women’s international competition.

The U.S. men beat Canada in the inaugural World Cup of Hockey in September.