Kournikova Keeps On Rolling

For 40 embarrassing minutes, Patty Schnyder lolled around, playing as if she didn’t want to be there. As soon as the match was over, she acknowledged that was precisely the case.

She rolled over in the quarterfinals of the Bausch & Lomb Championships at Amelia Island, Fla., more or less handing No. 9 Anna Kournikova a 6-0, 6-2 victory Friday.

The sixth-seeded Schnyder said the weak effort stemmed from a feud between her and Kournikova, believed to date to Kournikova’s 6-1, 6-3 victory over her in the same tournament last year.

In the semifinals, Kournikova will play unseeded Ruxandra Dragomir, a 6-3, 6-1 winner over Fabiola Zuluaga.

On the other side of the bracket, No. 7 Conchita Martinez outlasted defending champion and No. 4-seeded Mary Pierce, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2.

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Todd Martin moved into the semifinals of the Estoril Open at Oeiras, Portugal, when Brazilian Fernando Meligeni was disqualified for hitting a spectator with a ball.

In an apparently unpremeditated act, Meligeni knocked the ball at an advertising placard after losing a point, but hit a spectator instead. Third-seeded Marcelo Rios of Chile beat No. 5 Gustavo Kuerten, 6-4, 6-3, and will meet Martin in the semifinals.

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Top-seeded Carlos Moya of Spain conceded his match in the quarterfinals of the Gold Flake Open at Madreas, India, losing his chance to become the world’s No. 1 player.

Moya trailed Germany’s Rainer Schuttler, 1-6, 0-3, before retiring because of a blistered thumb. He had to reach the final to surpass Pete Sampras.

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Andre Agassi, who announced through a publicist that he was ending his two-year marriage to actress Brooke Shields, breezed into the semifinals of the Salem Open in Hong Kong with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Germany’s Nicolas Kiefer.

Hendrik Dreekman of Germany upset top-seeded Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

College Basketball

Buzz Peterson changed his mind about becoming Southwest Missouri State’s coach and will remain at Appalachian State.

On Thursday, Southwest Missouri State Athletic Director Bill Rowe said Peterson decided to take the job but he changed his mind less than 12 hours later.

Peterson would have succeeded Steve Alford, who left Southwest Missouri State for Iowa to replace Tom Davis after taking the Bears to the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament.

Illinois State promoted Tom Richardson, an assistant for six years, to replace Kevin Stallings, who left for Vanderbilt last week.

Jurisprudence

Former University of Washington quarterback Shane Fortney is suing ex-football coach Jim Lambright, fired late last year, over his handling of Fortney’s 1996 knee injury.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Wash., seeks unspecified damages. It contends Fortney’s pro-football prospects were hurt by Lambright’s “reckless, malicious and unreasonable treatment.”

Fortney has not sued the university.

Motor Sports

Larry Dixon made history when he drove his dragster to the first sub-4.5 second elapsed time in NHRA top fuel history.

Dixon covered Houston Raceway Park’s quarter mile in 4.486 seconds, reaching 318.54 mph to lead the 16-car field in the O’Reilly Nationals at Baytown, Texas.

Rusty Wallace guided his Ford Taurus to a fast lap of 125.142 mph to edge Jeff Gordon for the top starting spot in Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway at Bristol, Tenn. . . . Stacy Compton, who has managed top-three finishes in all three of this season’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races, will start from the pole position in today’s Dodge California Truck Stop 300 at Bakersfield.

Miscellany

Former Pro Bowl receiver Tony Martin signed a four-year contract with the Miami Dolphins, but federal charges of laundering drug money cloud his future. The contract was for $14.2 million, including a $3.3-million signing bonus. Martin will receive only $100,000 if he’s unavailable to play. . . . Former UCLA single-wing halfback Billy Kilmer was among 15 players and coaches selected for the College Football Hall of Fame. . . . WNBA labor talks will resume Sunday or Monday, and Commissioner Val Ackerman said she is “hopeful” that an agreement will be reached at that time on the league’s first collective bargaining agreement. . . . Olympic gymnastics champion Dominique Moceanu and her parents have reached a financial settlement that ends a protective order against the gymnast’s father. . . . Former Negro League outfielder Gene Benson died in Philadelphia. He was 85.