Even Extra Man on Court Can’t Slow Down Sampras

Pete Sampras, unfazed by a brief rain delay and a trespasser on the court, notched a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Frenchman Guillaume Raoux in Wednesday’s second round of the RCA Championships at Indianapolis.

Sampras, ranked No. 1, extended his winning streak to 23 matches. He has won 18 consecutive sets and 51 of the last 57.

The match was delayed briefly in the second set when a man jumped onto the court and tried to remove a sponsor logo stitched onto the net. He was led off the court by a security guard.

“I never saw anything like that on the court,” Sampras said. “It didn’t make any difference in the match, though.”

Sampras had a much easier time than second-seeded Patrick Rafter of Australia, who was pressed to the limit by Anthony Dupuis of France before the Australian dominated the tiebreaker for a 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (7-1) victory.

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Serena Williams, seeded eighth in the du Maurier Open at Toronto, injured her right shoulder in practice and withdrew.

Williams will be out of next week’s tournament at New Haven, Conn., but is expected to be ready for the U.S. Open beginning Aug. 30.

Jennifer Capriati defeated seventh-seeded Nathalie Tauziat of France, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2, and fourth-seeded Jana Novotna of the Czech Republic was beaten by unseeded Ai Sugiyama of Japan, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1.

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Andre Agassi put himself on track to earn his fifth Legg Mason Classic title. Agassi, seeded second in the Washington event, disposed of Swede Mikael Tillstrom, 6-1, 6-1, in 50 minutes.

Golf

Josh McCumber of Middleburg, Fla., defeated Nick Rousey, 3 and 1, in the first round of match play at the U.S. Amateur Championship at Pebble Beach.

Also advancing was Justin Bolli, a recent University of Georgia graduate who had a 70 on Monday, the low score in the first of two rounds of stroke play that cut the field from 312 to the 64, who began match play Wednesday.

John Pate, the older brother of PGA player Steve Pate, was also among the 32 golfers advancing.

Mitch Voges, the 1991 Amateur champion, and Todd Miller, son of PGA player and TV commentator Johnny Miller, were eliminated.

College Basketball

Purdue is appealing NCAA sanctions that include two years of probation, forfeiture of 24 basketball games and the loss of revenue from the 1996 NCAA tournament.

Purdue Athletic Director Morgan Burke said many of the NCAA’s findings didn’t meet the organization’s minimum standard of being “credible and persuasive,” and the NCAA enforcement staff failed to follow required procedures in some aspects of its inquiry.

The NCAA’s Committee on Infractions ruled in June that Purdue had violated rules on recruiting, extra benefits and ethical conduct.

Former Louisville basketball assistant coach Scooter McCray has sued the NCAA, claiming an investigation into the school’s program tarnished his reputation and has blocked him from coaching.

Hockey

The Philadelphia Flyers announced that forward John LeClair injured his back in off-ice workouts and was visiting a specialist, Dr. Robert Watkins, in Los Angeles. The team did not say exactly how LeClair hurt his back. . . . The Edmonton Oilers re-signed free agent center Chad Kilger to a two-year contract. . . . The Atlanta Thrashers signed right wing Kelly Buchberger to a three-year contract. . . . The Washington Capitals traded center Benoit Gratton to the Calgary Flames for defenseman Steve Shirreffs. . . . Left wing Colin Forbes, traded from the Flyers to Tampa Bay last season, signed a three-year contract with the Lightning.

Miscellany

Lawyers for Muhammad Ali have filed a lawsuit claiming a one-time personal lawyer of Ali and an associate duped the former heavyweight boxing champion into signing away the rights to his life story. . . . A Nebraska man, Willis Clyde Thomas, 36, who posed as NFL players to receive free hotel rooms, meals and limousine rides, has been arrested after he tried his scheme one more time in Las Vegas. Police said Thomas had been posing as Chad Fann, a San Francisco 49er tight end. . . . Remaining unbeaten in three starts, Dixie Union, the 7-5 favorite, outran Exchange Rate in the final sixteenth of a mile to win the $150,000 Best Pal Stakes in his first race at Del Mar. . . . In its first match since winning the Women’s World Cup last month, the United States will play Ireland on Sept. 4 at Foxboro, Mass. . . . Primo Nebiolo, who has directed track and field’s growth for nearly two decades, was elected to a sixth term as president of the International Amateur Athletic Federation.