Agassi’s Comeback Hits Snag With Loss to Teenager

Andre Agassi’s comeback was derailed Saturday at the Australian Men’s Hardcourt Championships by Australian teenager Lleyton Hewitt.

Hewitt, 16, used blistering passing shots, particularly off his backhand, to beat the top-seeded Agassi, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-4), and secure a berth in today’s final at Adelaide, Hewitt’s hometown.

If Hewitt beats countryman Jason Stoltenberg in the final, he would become the youngest winner on the ATP Tour since Michael Chang. Chang was 16 years 7 months when he won the TransAmerica Open at San Francisco Oct. 2, 1988.

Hewitt, who is 16 years 11 months, also would become the lowest ranked player to win a title on the ATP Tour. He is ranked 550th in the world.

Agassi, trying to come back to the elite level of men’s tennis after a dismal 1997, had break-point opportunities in both sets but was unable to capitalize. Neither player lost serve in the match.

Hewitt admitted to being a little overwhelmed when he first went out on center court, but he soon settled and went for his shots.

“At the start I was nervous and he hits the ball like no one else I have ever hit against, so I just tried to match it with him from the baseline,” Hewitt said.

Stoltenberg advanced to the final with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over fifth-seeded countryman Todd Woodbridge.

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In the Australian women’s hardcourt championships at Gold Coast, Ai Sugiyama of Japan beat Venezuela’s Maria Vento, 7-5, 6-0, for the title. . . . At the Qatar Open in Doha, Fabrice Santoro and Petr Korda won two matches each to advance to the final. Santoro eliminated top-seeded Greg Rusedski of Britain, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, and then No. 4 Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia, 6-1, 6-4, in the semifinals.

Winter Sports

Martina Ertl led a 1-2 German finish at a World Cup giant slalom race at Bormio, Italy, while Italy’s Deborah Compagnoni, the world and Olympic champion, finished third. Compagnoni had won eight consecutive giant slaloms over the past year.

“It was going to end sooner or later,” Compagnoni said of her win streak. “It could not last for the eternity, and I am glad it happened before the Nagano Olympics.”

American Julie Parisien, returning to the World Cup circuit after a three-year absence, failed to qualify for the second run.

In a men’s World Cup super giant slalom at Schladming, Austria, Hermann Maier led an Austrian 1-2 finish, with runner-up Stephan Eberharter finishing 1.15 seconds behind.

Maier, 25, a former bricklayer and part-time ski instructor, raced to victory down the icy, demanding Planai course in 1:14.95. He expanded his lead in the overall World Cup standings to 919 points, with Eberharter a distant second with 588 points.

Elvis Stojko won his fourth Canadian figure skating title with a near-perfect free program at Hamilton. The three-time world champion got six perfect 6.0 marks, four for technique and two for impression. All the other marks were 5.9s.

Olympic trials in short-track speedskating at Lake Placid, N.Y., were postponed because of the severe ice storm in the Northeast. The trials were rescheduled for today and Monday at the Olympic Ice Arena. The storm caused power outages.

Chinese aerials skier Xiaoou Ji set a world record at Mont Tremblant Ski Area in Quebec, Canada, and became the first woman to crack the 200-point mark in a World Cup contest.

Ji, part of the emerging group of ex-gymnasts to transfer their skills to aerials skiing, received 200.21 points for her two jumps. Jacqui Cooper of Australia was second at 191.36 with Australia’s reigning world champion, Kirstie Marshall, third with 184.28.

In the men’s event, Vassili Vorobiev of Belarus won with 230.33 points and Eric Bergoust of Missoula, Mont., was second with 228.98.

With less than a month to go before the Nagano Winter Olympics, more than 80% of the tickets have been sold, organizers said today.

Gymnastics

No. 1 UCLA, the defending NCAA champion in women’s gymnastics, lost to No. 2 Georgia, 195.675-194.025, in a dual meet at Athens, Ga.

The Bruins let a point slip away in the final rotation when four competitors fell off what both teams acknowledged as a crooked balance beam. Georgia also had four falls on the beam.

Said UCLA Coach Valorie Kondos: “The Bruins are notorious for starting slow, so I’m thrilled with what we did tonight.”

The Bruins make their home debut in a four-way meet at the Wooden Center next Sunday.

College Football

Stanford’s Anthony Bookman, playing a final game in his home stadium, ran for a touchdown and his long kickoff return set up a score as the West All-Stars beat their counterparts from the East, 24-7, in the 73rd East-West Shrine Classic.

It was the West’s seventh victory in the last nine editions of the game, which benefits Shriners Hospitals for Children and is a showcase for some of nation’s top senior players.

Steady rains drenched the Stanford Stadium field and the treacherous conditions made it tough on both teams.

Bookman, who completed his career as the No. 3 rusher in Stanford history, rushed for 70 yards in eight carries.

Nebraska quarterback Scott Frost was eight for 13 for 68 yards for the West with an interception, and North Carolina’s Chris Keldorf was seven for 16 for 75 yards for the East.

Fresno State’s Michael Pittman rushed from 71 yards in 15 carries for the West.

A day earlier in Fresno, Pittman, 22, was sentenced to undergo treatment for a year and was placed on probation for two years after pleading no contest to misdemeanor battery for attacking a girlfriend. He was not in court because he was preparing for the Shrine game.

At Fargo, N.D., Greg Janacek’s third field goal lifted the West to a 15-12 overtime victory over the East in the Snow Bowl, the fifth Division II all-star game.

The West got the ball in overtime after East running back Irvin Sigler of Bloomsburg (Pa.) State was stopped at the one on fourth down. After the West failed to get a first down, Janacek kicked a 34-yard field goal to end it.

Aquatics

American diver Troy Dumais won a silver medal in the one-meter springboard competition at the World Swimming Championships at Perth, Australia.

Ventura’s Dumais, competing in his first world championship, finished behind China’s Yu Zhuocheng, while Holger Schlepps of Germany took the bronze.

In men’s water polo, the United States beat Slovakia, 8-5, and European champion Hungary defeated defending world champion Italy, 11-7. In women’s play, Canada downed the United States, 3-2.

Meanwhile, Chinese swimmer Yuan Yuan and Coach Zhou Zewen appeared before a doping panel convened by FINA, amateur swimming’s governing board, to investigate hormone trafficking. Tests confirmed that Yuan was caught trying to import a banned growth hormone. U.S. Coach Jon Urbanchek said that Yuan was holding enough drugs to keep her country’s swim team supplied for the weeklong championships.

FINA was expected to make an announcement about the hearings today.

Miscellany

Heavyweight Peter McNeeley, fighting for just the second time in 16 months, was awarded an eighth-round victory when Larry Menefee put a headlock on him and tried to ram him into the ring post at Sportsmen’s Lodge in Studio City.

A 550-mile stage of the Paris-to-Dakar road race was called off after bandits in Gao, Mali, attacked vehicles and made off with a truck.

Two medical cars and a service truck were sent to the scene, but there were no report of injuries. Two Malian military patrols from Taoudenni were also dispatched, and a helicopter searched the area for the stolen truck.

Organizers denied the attacks forced the suspension of the race. They said the stage was called off to regroup contestants spread out or lost on the course.

Names in the News

Ruth Rothfarb, who began running at age 69, ran her first marathon in her 70s and held nearly two dozen world records in her age group, has died in Cambridge, Mass. She was 96.

Walter “Piggy” Barnes, a tackle for Louisiana State and the Philadelphia Eagles who later came to Hollywood to become an actor, died in Van Nuys after a long illness. Barnes, who played for the Eagles from 1948-51, appeared in a number of films starring Clint Eastwood.