Tough Loss for Sampras Puts His No. 1 Status in Jeopardy

Pete Sampras’ two-year stay at No. 1 might have come to an end Monday when he was beaten in the third round at the Lipton Championships at Key Biscayne, Fla.

Sampras squandered an early lead, then squandered two match points in losing to Wayne Ferreira, 0-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3.

“I had the match in my hands,” Sampras said. “I let it slip away.”

His grip on No. 1 is tenuous, thanks to a stumbling start in 1998. Sampras, whose 102-week reign is the third-longest in ATP Tour history, could slip to third next week.

Second-ranked Petr Korda, who needs two more victories this week to overtake Sampras, outlasted Francisco Clavet, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

The women’s draw lost a nine-time Grand Slam winner when Anna Kournikova beat Monica Seles in a third-round match, 7-5, 6-4. The 16-year-old Russian rallied from deficits of 4-1 in the first set and 3-1 in the second.

Pro Football

Sean Gilbert, who sat out last season in a money dispute with the Washington Redskins, was denied in his bid to become a free agent. Special master Jack Friedenthal ruled Gilbert must remain the designated franchise player for the Redskins, who now will try to trade the defensive tackle for at least a first-round pick in next month’s draft.

The ruling could also jeopardize a huge payday for Gilbert, who had attracted offers up to $6 million per year during a recent tour to several teams, including the Denver Broncos, the Carolina Panthers and the Miami Dolphins.

The New England Patriots asked the NFL to void a provision of the New York Jets’ offer sheet to Curtis Martin that prohibits a team from declaring the running back a franchise player.

Martin, a restricted free agent, signed the offer sheet last Friday, giving the Patriots until this Friday to match. The appeal to the Management Council might set back that process.

The offer gives Martin the option of $36 million over six years or $4 million for one year. If he accepts the one-year option, he could not be declared a franchise player, meaning he would be an unprotected free agent after that year.

Despite receiving rebates of nearly $800,000, the San Diego Chargers paid about $3.7 million in rent during the first year of a controversial deal with the city, according to figures released by the city.

The team paid $461,000 more last year than in 1996.

Once an estimated $1 million in city operating expenses was figured in, the city netted $2.7 million.

That figure would have been lower if the Chargers and Qualcomm Inc. hadn’t stepped in and bought 39,878 general admission tickets for three regular-season games at a cost of approximately $1.6 million. The purchase was in response to increasing debate about blackouts of the team’s first two home games. The tickets were given to students.

The deal contains a ticket guarantee that provides the Chargers a rent credit if attendance falls below 60,000.

Jurisprudence

The Supreme Court, without comment, refused to drop Don King Productions as a co-defendant in a second trial against boxing promoter Don King in an insurance-fraud case centering on a canceled fight between Julio Cesar Chavez and Harold Brazier.

In another sport ruling, the court, without comment, let stand a finding by the NFL’s retirement board that four-time All-Pro George Webster’s disability is not related to football and therefore his pension should not be increased.

In addition, the court, without comment, left intact the United Center in Chicago’s policy banning fans from bringing their own food inside the arena, rejecting arguments that the ban harmed vendors near the arena and was in violation of antitrust laws.

Winter Sports

Figure skater Michelle Kwan, who finished second behind Tara Lipinski at last month’s Nagano Olympics, said she intends to compete in the 2002 Games at Salt Lake City. “I have decided to give it another try, go for 2002,” Kwan, the 1996 world champion and winner of U.S. titles in 1996 and 1998, said during a conference call to discuss next week’s World Championships at Minneapolis. “It never hurts to give it another try.”

Three-event racer Bode Miller overcame a slip on his first run to win the men’s giant slalom in the U.S. Alpine Ski Championships at Jackson Hole, Wyo. Miller, 20, of Franconia, N.H., had a combined time for two runs of 2 minutes, 1.00 second. Thomas Grandi of Canada and Dane Spencer of Boise, Idaho, tied for second in 2:01.07.

Baseball

Condemning “unjust detention” in the Bahamas, four Cuban baseball players and five friends appealed for asylum in Costa Rica. Bahamian defense forces, meanwhile, rescued another 10 Cuban boat people and were taking them to the detention center in Nassau, where dozens of refugees protested the special treatment given to the Cuban players.

Some detainees who spoke to reporters through a chain-link fence said several Cubans had started a hunger strike Monday. The camp’s director, Arthur Rolle, denied that, but said security had been increased at the camp, where there have been riots.

The special treatment given defecting Cuban athletes has angered other detainees at the camp, which currently holds 136 Cubans as well as about 100 Haitians and a couple of dozen Chinese.

Miscellany

Next year’s Breeders’ Cup will be run at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale, Fla. The date for the 1999 Breeders’ Cup, a seven-race thoroughbred racing program with purses totaling $12 million, is Saturday, Nov. 6. Two other Breeders’ Cups have been run at Gulfstream, in 1989 and 1992. This year’s Breeders’ Cup is scheduled for Churchill Downs on Nov. 7.

Lisa Leslie of the Los Angeles Sparks was among 12 players named to the U.S. basketball team that will compete in the Women’s World Championships May 26-June 7 in Germany.

ABL players got seven roster spots and the WNBA four. The 12th player, Chamique Holdsclaw, is a University of Tennessee junior.

Named from the ABL: Jennifer Azzi of San Jose, Edna Campbell of Colorado, DeLisha Milton and Natalie Williams of Portland, Katie Smith of Columbus, Dawn Staley of Philadelphia, and Kara Wolters of New England. From the WNBA, besides Leslie: Ruthie Bolton-Holifield of Sacramento, Nikki McCray of Washington, and Tina Thompson of Houston.

David Wells, basketball coach at Claremont Mudd-Scripps, will be honored Friday by the National Association of Basketball Coaches with an outstanding service award. Wesleyan University’s Herb Kenny and Case Western Reserve University’s Bill Sudeck will be similarly honored.

Georgetown of Kentucky defeated Southern Nazarene of Oklahoma, 83-69, in the NAIA championship game at Tulsa, Okla. Will Carlton had 22 points and 12 rebounds for the fourth-seeded Tigers (36-3), who overcame a 13-point deficit against the No. 14-seeded Redskins (29-9).