In Davis Cup Preview, Sampras Defeats Sweden’s Bjorkman

With the Davis Cup final on his mind, Pete Sampras beat Sweden’s Jonas Bjorkman on Friday to reach the semifinals of the $6-million Grand Slam Cup at Munich.

Sampras and his U.S. teammates will face Sweden, whose top player is Bjorkman, Nov. 28-30 for tennis’ most prestigious team trophy.

Sampras used his booming serve to win, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, but the match was decided when Bjorkman double-faulted at key points in both sets.

He next faces Britain’s Greg Rusedski, who rallied to beat Russia’s Yevgeny Kafelnikov, 6-7 (7-5), 6-3, 6-1, while tying his record for the fastest serve ever.

Rusedski hit a 143-mph serve in the second set that matched his record-breaking serve at the U.S. Open two weeks ago.

U.S. Open champion Patrick Rafter of Australia will meet Czech Petr Korda in the other semifinal.

First prize in the tournament is $1.5 million.

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Vince Spadea of the United States gained his first semifinal of the season, beating fellow American Justin Gimelstob, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), at the $400,000 Toulouse Open in France. Spadea will meet third-seeded Mark Philippoussis, the defending champion, in one semifinal. Germans Alex Radulescu and Nicolas Kiefer play in the other semifinal.

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Defending champion Anke Huber, battling stomach pain, upset French Open champion Iva Majoli, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4, to reach the semifinals of the Leipzig Open in Germany.

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Mashona Washington, the younger sister of MaliVai Washington, advanced to today’s semifinals of the USTA Women’s Tennis Challenger of Newport Beach. Winners advancing to the semifinals played two matches Friday because of rainouts Thursday. Washington defeated Holly Parkinson (Houston), 7-5, 6-2, and Petra Gaspar (Hungary) in the quarterfinals, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.

Washington, from Delray Beach, Fla., will face top-seeded Sandra Cacic (Bradenton, Fla.). Also advancing to the semifinals were Samantha Reeves (Monona, Wis.) and Kristina Brandi (Tampa, Fla.).

Pro Basketball

New York Knick point guard Charlie Ward has a slight stress fracture of the lower right leg that will keep him from participating in full workouts when training camp begins next week. . . . Carl Thomas, a free-agent guard who played 19 games with the Cleveland Cavaliers last season, signed with the Golden State Warriors.

Horse Racing

Editor’s Note, winner of the 1996 Belmont Stakes, has been retired and will begin a career at stud next year at owner W.T. Young’s Overbrook Farm outside Lexington, Ky. The horse retired with earnings of $1,601,394.00.

Free House, who finished in the top three in all three Triple Crown races this year, was made the 9-5 favorite for Sunday’s $500,000 Super Derby at Louisiana Downs at Bossier City, La.

College Basketball

Michael Charles, a standout player at Alabama Birmingham in the mid-1980s, died in an early morning shooting in Birmingham. Charles, 31, was on probation for a January theft conviction.

Miscellaneous

Costa Mesa’s Alejandro Lopez and Raphael Guttierez of Los Angeles fought to a majority decision draw in a six-round junior featherweight main event at the Irvine Marriott.

In the five-round semi-main event, Antonio DeSantiago of Baldwin Park scored a five-round split decision over Gilberto Zarate in a junior lightweight bout.

Jeff Deffenbaugh of Huntington Beach advanced to the quarterfinals of the Body Glove SurfBout X at Lower Trestles in San Clemente. Also advancing were Ryan Simmons of Huntington Beach and Tim Curren of Oxnard.

Shane Wehner of Australia scored the day’s best overall (25.00) and individual score (9.83).