Sampras Bounces Back to Reach Final in Germany

Every time Pete Sampras has lost a round-robin match at the ATP Tour World Championship, he has gone on to win the title.

That should give him a little added confidence, as if he needs it, heading into today’s final at Hanover, Germany, against Russia’s Yevgeny Kafelnikov.

Sampras lost his opening group match in the $3.3-million tennis event against Carlos Moya, but he has recovered to reach his fifth final, beating Sweden’s Jonas Bjorkman, 6-3, 6-4, in the semifinals Saturday. Kafelnikov beat Moya, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-3), in the other semifinal.

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Top-seeded Martina Hingis of Switzerland, off for the last three weeks, will play one of the tour’s hottest players, Lindsay Davenport, in the final of the $450,000 Advanta Championships today at Villanova, Pa.

For the third time in the tournament, Hingis needed three sets to advance, beating eighth-seeded Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of Spain, 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3. Davenport, seeded fifth, had it a little easier, beating Romania’s Irina Spirlea, 6-2, 6-4, despite a strained hamstring.

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Playing his first USTA Challenger since his rookie year of 1986, Andre Agassi defeated top-seeded Grant Stafford, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, to advance to the final of the $50,000 tournament at Las Vegas.

Agassi, seeded fifth, will meet Christian Vinck of Germany in today’s championship match. Vinck, ranked 202nd, defeated Geoff Grant, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3.

Soccer

Italy qualified for its 10th consecutive World Cup by beating Russia, 1-0, at Naples on a 60th-minute goal by Pierluigi Casiraghi.

At Brussels, Belgium qualified for its fifth consecutive World Cup with a 2-1 victory over Ireland.

At Belgrade, Yugoslavia, banned from the 1994 World Cup because of United Nations sanctions, beat visiting Hungary, 5-0, behind four goals from Predrag Mijatovic to qualify on 12-1 aggregate, becoming one of the 32 nations in next summer’s tournament, to be played in France from June 10 to July 12.

Croatia qualified for the first time with a 1-1 tie against Ukraine at Kiev, winning the home-and-home series on 3-1 aggregate.

Winter Sports

Chris Witty of West Allis, Wis., finished third in the women’s 1,000-meter race at a World Cup speedskating event at Roseville, Minn., to become the first to qualify for a spot on the U.S. women’s team for the 1998 Winter Olympics, coming up in three months at Nagano, Japan.

World champion figure skater Tara Lipinski finished second behind by France’s Laetitia Hubert at the Lalique Trophy competition in Paris, Lipinski’s second loss of the season. Last month Michelle Kwan beat Lipinski in Skate America.

Todd Eldredge, nursing sore ribs, faltered on three axel jump attempts in the men’s final and dropped to fourth overall. Russia’s Alexei Yagudin, using a quadruple toe loop, won.

Motor Racing

Geoff Bodine’s had a record-setting pole speed of 197.478 mph on the redesigned and repaved Atlanta Motor Speedway oval at Hampton, Ga., to put his Ford in the top spot for today’s season-ending NAPA 500. Bodine was one of 48 drivers to surpass the previous track record of 186.507, set in March on the old oval by Robby Gordon. . . . Johnny Campbell, Larry Ragland and Doug Fortin claimed overall victories in the SCORE Baja 1000 desert race. Campbell posted the fastest time in the 701.4-mile race to win the motorcycle title. Ragland won the Trophy-Truck division for the third consecutive year, and Fortin took the overall pro and unlimited Class I victory.

Women’s Basketball

Sheri Sam scored seven of her game-high 21 points in a 15-5 run to start the fourth quarter, leading the San Jose Lasers to an 82-72 victory over the New England Blizzard in an American Basketball League game before 10,357 at Hartford, Conn. . . . The Colorado Xplosion, leading by 18 points after three quarters, held on for an 88-84 victory over the Seattle Reign before 3,305 at Denver. Colorado’s Crystal Robinson scored 21 points.

Miscellany

South Africa’s Vuyani Bungu, firing crisp right counters and left jabs from a crouch, scored a unanimous 12-round decision over Arnel Barotillo at Pretoria, South Africa, to retain his International Boxing Federation junior-featherweight title. Former champion Roberto Duran pounded out a unanimous eight-round decision over Briton David Radford to boost his record to 101-13.

Long Beach goaltender Jamie Storr stopped 13 of 15 shots as the Ice Dogs (14-6-1) defeated the Houston Aeros, 3-2, in an International Hockey League game at the Long Beach Arena.