Agassi Picks Up the Pace and Overwhelms Coupe

Andre Agassi overcame a sluggish start Thursday to defeat unranked Brandon Coupe, 7-5, 6-2, in 67 minutes and advance to the quarterfinals of the HealthSouth USTA Challenger at McCambridge Park in Burbank.

Agassi, seeded third in the $50,000 tournament, fell behind 4-5 to Coupe, the former San Jose State star, before picking up his serve and winning seven straight games.

“I was just playing a bit too quick,” Agassi said. “I couldn’t quite get into my rhythm till the second set.

He is scheduled to play unseeded Roberto Jabali of Brazil at noon today. Jabali defeated Jeff Salzenstein, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6).

In other matches, top-seeded Sargis Sargsian of Armenia defeated Alex Reichel, 6-2, 6-2; second-seeded Daniel Nestor of Canada beat George Bastl, 7-6 (7-4, 6-3; and Christian Vinck, who beat Agassi in a Challenger at Las Vegas last week, lost to Todd Larkham, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

Pro Football

The Oakland Raiders, traditionally a team of last resort for players leaving other squads amid controversy, are not publicly saying they’re interested in Lawrence Phillips.

But they’re not exactly ruling out the possibility of the troubled running back wearing a silver and black uniform. Phillips was cut by the St. Louis Rams last week.

In fact, Raider Coach Joe Bugel had nothing but praise for Phillips--who has excelled on the field but struggled off it since being selected with the No. 6 overall pick out of Nebraska in the 1996 draft.

“The young man is a very talented football player,” Bugel said. “There aren’t that many 220-pound halfbacks out there and he came out of a real good program.”

Officials violated the state’s open-meeting law by conducting private meetings on the troubled Raiders’ deal, the San Jose Mercury News alleges in a lawsuit.

The suit, filed Wednesday in Alameda County Superior Court, also charges that the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority illegally withheld documents discussed in the meetings. The Mercury News wants the court to release the documents and require the authority to tape future closed meetings.

One of those documents shows that taxpayers could end up paying millions of dollars more than previously thought to support the controversial deal that returned the Raiders to Oakland from Los Angeles, the newspaper reported.

Chicago Bear defensive end Alonzo Spellman confirms the NFL suspended him for failing to take a steroids test but said it’s a misunderstanding that should be cleared up soon. “I have never in my life taken any drugs. I have never in my life taken any steroids,” he said.

Guard William Roberts of the New York Jets will sit out the rest of the season because of a severely sprained ligament in his right knee.

Baseball

Walter Fenner “Buck” Leonard, a Hall of Fame first baseman who batted .340 and averaged 34 home runs during his 17-year career in the Negro Leagues, has died at 90.

Leonard, a native of Rocky Mount, N.C., had turned down numerous requests for public appearances over the last 12 months because of the debilitating effects of a stroke he suffered a decade ago, his wife, Lugenia, said.

At 41, Leonard won the Negro League batting title with a .391 average.

He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., in August 1972.

The Toronto Blue Jays made two more moves to bolster their roster, agreeing to terms with infielders Craig Grebeck and Pat Kelly on minor league contracts.

Grebeck, 32, spent last season with the Angels, hitting .270 with one home run and six RBIs; Kelly, 30, played for the New York Yankees last season, batting .240 with two homers and 10 RBIs.

Auto Racing

Formula One world champion Jacques Villeneuve renewed his criticism of the sport’s rules makers, saying they make Grand Prix auto racing too easy.

According to the Austrian press agency, Villeneuve criticized new FIA rules.

“Before the cars were real monsters, now they look more like Formula-3 cars,” said the Canadian, who has said in the past that rules changes unnecessarily took many of the risks out of the sport.

Miscellany

Former World Boxing Assn. heavyweight champion Bruce Seldon’s manager said the boxer is innocent of charges he sexually assaulted a minor.

On Wednesday, police said a 15-year-old girl arrived at Gloucester Township, N.J., headquarters, claiming that nine days ago Seldon, 30, picked her up while she was walking in Atlantic City, N.J. She said he took her to his house in Gloucester Township, N.J., and that he raped her three times.

That never happened, Rocco DePersia said. “When the facts come out, we think he’ll be cleared,” he said, adding that Seldon thought the girl was 18.