Novotna Wins Grass Tune-Up at Eastbourne

Jana Novotna completed her preparations for Wimbledon by defeating Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, 6-1, 7-5, Saturday to win the Eastbourne grass-court title at Eastbourne, England.

It was her 21st career title, her second of the year and--most importantly--her first on grass, meaning she has now won titles on every surface.

“If I do well at Eastbourne, I do well at Wimbledon,” said the top-seeded Czech, who received $79,000 for her victory.

Last year Novotna reached the Eastbourne final, also against Sanchez Vicario, but that match was rained out. Novotna followed up by advancing to the Wimbledon final for the second time, losing to champion Martina Hingis.

Novotna broke serve in the opening game and again for a 3-0 lead against the listless Spaniard, who came in fresh off winning the clay-court French Open.

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Top-seeded Patrick Rafter easily defeated Dutchman Dennis van Scheppingen, 6-3, 6-4, in the semifinals of the Heineken Trophy grass-court tournament at Rosmalen, the Netherlands.

Rafter will play unseeded Czech Martin Damm in today’s final. Damm beat seventh-seed Jan Siemerink of the Netherlands, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.

Julie Halard of France won the women’s final, defeating Miriam Oremans of the Netherlands, 6-3, 6-4.

Rafter, the sixth-seeded player at Wimbledon, which begins Monday, breezed through the match against van Scheppingen, who reached the semifinal after compatriot Richard Krajicek pulled out Friday because of a knee injury. Krajicek, the 1996 Wimbledon champion, practiced at the All England Club and indicated he would play Wimbledon, where he is seeded No. 9.

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Sweden’s Jonas Bjorkman defeated Zimbabwe’s Byron Black, 6-3, 6-2, to win the Nottingham Open grass-court tournament at Nottingham, England.

Bjorkman broke Black to go up 2-1 in the first set, held at 3-1, and then broke Black again in the ninth game to win, 6-3. In the second set, it was 2-2 before Bjorkman won four straight games.

Motor Sports

Jeff Gordon will try for his 33rd career victory in the Pocono 500 today at the Pocono International Raceway at Long Pond, Pa. Gordon will start in the front row, which also includes Rusty Wallace, who has had two high-profile tangles with Gordon in the last 14 months.

“I don’t have a problem at all running with Gordon,” Wallace said. “He shouldn’t have a problem running with me. I’m going to go out there and race hard, and that’ll be it.”

Bryan Herta, still looking for his first CART victory, earned the fifth pole of his career during qualifying for today’s Budweiser-G.I. Joe’s 200 at Portland International Raceway in Portland, Ore.

With a fast lap of 58.358 seconds (121.341 mph) in his Reynard Ford on the nine-turn course, the first road layout on the CART circuit this season, Herta broke Dario Franchitti’s day-old track record.

Miscellany

Tanzania’s Simon Peter beat 40-year-old Russian Andrey Kuznetsov by 95 seconds to win Grandma’s Marathon at Duluth, Minn., and Ukraine’s Yelena Plastinina captured the women’s race.

Peter, a 30-year-old police officer, finished in 2 hours 12 minutes 47 seconds.

Indiana Coach Bob Knight hired his son, Pat, as an assistant basketball coach.

Pat Knight, who played guard for his father from 1991-95, replaces Craig Hartman, who resigned. The younger Knight was fired last month as coach of the Columbus Cagerz in the United States Basketball League after opening the season with a 4-7 record.

For the third time this month, the Chicago Bulls’ Dennis Rodman has been slapped with a lawsuit over his behavior at a Las Vegas casino.

In a federal lawsuit filed Friday, Connie Wilcox, an employee at the Las Vegas Hilton, claims Rodman sexually assaulted her April 19 at the casino by grabbing her sides near her breasts and lifting her up.

Wilcox contends the action “caused the under-wire of [her] bra to be pushed into [her] right breast, causing pain, discomfort and bruising.” Wilcox is seeking $1.5 million in compensatory damages and $9 million in punitive damages.