Sisters Drawn Apart at Wimbledon

The way things came out in the Wimbledon draw Tuesday, sisters Serena and Venus Williams could meet in the fourth round.

Serena, 16, might have to get past Mirjana Lucic, 16, of Croatia in the second round and Anna Kournikova, 17, of Russia in the third.

Venus, who turns 18 today, has an easier path to the fourth round.

In a tuneup Tuesday in the opening round of the Eastbourne Championships at Eastbourne, England, Serena beat Naoko Sawamatsu of Japan, 6-4, 7-5, as Venus and mother Oracene looked on.

Venus Williams is scheduled to face Natasha Zvereva of Belarus today at Eastbourne.

In the men’s Wimbledon draw, defending champion and No. 1-ranked Pete Sampras, who has been slumping, will meet 47th-ranked Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia in the first round.

In the midst of a poor season, Sampras is in the top half of a draw loaded with dangerous players--including Yevegeny Kafelnikov, Petr Korda, Patrick Rafter and Andre Agassi.

The most compelling first-round match is Kafelnikov vs. Australia’s Mark Philippoussis, one of the hardest servers in the game. However, the Australian has played poorly in recent months and even considered withdrawing from Wimbledon.

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Fourth-seeded Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands overcame intermittent rain and beat Australian Richard Fromberg, 7-6 (7-0), 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), in the Heineken Trophy grass-court tournament at Rosmalen, the Netherlands.

Also winning first-round matches were John van Lottum, who upset No. 5-seeded Nicolas Kiefer of Germany, 7-5, 6-4, and Czech Martin Damm, who defeated Vincent Spadeau, 6-4, 7-5.

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Stanford’s twins, Bob and Mike Bryan, have decided to turn pro after helping their school to its fourth consecutive NCAA men’s title.

The 20-year-olds from Camarillo plan their first pro appearance at a USTA futures event in Waco, Texas, beginning Monday.

Bob Bryan won the NCAA singles title, then the doubles championship with his brother.

Pro Football

Cornerback Larry Brown, released by the Oakland Raiders last season, has signed with the Minnesota Vikings. His two-year deal worth less than $500,000 a season is a big drop-off from the five-year, $12.5-million contract he got from the Raiders in 1996, after being named most valuable player of the Super Bowl as a member of the Dallas Cowboys.

Of his experience with the Raiders, Brown said, “It was a joke, it was really a joke. It was just a situation where the person [presumably Al Davis] came after me and let me know [he] was in charge.”

The Raiders, meanwhile, signed free-agent kicker Greg Davis, who played for the San Diego Chargers and the Vikings last season. Davis, 32, was the leading scorer for the Chargers, making 19 of 24 field goal attempts and 21 of 22 extra points after being released by the Vikings five weeks into the season.

The Cowboys released defensive end Tony Tolbert, who played in all 159 regular-season and playoff games of his nine-year career. Tolbert had arthroscopic surgery on both knees in April and would’ve counted nearly $3.5 million against the salary cap this season.

Owner Jerry Jones said Tolbert could be back this season if his knees can handle it and if he’s willing to play for less money.

College Football

The Atlantic Coast Conference and Big Ten, conferences that did not meet in any bowl game under previous deals, will send representatives this season to the Sunshine Classic.

Formerly the Carquest Bowl, the postseason game will feature the No. 4 selection from the ACC against the sixth pick from the Big Ten. This year’s game is scheduled for Dec. 29 at Pro Player Stadium in Miami.

College Basketball

Greg Clink, head basketball coach at Gavilan Community College in Gilroy, Calif., was hired as an assistant coach at UC Santa Barbara. . . . Terry Tyler, a former NBA player with Detroit, Sacramento and Dallas, was hired as coach at Eastern New Mexico. Tyler, an assistant under John MacLeod at Notre Dame the past three seasons, succeeds Earl Diddle, who resigned this spring after 10 seasons at the Division II school.

Miscellany

Finnish Formula One driver Mika Salo could be fined up to $12,000 for, in a fit of temper, kicking in the door of a taxi in Helsinki, after the cab driver refused to give Salo and his companions a ride outside a restaurant. The cab driver complained the group cut in line and that Salo jumped into his cab and began shouting insults.

Brigham Young football player Jaron Dabney has pleaded no contest to stealing a $59 shirt from a department store in Orem, Utah.