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, a two-time French and Australian Open champion, and his 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, missing an easy smash on match point.

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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Uruguay’s Marcelo Filippini took advantage of Petr Korda’s erratic play and beat the third-seeded Czech in the second round of the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships at Lake Buena Vista, Fla., 6-3, 6-1.

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Third-seeded Ruxandra Dragomir of Romania was ousted by unseeded South African Joannette Kruger in the second round of the Budapest Ladies Open clay court tournament, 6-3, 7-5.

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 81 tackles and a team-high 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 miss Saturday night’s game against the Dallas Burn at the Rose Bowl. Goalkeeper Jorge Campos, forward Eduardo Hurtado and midfielder Martin Machon all 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.

Jurisprudence

Two former Virginia Tech football players, Brian Edmonds and James Crawford, were indicted on charges of rape and attempted sodomy of a student in their apartment shortly before the end of last season.

Edmonds, 22, and Crawford, 20, are still enrolled at Virginia Tech and receiving athletic scholarships, which cannot be revoked in the midst of the school year, a school official said.

Miscellany

Miles Simon, the MVP in the NCAA’s 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.

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

The NCAA Special Events Committee has postponed hearing the Big West Conference’s proposal for a football bowl game Dec. 29 in Boise, Idaho, and has tentatively rescheduled it for June 13 in Kansas City, Mo.

Names in the News

Heavyweight boxer Andrew Golota suffered a lower-back injury in training last week and has postponed his May 16 fight with Ray Mercer at Madison Square Garden.

The medical 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.