It’s Early, but Hingis, Davenport to Find Out Where They Stand

Having been knocked off the top of the rankings, Martina Hingis gets another shot at No. 1 Lindsay Davenport.

The two will meet in Saturday’s final at the Adidas International tennis tournament in Sydney, Australia.

Bidding to take back the No. 1 ranking she lost to Davenport last year, Hingis woke up in time today to defeat Barbara Schett of Austria, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), before Davenport defeated Steffi Graf of Germany, 6-2, 7-5.

The Swiss teenager complained about having to start her semifinal match at 10 a.m. and needed some late brilliance to get her through the two-hour battle. Schett, ranked 24th in the world, led 6-5 and was serving for the match in the third set before a couple of timid shots gave Hingis the break.

Schett took 5-3 lead in the tiebreaker before losing the final four points.

“I’m not such an early bird,” Hingis said. “I didn’t move my best today. I probably should have woken up earlier, but I don’t understand why we had to start so early.”

In the men’s quarterfinals, Todd Martin beat Australian Lleyton Hewitt, 6-3, 6-7 (7-4), 6-4; Austrian Thomas Muster beat Australian Jason Stoltenberg, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3; Alex Corretja won, 6-3, 4-6, 2-0 (retired), over fellow Spaniard Albert Costa, who had a leg injury; and defending champion Karol Kucera beat Brazil’s Gustavo Kuerten, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.

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At Melbourne, Australian Open champion Petr Korda lodged a legal challenge to the International Tennis Federation’s planned appeal against the leniency of his penalty for testing positive to steroids.

Korda’s lawyers have begun proceedings in the High Court in England in a bid to stop the ITF appealing its independent panel’s decision not to impose a one-year ban on him in the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.

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Top-seeded Julie Halard-Decugis of France defeated Zimbabwe’s Cara Black, 3-6, 7-5, 7-5, to reach the semifinals of the Tasmanian International at Hobart, Australia, where she will play Chanda Rubin, a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 winner over Sarah Pitkowski of France. . . . Brett Steven of New Zealand defeated Mariano Zabaleta, 6-0, 6-4, to move into the semifinals of the Auckland Open, where he will play Dutchman Sjeng Schalken, who beat Romania’s Andrei Pavel, 6-3, 6-2.

Names in the News

The New Jersey Nets and center Jayson Williams reportedly have reached agreement on a six-year deal, $85.8 million contract that would make him the highest-paid player in team history. The Star-Ledger of Newark said the deal could pay Williams more than $100 million if he plays a seventh season.

Comedian Bill Cosby, a friend of Williams, was approved to join the ownership group of the Nets.

Gary Kubiak, offensive coordinator of the Denver Broncos, will interview to become coach at Colorado after the AFC championship game Sunday, the Broncos said.

Colorado asked permission to talk with Kubiak about replacing Rick Neuheisel. The request came after the school was turned down by Northwestern Coach Gary Barnett and Purdue Coach Joe Tiller.

Mercedes-Benz Credit Corp. has sued Philadelphia 76er guard Allen Iverson for more than $28,500 in unpaid lease payments on three late-model cars.

The suit filed in Montgomery County Court in Pennsylvania also asks for the return of the cars and for the total buyout amount, about $300,000, on the 24-month lease vehicles.

Oded Katash rejected an offer from the New York Knicks that could have made him the first Israeli to play in the NBA.

Instead, the 6-foot-4 guard said he will stay with Maccabi Tel Aviv, which is struggling in the Israeli and European leagues.

Katash, 24, was said to have reached preliminary agreement with the Knicks last summer, but negotiations were cut off July 1 by the lockout.

A champion boat racer was shot to death in his airplane, which was stolen and abandoned with blood in the cabin, the FBI said.

Authorities searched in Albuquerque, the mountains to the east and nearby desert for the body of Harry Christensen, 48, who was reported missing by his family on Jan. 6. That night, Christensen’s 1973 Cessna 340 was found at a small airport just north of Albuquerque.

Christensen’s body has not been found.

Authorities have arrested Bobby Joe Keesee, who has a long criminal record, and charged him with stealing the plane and taking it from the airport in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., to New Mexico.

Midfielder Tony Sanneh of Major League Soccer’s D.C. United and the U.S. national team signed with Herta Berlin of Germany’s Bundesliga.

Vickie Dugan, a former softball coach at Oregon State, was awarded $1.09 million in a sex discrimination case against the school. Dugan alleged that the school had replaced her as coach in retaliation for her protests against the school’s attempt to drop the softball program.

Baseball

Right-hander Woody Williams and the San Diego Padres avoided arbitration when they agreed to a $12.75-million, three-year contract, with a club option for a fourth year. Williams, who was 10-9 with a 4.46 earned-run average for Toronto last season, is slated to be the No. 3 starter behind Andy Ashby and Sterling Hitchcock. He was acquired in the deal that sent right-hander Joey Hamilton to the Blue Jays during the winter meetings last month. . . . Free agent Hal Morris returned to the Cincinnati Reds as a backup first baseman by agreeing to a one-year contract. . . . Reliever Scott Service, who made 73 appearances last season as setup man for Kansas City Royal closer Jeff Montgomery, signed a one-year contract with the American League team for $720,000. . . . The Houston Astros traded catcher Brad Ausmus and reliever C.J. Nitkowski back to the Detroit Tigers for five players. The two were dealt to Houston in December 1996 as part of a 10-player trade. In the latest deal, the Astros acquired pitchers Dean Crow, Mark Persails and Brian Powell, catcher Paul Bako and infielder Carlos Villalobos.