Williams Sisters Remain on Course for Sibling Final

Venus Williams and Serena Williams are one victory apiece away from a sibling showdown in Sunday’s final in the Lipton Championships at Key Biscayne, Fla.

Venus joined her younger sister in the semifinals Thursday, rallying to defeat Jana Novotna of the Czech Republic, 5-7, 6-2, 6-3, in 2 hours 20 minutes.

The sisters face big obstacles to a family-feud final. Venus, the defending champion, will play Steffi Graf of Germany today, and Serena, who defeated Amanda Coetzer in the quarterfinals Wednesday night, will meet top-ranked Martina Hingis.

Graf advanced by walkover Thursday when second-ranked Lindsay Davenport withdrew because of a sprained wrist.

Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands, seeking his first U.S. title since 1993, advanced to Saturday’s men’s final by beating Thomas Enqvist of Sweden, 6-4, 6-2. He will play unseeded Sebastien Grosjean of France, who defeated Francisco Clavet of Spain, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.

Venus, 18, and Serena, 17, have rarely entered the same tournament recently because their father, Richard, prefers that they not face each other. They last met in the Italian Open last May, and their only other matchup came in last year’s Australian Open. Venus won each time in straight sets.

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British Davis Cup captain David Lloyd ripped Pete Sampras, branding him unpatriotic and calling his implied criticism of Greg Rusedski disgraceful.

Britain hosts the United States in Birmingham, England, next month in a world-group first-round Davis Cup match that Sampras has declined to play.

Sampras decided to pass up Davis Cup this year while concentrating on his personal goals of breaking the records for Grand Slam titles and total weeks as the No. 1-ranked player.

But he did make time to say that the Americans “would find it hard against the half-Canadian, half-British combination of Rusedski and Tim Henman,” a reference to Rusedski’s nationality switch from his native Canada.

Lloyd said that comment was a “bit rich coming from a player who cannot hold a candle to our guys when it comes to playing for your country.”

Figure Skating

Defending champion Alexei Yagudin of Russia retained his title at the world championships at Helsinki, executing one of the toughest programs ever seen in the event.

Early in his routine to music from the movie “Lawrence of Arabia,” Yagudin unleashed a flawless quad, not only landing it firmly but with a flair that emphasized to the audience that he’d nailed it.

Runner-up to Yagudin was compatriot Yevgeny Plushenko, who failed on a quad attempt. Tim Goebel of the United States finished 12th, but earned a place in the record books by completing the first quad salchow-triple toe loop ever in a world championship.

Television footage showing a Russian and Ukrainian judge exchanging glances, making gestures and possibly conversing during Wednesday’s pairs competition had the event’s governing body concerned.

Boxing

Fernando Ibarra, injured in a fight against Ratanachai Vorapin, is walking, talking and ready to go home to Mexico, two months after a knockout punch that nearly killed him. Ibarra and his parents, who have stayed with him during his rehabilitation at Saint Louis University Medical Center and Bethesda General Hospital, will leave St. Louis today.

Ibarra’s recovery has exceeded his doctors’ expectations. After he underwent surgery to remove two blood clots from his brain after the Jan. 29 fight, he was unresponsive for weeks. Doctors were uncertain that he would be able to regain mental function.

Thomas Hearns, winner of major titles in five weight divisions since 1977, will make his British debut next month. Hearns, 40, will fight former World Boxing Assn. champion Nate Miller in a cruiserweight fight April 3 in Manchester. The bout will be on the undercard of Naseem Hamed’s World Boxing Organization featherweight title defense against Paul Ingle.

Football

Wide receiver Alex Van Dyke was traded by the New York Jets to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a sixth-round draft choice in next month’s NFL draft.

USC begins spring football practice today at Howard Jones Field at 3:30 p.m. The Trojans have 16 starters--most on offense--returning from a team that finished 8-5 and lost to Texas Christian in the Sun Bowl last season. USC opens the season Sept. 4 at Hawaii. . . . Notre Dame will open the 1999 season by playing host to Kansas in the second Eddie Robinson Classic on Aug. 28.

Miscellany

USC senior Bela Szabados was second in the 500-yard freestyle and sophomore Justin Dumais was third in the one-meter springboard on the first day of the NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships at Indianapolis.

The Trojans were sixth with 83 points. Auburn leads with 173.

An internal Northeastern University investigation turned over in a Boston court battle over the sudden death of Boston Celtic star Reggie Lewis found no evidence that he used cocaine in college.

In a motion filed in the medical malpractice case, lawyers for Lewis’ estate said “every credible witness with personal knowledge states unequivocally before the Northeastern Commission that Reggie Lewis never used cocaine.”

The 1996 report has become central to the battle over responsibility over Lewis’ death in July 1993.

His widow, Donna Harris-Lewis, has sued four doctors, accusing them of misdiagnosing and mistreating her husband’s heart problem.

European soccer’s governing body called off a European 2000 qualifying match in Glasgow, Scotland, because the Bosnia-Herzegovina team had trouble leaving its country. The Saturday match against Scotland was rescheduled for Aug. 18.

UEFA’s statement said Bosnia-Herzegovina had closed its airspace to civil flights in view of NATO air strikes against Yugoslavia.

A.J. Mleczko, a Harvard senior who led the nation in scoring, received the 1999 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award as the nation’s outstanding women’s college hockey player.

Jeff Greenwood of Granby, Conn., tore through the second run to win the men’s U.S. snowboard slalom title by seven-hundredths of a second at Ludlow, Vt.

Greenwood was eighth in the first run at Okemo Mountain Resort, but had the fastest second run by nearly a full second to earn his second national title in 50.48 seconds. Mike Kildevaeld, a Dane who lives and trains in Waterville Valley, N.H., was second in 50.55.