Korda Loses Chance for No. 1 Again

Petr Korda wasted another chance to take over the men’s No. 1 tennis ranking, losing Monday in the opening round of the Italian Open--a tuneup for the French Open.

Korda, the Australian Open champion, was beaten by Morocco’s Hicham Arazi, 6-2, 6-4.

Fifth-seeded Greg Rusedski and seventh-seeded Jonas Bjorkman also lost and reigning French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten rallied from a set down to beat Spain’s Carlos Costa, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2. Bohdan Ulihrach beat Rusedski, 7-5, 7-6 (10-8), and Belgium’s Filip Dewulf beat Bjorkman, 6-2, 6-3.

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It took Anna Kournikova only 48 minutes to power her way into the second round of the German Open in a session that closely resembled practice.

The 14th-seeded Russian defeated Czech qualifier Radka Bobkova, 6-2, 6-1, in a tournament that includes 26 of the world’s top 30 female players.

Jennifer Capriati lost to Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn, 6-3, 6-1.

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Anke Huber of Germany and Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria have withdrawn from the French Open, Huber because of Achilles’ tendon trouble and Maleeva because of an injury to her right arm. They will be replaced by Barbara Schwartz of Austria and Lori McNeil.

Jurisprudence

North Carolina senior Makhtar Ndiaye, a center on the basketball team, was charged with simple assault and communicating threats after an altercation involving a man who had given him a ride to a local car dealership.

A Raleigh magistrate ordered Ndiaye to appear in court June 23.

North Carolina sports information director Steve Kirschner said the incident occurred Saturday afternoon, after a man named Daniel Murdock had driven Ndiaye, his wife and mutual friend Ricky Capps from the campus in Chapel Hill to a car dealership in Raleigh, about 20 miles away.

Ndiaye released a statement saying he welcomed the opportunity to answer the charges.

Washington Wizard forward Chris Webber was barred by a judge in Upper Marlboro, Md., from driving in Maryland for 120 days. The restriction is punishment for refusing to submit a blood sample after a Prince George’s County police officer concluded Webber was driving under the influence of marijuana in January.

Milwaukee Buck guard Ray Allen has filed a complaint with Hartford, Conn., police, contending he was double-parked downtown while talking to a friend when two city officers asked him to move last weekend. Allen claims in the complaint that he complied, but one of the officers struck his Range Rover with a nightstick.

A judge in Kinston, N.C., has dropped three felony charges against Craig Dawson, a Wake Forest basketball recruit charged earlier this year in connection with a series of clothing store thefts. Dawson agreed to pay $110 for a misdemeanor charge of possession of stolen goods.

Chris Nelloms, a former Ohio State track standout and Olympic hopeful, was arrested in Dayton, Ohio, on a warrant charging that he had raped a girl under age 13. Nelloms, 26, is scheduled to be arraigned today.

Names in the News

Christopher Cairney, the former coordinator of tutor services at USC, has called a news conference for today regarding legal action after his firing last month.

USC said Cairney, who charged there are widespread improprieties in the athletic tutoring program, was fired for giving inappropriate assistance on a paper and allegedly using racial epithets.

Ray Haskins, who led Long Island University to two postseason college basketball appearances and a 51-39 record in his three seasons with the Blackbirds, resigned.

Former tennis star Ion Tiriac, 59, was appointed chairman of the Romanian Olympic Committee.

Miscellany

Best-selling author Tom Clancy met with top NFL officials to ease concerns that he won’t be able to raise $200 million to buy the Minnesota Vikings. Clancy is expected to make a presentation to the league’s finance committee during its meeting in Miami next week.

Mike Penney pitched a complete game as USC defeated Stanford, 5-1, in a Pacific 10 baseball game at Palo Alto. The Trojans (39-14, 21-9) won two of the three games in the series with the Cardinal (41-10-1, 22-8).

The U.S. men’s water polo team will play Australia in a three-game series beginning May 12 at the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool.