Sampras Ends Spadea’s Streak

Pete Sampras easily defeated Vince Spadea, 6-3, 6-2, Friday in the ATP Championships to advance to today’s semifinals at Mason, Ohio.

Sampras, the tournament’s top-seeded player and ranked No. 2 in the world, needed only 48 minutes to beat Spadea.

The defeat ended an impressive week for Spadea, who beat eighth-ranked Richard Krajicek on Thursday and No. 9 Andre Agassi on Wednesday but said the effort took a toll on his performance against Sampras.

“I didn’t feel like I was getting any rhythm against his serve--or even any exercise,” Spadea said. “I just felt heavy on my feet.”

In other quarterfinal matches, Patrick Rafter of Australia beat Petr Korda of the Czech Republic, 6-4, 7-6 (10-8); and Sweden’s Magnus Larsson beat countryman Thomas Johansson, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2).

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Mariano Puerta of Argentina advanced to the semifinals of the San Marino International tournament by eliminating Mariano Zabaleta, also of Argentina, 4-6, 6-3, 4-0. Also advancing were Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia, who defeated Juan Antonio Viloca of Spain, 2-6, 6-4, 6-0; and second-seeded Richard Fromberg of Australia, who beat Vincenzo Santopadre of Italy, 6-4, 7-5.

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Seventh-seeded Barbara Schett of Austria upset top-seeded Amanda Coetzer of South Africa, 6-7 (7-3), 6-4, 6-1, in the BostonCup at Wellesley, Mass. Second-seeded Anke Huber of Germany also fell, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), to Mariaan de Swardt of South Africa.

Motor Sports

Stock car driver Gary Laton’s condition was upgraded from serious to fair a day after a crash at Michigan Speedway at Brooklyn, Mich. Laton suffered head and neck injuries when he wrecked his car during qualifying for today’s NASCAR Busch Series race.

Recurring headaches caused by an accident at the Brickyard 400 two weeks ago have prompted Jimmy Spencer to step down indefinitely as driver of the Team Winston Ford. The team announced that veteran ARCA series driver Frank Kimmel will fill in for Spencer while he recovers.

Ernie Irvan, who almost died in a crash at Michigan Speedway in 1994, claimed the pole for Sunday’s Pepsi 400 at the track with a lap of 183.416 mph in a Pontiac.

Names in the News

Billy Hunter, the executive director of the National Basketball Players Assn., said the union won’t stand for a hard salary cap. He said that players are opposed to the elimination of a soft cap, which does not limit what teams can pay to retain players who are free agents, and the issue was not negotiable.

Jaeson Maravich, the 18-year-old son of late basketball great Pete Maravich, has decided to play for Alabama, arriving as a walk-on. . . . Brian Ellerbe, who became Michigan’s interim basketball coach after Steve Fisher was fired Oct. 10, has signed a multiyear contract to coach the Wolverines through the 2003 season. . . . Clemson basketball Coach Larry Shyatt, who was sued by Wyoming for breaking his five-year contract, said he agreed to pay $286,000 to settle the case.

Rod Brind’Amour signed a three-year, $11.25-million contract with the Philadelphia Flyers only hours before a scheduled arbitration hearing.

Miscellany

Fox Sports was expected to delay announcing a decision on whether to match the Walt Disney Co.’s $600-million bid for the television rights to the NHL, setting up a possible legal fight between the league and two media conglomerates.

Fox had a Friday deadline to decide whether to match ABC’s $250-million portion of the bid or lose the rights to the NHL after the 1998-99 season.

The International Olympic Committee will ask major drug manufacturers to attend a meeting at Lausanne, Switzerland, in January as the IOC reassesses its fight against drugs in sport.

Australian IOC executive board member Kevan Gosper said that sports have to regain the moral high ground or risk losing the confidence of the general public. He also backed the suggestion by IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch that the list of banned drugs be reexamined and narrowed and was adamant such action would not open new avenues for cheating.

Italian World Cup players Alessandro Del Piero, Dino Baggio and Enrico Chiesa were questioned by prosecutors investigating the alleged use of performance-enhancing substances in soccer.

Dontonio Wingfield, a forward who played for the Portland Trail Blazers, was arrested in Cincinnati on charges he assaulted his girlfriend and two police officers.

Roy Lassiter scored twice for D.C. United, which advanced to the final of the CONCACAF Champions Cup with a 2-0 win over Leon of Mexico at Washington. In the second semifinal, Mexican League champion Toluca beat Saprissa of Costa Rica, 3-2, on penalty kicks after the two teams tied, 1-1, in regulation. . . . Ivan McKinley scored in regulation time and added the game-winner in a shootout as the New England Revolution beat the Mutiny, 2-1, in Major League Soccer before 8,429 at Tampa, Fla.