An Old Favorite Leads to a Seles Breakthrough

Monica Seles won her first tournament of the year, capturing her fourth consecutive du Maurier Open women’s tennis championship at Montreal with a convincing 6-3, 6-2 victory over Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of Spain.

Seles, 24, needed only 76 minutes to win the $150,000 top prize for the hard-court tournament at sold-out, 10,500-seat Jarry Stadium. Sanchez Vicario won $60,000.

“I just think I have a good time here,” said Seles about the tournament that alternates between Toronto and Montreal. “I love both Toronto and Montreal and I’ve always thought that if you’re relaxed off the court, you’re probably more relaxed on the court too. It just seems to work for me.”

Seles, ranked No. 6 in the world, broke service for a 2-0 lead in the opening set and served out for the win. She broke Sanchez Vicario, ranked fourth, to open the second set and again for a 5-2 lead, while closing out the match without losing her service.

“Monica wasn’t missing much today,” Sanchez Vicario said. “She served really well and didn’t give me many chances. I had a break point in the second set and really, that was my only chance. I don’t think I played badly, she just played much better.”

Alex Corretja defeated Andre Agassi, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, in the finals of the RCA Championships in Indianapolis for his first ATP championship in the United States.

It was the third title this year for Corretja, No. 11 in the latest ATP rankings and the sixth-seeded player in the tournament. He won $122,500.

The victory cooled the hot summer streak of Agassi, the winningest player on the ATP Tour this year. He had won 19 of 21 matches since losing to Germany’s Tommy Haas at Wimbledon.

Karol Kucera defeated Goran Ivanisevic, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, to win the Pilot Pen International at New Haven, Conn., his first title in the United States.

Kucera will be ranked No. 10 when the new world rankings come out today.

Ivanisevic, the tour’s ace leader, finished with 15 aces to Kucera’s eight, but his usually effective backhand was not working against Kucera.

Top-seeded Sarah Pitkowski of France defeated No. 2 Cara Black of Zimbabwe, 6-3, 7-5, to win the $75,000 GHI Bronx Tennis Classic at New York.

Britain’s Miles Maclagan was a 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 winner over Israel’s Oren Motevassel in the men’s title match.

Auto Racing

Warren Stilwell earned his fourth Spec Racer Ford Pro Series victory of the year, defeating John Strickler by less than a second at Watkins Glen, N.Y. . . . . In a race that saw accidents and mechanical problems knock out many of the top qualifiers, eighth-place starter Stacy Compton won the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Lund Look 275K at Topeka, Kan. Compton became the final leader of the $359,955 race with only seven laps of the 2.1-mile Heartland Park Topeka road course remaining. . . . Gary Scelzi (top fuel), Ron Capps (funny car), Tom Martino (pro stock) and Matt Hines (pro stock motorcycle) picked up victories at the final eliminations of the NHRA’s 17th annual VisionAire NorthStar Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway at Brainerd, Minn.

Miscellany

World record-holder and world champion Wilson Kipketer of Denmark, still unfit after a bout of malaria earlier this year, suffered a stunning defeat, finishing last in the men’s 800-meters at the European track and field championships at Budapest, Hungary. Nils Schumann of Germany held off Andre Bucher of Switzerland to win the gold in 1 minute, 44.89 seconds. . . . . The Kansas City Wizards moved into a third-place tie in the MLS Western Conference with a 2-0 victory at home over the Miami Fusion.

The Orlando Predators won the Arena Football League title with a 62-31 victory over the Tampa Bay Storm in the Arena Bowl at Tampa. Rick Hamilton, the game’s most valuable player, rushed for an Arena Bowl record 82 yards and three touchdowns as the Predators handed the Storm their first Arena Bowl loss in five appearances. . . . Arbitrator John Feerick, who ruled against the NBA in the Latrell Sprewell case, will convene a grievance hearing on a different matter at 10 a.m. today at New York. The union contends that owners are liable to pay $800 million in salaries to 220 players with guaranteed contracts for the upcoming season. The hearing is scheduled to last two days, and Feerick’s ruling should come in early September.

Arnold Palmer will begin competing today in the Fred Meyer Challenge in Portland, Ore., his last tournament before undergoing seven weeks of radiation therapy. The therapy is a follow-up to successful prostate cancer surgery last year. The best-ball charity tournament features 12 two-man teams and concludes Tuesday.