Minus Top Players, U.S. Falls to Netherlands in Fed Cup

This is not what Martina Navratilova had in mind for her debut as coach of the U.S. Fed Cup team.

The United States, the champions of this event in 1996, was bounced out in the first round by the Netherlands after the loss of both singles matches Sunday at Haarlem, Netherlands.

Miriam Oremans routed Chanda Rubin, 6-3, 6-0, for the clinching victory after Mary Joe Fernandez was beaten by Brenda Schultz-McCarthy, 1-6, 6-4, 9-7.

“The fast surface favored their game,” Navratilova said. “They just chipped and charged.”

After splitting Saturday’s singles in the best-of-five, two-day format, the Dutch team clinched the victory before the U.S. won the meaningless doubles match.

The Netherlands, which lost its only Fed Cup final in 1968, advances to the July semifinals in World Group I against the Czech Republic, which defeated a weakened German team, missing Steffi Graf and Anke Huber.

The United States was playing without its two top players--Monica Seles and Lindsay Davenport. Seles has a broken finger and Davenport was left off the team after a dispute with Navratilova.

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Top-ranked Pete Sampras again fell behind early to a low-ranked but very game opponent, then pulled out a 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 victory over Patrick Rafter to win the Advanta Championships at Philadelphia.

It was the 20th consecutive victory for Sampras and his 11th title in his last 18 tournaments--including the Australian Open in January.

Sampras again served poorly, getting his first serve in play only 55% of the time. Earlier in the week, he had dropped four service games against Jonas Bjorkman and five to Sjeng Schalken.

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Goran Ivanisevic won the quickest final in ATP Tour history, making short work of Sergi Bruguera, 6-2, 6-2, in the Italian Indoors tournament at Milan. Ivanisevic needed only 47 minutes to overcome the Spaniard at Assago Forum and capture his second ATP Tour title of 1997.

Motor Sports

Rusty Wallace managed to avoid hard-driving Jeff Gordon and finish first in the Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond, Va., but he may not have won the race.

Four hours after Wallace crossed the finish line, NASCAR officials announced they had taken the engine from his Ford Thunderbird for “failing to meet compression ratio specifications.”

NASCAR spokesman Kevin Triplett said the engine had been tested more than once and did not comply with the organization’s 14-to-1 compression standard. The inspection is routine for the winner’s engine and at least two others after each race.

Triplett said there will be more testing on the engine before a ruling is announced, probably today. If Wallace’s victory becomes official, it would be his first of the season and 47th of his career. Geoff Bodine passed Jarrett for second.

Michael Andretti won the IndyCar series-opening CART Grand Prix of Miami driving a Swift Ford--the first victory for a U.S.-manufactured chassis since April 1983.

Andretti, driving for the Newman/Haas team, defeated Canadian Paul Tracy, who was in a Penske Mercedes-Benz, and 1996 series champion Jimmy Vasser, who drove a Reynard Honda.

Colin McRae of Britain fought stiff competition from compatriot Richard Burns to win the second leg of the 44th Safari Rally at Nairobi, Kenya. McRae, driving a Subaru Impreza WRT finished the loop northwest of Nairobi, with 8 hours, 11 minutes and 1 second in penalty points. . . . Defending champion David Empringham won the season-opening event on the Indy Lights circuit, passing Mark Hotchkis on the final restart at Homestead, Fla. with only two laps remaining.

Golf

Karrie Webb’s bid to finally win a pro tournament in her homeland crumbled in the final round, allowing Gail Graham to capture the $650,000 Australian Ladies Masters at Gold Coast.

Webb went into the final round ahead by four strokes, then increased her lead to five shots by the sixth hole before her game unraveled. She was in tears afterward.

The Canadian pressured Webb with birdies at the eighth, ninth and 11th holes and won for the second time in eight years on the LPGA Tour. Graham closed with a four-under-par 68 for a total of 15-under 273.

Webb, who had rounds of 66 Friday and Saturday, bogeyed three of the last nine holes--including the last two, both of which she three-putted--for a 73.

Australian rookie Richard Green sank a 12-foot putt to birdie the first playoff hole and capture the $1.1 million Dubai Classic, defeating Greg Norman and Ian Woosnam in a three-cornered playoff.

Green, playing in only his second year on the European PGA Tour, Norman and Woosnam had finished with an overall 16-under over four rounds, forcing the playoff on the 17th hole.

Winter Sports

Warwara Zelenskaja of Russia took over the lead in the downhill standings and Sweden’s Pernilla Wiberg all but clinched the World Cup overall title when they finished 1-2 in a women’s downhill at Hakuba, Japan.

Zelenskaja’s second victory in as many races, and her third consecutive victory overall on the World Cup tour, gave her 423 points heading into the final downhill of the season in two weeks at Vail, Colo.

Rintje Ritsma of the Netherlands raced to victory in the men’s 1,500 meters at the World Cup speedskating finals and clinched the title in the event at Inzell, Germany.

Ritsma covered the distance in 1 minute, 51.87 seconds to defeat fellow Dutchman Martin Hersman, who was second in 1:52.36. Keiji Shirahata of Japan was third in 1:53.82. . . . Luc Alphand brought home his third consecutive World Cup downhill title while Norway’s Lasse Kjus posted his second victory of the season at Kvitfjell, Norway. Kjus stormed down the 2,888-yard Olympiabakken course, winning in 1:27.12 seconds, ahead of Italy’s Pietro Vitalini, second in 1:27.26. . . . Running across a frozen lake against the white backdrop of Mount McKinley, 53 mushers began their quest for victory in the 25th annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race at Willow, Alaska.

Miscellany

Kansas City Chief owner Lamar Hunt has taken another step toward continuity in the organization by transferring 80% of the ownership of the team to his four children. The move allows the Hunt family to avoid heavy estate taxes upon his death. It’s also an indication the team will stay in Kansas City.

Green Bay Packer quarterback Brett Favre may be free of restrictions imposed by the NFL last year against drinking, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. During an interview, Favre was unspecific about his status in the substance-abuse treatment program but indicated he was free of the alcohol ban.

With freshman Catherine Fox winning the 100-yard freestyle in a meet record 48.90 seconds, Stanford has wrapped up its 11th consecutive Pacific 10 Conference women’s swimming and diving championship at Federal Way, Wash. The Cardinal won with 1,573 points, followed by USC with 1,205 and Arizona. . . . Shannon Miller, competing for the first time since the Olympics, was a bit rusty at the International three on three Gymnastics championship at Fort Worth, Texas. Miller scored a 9.175 on the balance beam, the lowest of the three women performing the event in the finals. Her team finished third to a team from China.