Sampras Gets an Early Exit at Monte Carlo

The Monte Carlo Open lost a lot of star power on Tuesday when Pete Sampras, Thomas Muster and Boris Becker, with 15 Grand Slam titles among them, all lost their first matches at Monaco.

Magnus Larsson of Sweden, a former top-10 player, beat Sampras, the world’s top-ranked player; Renzo Furlan of Italy beat Becker, and Fabrice Santoro of France ousted Muster.

“It’s the same story with me on clay,” said Sampras, who lost, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. “I just start pressing a little bit and start going for a little too much. On hard court it just comes naturally.”

Muster, once nearly unbeatable on clay, has lost twice within a week on the surface. Santoro beat him, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3).

Becker lost to Furlan, 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).

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Fourth-seeded Alex O’Brien cruised past Austria’s Gilbert Schaller, 6-4, 6-2, and advanced to the second round of the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships at Lake Buena Vista, Fla. . . . South African Amanda Coetzer, seeded No. 2, struggled briefly against wild-card entrant Andrea Temesvari before beating her, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, in the first round of the Budapest Ladies’ Open at Hungary.

Golf

With winds gusting off Lake Oconee from an approaching storm, Davis Love III put his tee shot within two feet of the hole on the second playoff hole and knocked in the birdie putt to beat Phil Mickelson for the U.S. title in the Andersen Consulting World Championship of Golf at Eatonton, Ga.

College Basketball

Hoping to jazz up offensive play, the NCAA decided to reinstate college basketball’s five-second rule, which was dropped four seasons ago.

Names in the News

Former USC and Raider quarterback Todd Marinovich, 27, pleaded innocent in a Laguna Niguel courtroom to a felony charge of cultivating marijuana and two drug-related misdemeanor charges. Marinovich was ordered to return to South Municipal Court on May 15 for a pretrial hearing and on June 3 for a preliminary hearing. Marinovich was arrested March 24 after he placed a 911 call from his Dana Point home to report a friend was unconscious, apparently from an overdose of an opiate, authorities said. The friend recovered.

Lars Tate, a former running back with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was shot and critically wounded in Indianapolis. Police said Tate, 32, was shot in the throat as he tried to help a woman who was arguing with another man over custody of a child. The woman, Doris Smith, 45, also was shot and was listed in serious condition. Haywood Rice, 31, of Indianapolis was arrested and will probably face two charges of attempted murder, police said.

Coach John Vargas has named a 15-man roster for the U.S. water polo team. The team includes Omar Amr of Fullerton, Gavin Arroyo of Orange, Dan Hackett of Irvine, Chi Kredell of Seal Beach, Jeremy Laster of San Clemente and Chris Oeding of Newport Beach. The team will compete May 6-11 in the Newport Beach International tournament.