Fittipaldi Not Retiring Yet--Keeps Options Open

Race driver Emerson Fittipaldi, denying speculation that he was retiring, said he hopes to race again after recuperating from a broken vertebra in his neck.

“I want to keep the doors open,” the 50-year-old Indy car driver said during a news conference at which he had been expected to announce his retirement. “It’s not the time to make a decision. I’d like to continue with competition.”

Fittipaldi said his physical therapy is going well and his immediate goal is recovering from injuries he suffered in July during the Marlboro 500, when he crashed into a wall at 230 mph.

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Mark Blundell was in stable condition at a Miami hospital after crashing at nearly 200 mph during practice runs Friday at CART’s Indy car spring training.

“His vital signs are OK,” a hospital spokeswoman said. “He’s still conscious, and it seems like he’ll be fine.”

Winter Sports

Alpine skiing’s governing body, which threatened to consider holding the 1998 Nagano Olympic downhill races outside Japan, recanted the statement and said there was no risk of that happening.

Tennis

Martina Hingis, 16, recorded her 100th pro victory, defeating Amanda Coetzer in a 45-minute quarterfinal of the Pan Pacific Open at Tokyo, 6-0, 6-1.

Top-ranked Steffi Graf also reached the semifinals, defeating fifth-seeded Iva Majoli, 6-2, 6-3.

In Saturday’s semifinals, Hingis will play fourth-seeded Anke Huber, a 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 winner over sixth-seeded Lindsay Davenport. Graf will play eighth-seeded Brenda Schultz-McCarthy, a 6-1, 6-0 winner over third-seeded Conchita Martinez.

Top-seeded Goran Ivanisevic advanced to the semifinals of the Croatian Indoor tournament when his opponent, Alex Radulescu, quit early in the second set because of back pains.

Jeff Tarango and Doug Flach, the last two Americans at the Shanghai Open in Beijing, were beaten in the semifinals. Leander Paes beat Tarango, 3-6, 6-2, 3-6, and Alexander Volkov beat Flach, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.

Jurisprudence

Former Nebraska football player Riley Washington, 23, was acquitted of attempted murder and weapons charges. He had been accused of shooting and injuring Jermaine Cole outside a Lincoln convenience store Aug. 2, 1995. He played on two national championship teams but quit last season.

Connecticut football players Shane Stafford, 20; Dactavian Newton, 23; and Murray Clayton Jr., 18, were arrested on charges of second-degree burglary, a felony, and sixth-degree larceny, a misdemeanor, according to campus police. The players were released on $2,500 bond and ordered to appear in Superior Court on Feb. 11.

Cleveland Indian pitcher Jose Mesa pleaded not guilty to a rape charge, surrendered his passport and was freed on $10,000 bond two weeks before spring training.

Mesa, 30, is charged with rape, assault and other charges related to a complaint by two women he met at a nightclub Dec. 22. He was indicted by a Cuyahoga County grand jury Jan. 16 on one count of rape, two counts of gross sexual imposition, one count of felonious assault and one count of carrying a concealed weapon.

Mesa and a friend, David Blanco, were arrested Dec. 27. They pleaded not guilty to gross sexual imposition Jan. 8 and were freed on $5,000 bond each.

Former Miami Dolphin Mercury Morris lost his bid for a new trial in a cocaine case. He had sought a new trial, claiming there is new evidence that would have crimped the prosecution’s case growing out of a 1982 arrest. But Circuit Judge Robert Scola ruled the evidence had been available to the defense at the time of the trial.

Miscellany

Former Angel outfielder Mike Aldrete, 36, agreed to a minor-league contract with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Minnesota shortstop Pat Meares, Detroit pitcher Omar Olivares and Atlanta pitcher Yorkis Perez agreed to one-year contracts with their respective teams.

Marathoner Josia Thugwane, the first black South African to win an Olympic gold medal, was assaulted by an irate motorist at the same spot where three car hijackers shot him five months ago.

The assault forced him to miss a ceremony honoring him as South Africa’s outstanding sports personality of 1996.

Former track star Ulis Williams, who won a gold medal in 1964 as a member of the U.S. 1,600-relay team, was named president and superintendent of Compton College.