Hingis, Davenport Back in Final

In what’s becoming routine in women’s tennis, Martina Hingis and Lindsay Davenport will meet for another tournament title.

The two top-seeded players won their semifinal matches Saturday to reach the final of the season-ending Chase Championships at New York for the second consecutive year. Last year, then-No.2 Hingis defeated No. 1 Davenport. It’s also the second week in a row the two have battled for a title, facing each other in last Sunday’s Advanta Championships in Philadelphia, which Davenport won.

The top-seeded Hingis blunted the power of Venus Williams to win, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2), before Davenport, seeded second in this elite 16-player field, stopped No. 6 Nathalie Tauziat of France, 7-6 (7-3), 6-0.

*

Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes of India, the No. 1-ranked doubles team in the world, beat Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde to advance to the finals of the Phoenix ATP Tour World Doubles Championship at Hartford, Conn. Bhupathi and Paes will face Alex O’Brien and Sebastien Lareau in a rematch of the 1999 U.S. Open championship match.

Boxing

Heavyweight Michael Grant, seemingly headed for defeat after being knocked down twice by Andrew Golota in the first round, pulled out a 10th-round victory at Atlantic City, N.J.

Grant’s 31st victory in his 31st fight probably earned him a shot at undisputed champion Lennox Lewis, who was at ringside.

Golota has a 34-4 record.

In an undercard bout, Stephan Johnson was on a respirator in critical condition at a hospital after he was knocked out in the 10th round by U.S. Boxing Assn. junior-middleweight champion Paul Vaden.

Baseball

An Angel rotation on the verge of losing ace Chuck Finley will take another hit next week when pitcher Tim Belcher, 37, has surgery to repair a torn tendon in his elbow. The procedure will make the right-hander highly doubtful for opening day in April. . . . Bob Harrison and Dave Garcia, two scouts who were among the dozen recently fired by Angel President Tony Taveras, have been quick to find work. Harrison has been hired by the Seattle Mariners as a major league scout on the West Coast, and Garcia, who once managed the Angels, has been hired as a bench coach by new Colorado Rocky Manager Buddy Bell.

Miscellany

Tiger Woods won the individual title by nine shots over New Zealand’s Frank Nobilo and led the United States to the World Cup golf championship at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Woods shot a six-under-par 65 today for a 21-under total and teamed with Mark O’Meara for a 23-under team score, five ahead of Spain. . . . Winnie Palmer, the wife Arnold Palmer, died after a lengthy illness, KDKA-TV in Latrobe, Pa., reported. She was 65.

Ron Hornaday Jr. averaged 129.260 mph and won the Georgia Boot 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The two-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck series champion led 94 of the 162 laps, including the final 62 of the 1999 series finale, defeating pole-winner Derrick Gilchrist by 4.366-seconds.

Christel Saioni of France and Spela Pretnar of Slovenia started the women’s World Cup slalom season with a tie with a time of 1 minute, 31.92 seconds, at Copper Mountain, Colo. . . . World champion figure skater Maria Butyrskaya of Russia edged Victoria Volchkova to win the women’s competition at the Lalique Trophy at Paris, and the French couple Sarah Abitbol and Stephane Bernadis took the pairs event.

Cuba, the United States and Russia improved to 3-0 in the 12-nation men’s volleyball World Cup tournament at Tokyo. . . . The United States defeated a world all-star team, 9-8, in an indoor women’s soccer exhibition game at Washington. . . . The No. 3 USC men’s water polo team defeated No. 1 UCLA, 10-7, at McDonald’s Swim Stadium. It was the final regular-season game for both teams. . . . The No. 3 UCLA men’s soccer team opens NCAA tournament play today, hosting No. 12 San Diego at 1 at North Athletic Field. . . . Top-ranked Santa Clara defeated UCLA, 7-0, at Santa Clara in the third round of the NCAA women’s soccer tournament. The No. 14 Bruins end the season 15-5-1. . . . Rachel Messick’s goal on a free kick with 15 minutes to play gave Azusa Pacific (16-2-2) a 2-1 victory over Lindenwood of St. Charles, Mo., and a berth in the semifinals of the NAIA women’s soccer tournament in Miami.