Unsportsmanlike Conduct Gets Courier Disqualified

Jim Courier was disqualified from his doubles match at the Monte Carlo Open on Thursday after twice using an audible obscenity and then, after losing a point because of that, kicking the umpire’s chair.

ATP Tour officials said the disqualification will cost Courier his prize money.

Courier and partner Marc Rosset of Switzerland were losing, 4-1, in the third set to Luis Lobo of Argentina and Javier Sanchez of Spain in the second round of the doubles. Courier and Rosset won the first set, 6-3, but lost the second, 6-2.

An angry Courier was given a warning for an audible obscenity. When he repeated it, the team lost a point. Then Courier kicked the umpire’s chair and was disqualified.

The fine will be the loss of any winnings in both singles and doubles and loss of ranking points. Courier had lost in the second round of the singles to Mark Philippousis.

In other singles action, Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands defeated Philippousis of Australia, and Fabrice Santoro of France defeated Sergi Bruguera of Spain.

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Top-seed Michael Chang improved to 25-3 on the year with a 6-2, 6-7 (7-3), 7-5 victory over Spain’s Juan Albert Viloca in the second round of the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships at Lake Buena Vista, Fla., 6-3, 6-1.

Pro Football

Safety Eric Turner signed a four-year contract with the Oakland Raiders, their third major free-agent signing in the last 10 weeks. Turner, a Pro Bowl player two of the last three seasons, had five interceptions last season for the Baltimore Ravens. . . . Free-agent defensive tackle Tony Siragusa, who played with the Indianapolis Colts last season, signed a four-year deal worth an estimated $6 million with Baltimore. . . . Free-agent fullback Aaron Craver, who started for Denver the last two seasons, agreed to a one-year contract with the San Diego Chargers.

Soccer

Defender Robin Fraser, who has a groin injury, will be among four Galaxy starters who will sit out Saturday night’s game against the Dallas Burn at the Rose Bowl. Goalkeeper Jorge Campos, forward Eduardo Hurtado and midfielder Martin Machon have commitments to other teams.

Major League Soccer fined Dallas Coach Dave Dir $250 for verbal abuse of an official. Kansas City Wizard assistant Guy Newman was assessed the same fine for drenching an opposing player in Kansas City’s 2-1 victory last Friday.

Shannon MacMillan scored one goal and assisted on another as the U.S. women’s national team defeated France, 4-2, at Greensboro, N.C.

Paris St. Germain lost to Liverpool, 2-0, but still advanced on a 3-2 aggregate and will face Barcelona in the May 14 final of the Cup Winners Cup. Barcelona defeated Fiorentina, 2-0, in Florence, Italy.

Basketball

Miles Simon, the most valuable player in the Final Four, will return to help Arizona defend its national championship rather than declaring for the NBA draft. With Simon returning, Arizona will have all five starters back from its championship team.

Elmer Bennett scored 25 points as the Oklahoma City Cavalry won its first Continental Basketball Assn. championship, beating the Florida Beachdogs, 92-82, in Game 6 of the finals at West Palm Beach, Fla.

David Rivers, the former Notre Dame and NBA guard, scored 26 points as Olympiakos of Piraeus defeated Barcelona in Rome for its first European club championship, 73-58.

The American Basketball League will announce today that 1996 Final Four MVP Michelle Marciniak and 1996 Olympian Venus Lacy will be assigned to Long Beach’s ABL expansion team. Also to be assigned to Long Beach will be former Long Beach State All-American Cindy Brown, Trisha Stafford of Cal and Nicky McCrimmon of USC.

Miscellany

Paul Nihipali had 23 kills to lead UCLA to a 15-7, 15-11, 15-6 victory over UC Santa Barbara in the semifinals of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation volleyball tournament at Pauley Pavilion. The top-seeded Bruins (23-3) will play second-seeded Stanford (24-3) in Saturday night’s championship match. The Cardinal beat Brigham Young, 16-14, 16-14, 17-15, in the other semifinal. . . . Heavyweight boxer Andrew Golota suffered a back injury in training last week and has postponed his May 16 fight with Ray Mercer at Madison Square Garden. . . . The condition of former Tampa Bay running back Lars Tate, shot Tuesday morning while trying to intervene in an apparent domestic dispute in Indianapolis, was upgraded from critical to serious but stable. . . . The NCAA Special Events Committee has postponed hearing the Big West Conference’s proposal for a football bowl game Dec. 29 in Boise, Idaho.