Davenport Survives First-Round Test Against Testud

Two days after clinching the year-end No. 1 ranking, Lindsay Davenport almost became a spectator at the season-ending Chase Championships at New York.

Davenport was two points away from defeat when she rallied to beat Sandrine Testud of France, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-0, and complete the opening round at Madison Square Garden.

Earlier, fifth-seeded Monica Seles overcame an upset stomach and a stubborn Anna Kournikova of Russia, 6-4, 6-3, and No. 6 Mary Pierce of France crushed Amanda Coetzer of South Africa, 6-1, 6-0.

Having escaped one Frenchwoman, Davenport next will play another, eighth-seeded Nathalie Tauziat, in the quarterfinals of this season-ending tournament.

Other quarterfinal pairings will pit Seles against Steffi Graf in a battle of former No. 1 players, Pierce against No. 2 Martina Hingis of Switzerland, and Belgium’s Dominique Van Roost against Irina Spirlea of Romania in a meeting of unseeded players.

“Winning when you’re not playing great. Today was a great example of that,” Davenport said.

Sunday’s title match will be best of five sets, the only time women play more than three sets. The winner will collect $500,000, with $250,000 going to the losing finalist.

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Second-seeded Julie Halard-Decugis of France defeated Nicole Pratt of Australia, 6-1, 7-5, and eighth-seeded Shi-Ting Wang of Taiwan was a 6-2, 7-5 winner over Yuka Yoshida of Japan to advance to the third round of the Volvo Women’s Open hardcourt tournament at Pattaya, Thailand.

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Dutchmen Jacco Eltingh and Paul Haarhuis, playing in their final doubles tournament as a team, beat Ellis Ferriera and Rich Leach, 6-4, 6-4, in the opening round of the ATP World Doubles Championship at Hartford, Conn.

Eltingh, 28, will retire after this event.

Pro Basketball

A week after Karl Malone vowed he would never play another game for the Utah Jazz, the Mailman changed his mind.

Malone, in an interview with a Salt Lake City radio station, said he had not “abandoned” Utah and answered “yes” when asked if he would like to continue to play for the Jazz.

The San Antonio Spurs, who are lobbying city leaders for money to build a new arena, released an audited financial statement showing almost $1.9 million in losses for the 1997-98 season.

The team lost $4 million during the regular season but recovered $2.1 million in the playoffs by reaching the Western Conference semifinals. The Spurs lost $4.2 million the previous season, when they missed the playoffs.

Golf

Tiger Woods rolled in a 12-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole and then watched match-play opponent Vijay Singh hit his second shot on the final hole into the ocean to win the PGA Grand Slam of Golf at Poipu, Hawaii.

The 2-up victory for Woods, who gained entry into the exclusive tournament thanks to a double victory in the majors by his buddy Mark O’Meara, was worth $400,000.

It also made Woods the second alternate to win the $1-million tournament. Greg Norman, thanks to a double victory by Nick Price, won the 1994 Grand Slam.

U.S. Open winner Lee Janzen took advantage of a bogey by O’Meara on the 17th hole at the 6,957-yard Poipu Bay Resort Course to take third place, 1-up.

Se Ri Pak was a qualifier looking forward to her first season on tour when Annika Sorenstam won last year’s LPGA Tour Championship in a three-way playoff.

Today at Las Vegas, she’s paired in the final group with Sorenstam in the season-ending tournament--with an outside chance of adding player of the year to the rookie-of-the-year title she long ago tucked away.

Though Sorenstam already has locked up the season money title and scoring crown, Pak could move past her and win the player-of-the-year title with a victory on the Desert Inn Country Club course.

Rick Fehr, a two-time PGA Tour winner who lost his tour exemption this year, shot a 10-under 62 in the first round of the tour’s qualifying tournament for 1999.

Fehr, whose last win was the 1994 Walt Disney/Oldsmobile Classic, had five birdies on each nine at the La Quinta Resort Dunes Course, one of two courses used in the six-day, 108-hole event.

Brian Gay, playing the Weiskopf Course at PGA West, had a 64 for second place as 103 of the 169 players broke par.

The top 35 players and ties in the tournament receive PGA Tour exemptions for 1999. The next 50 players earn full exemptions to the Nike Tour.

Miscellany

Receiver Brian Blades of the Seattle Seahawks must answer questions under oath about what happened the night his cousin was fatally shot at his house, an appeals court in West Palm Beach, Fla., ruled.

Blades, 33, and Charles Blades, 34, were alone when Charles was shot at Brian’s suburban Fort Lauderdale home after a night of Fourth of July drinking in 1995. Blades has called the shooting an accident.

A jury found Blades guilty of manslaughter, but a Broward County judge last October overturned the verdict, saying there was not enough evidence for a conviction.

Blades now is facing a wrongful death lawsuit for unspecified damages filed by Marchelle Henry, the mother of Charles Blades’ teenage daughter, Crystal Shari.

The Ice Dogs scored the first three goals and defeated the Las Vegas Thunder, 3-1, in an International Hockey League game at Las Vegas.

New England Revolution owner Jonathan Kraft is buying the San Jose Clash after Alan Rothenberg’s deal to purchase the Major League Soccer team collapsed.

Kraft Sports Group, which also owns the NFL’s New England Patriots, will pay more than the $25 million Rothenberg’s group had agreed to, MLS Commissioner Doug Logan said.

Seven of MLS’ 12 teams are now owned by three groups. Lamar Hunt owns the Columbus Crew and Kansas City Wizards, and Philip Anschutz last month purchased the Galaxy to add to the Colorado Rapids and MLS champion Chicago Fire.

Russia defeated the United States, 13-15, 15-13, 12-15, 15-7, 15-7, as the second round began at the men’s world volleyball championships at Tokyo.