Agassi Advances at ATP, Clinches No. 1 Ranking

Thursday was a doubly sweet day for Andre Agassi at Hanover, Germany, as he clinched a spot in the semifinals of the ATP Tour World Championship and the world’s top ranking for the rest of the year.

Agassi became the first player to advance to the semifinals when he defeated Gustavo Kuerten, 6-4, 7-5. Agassi advanced to the final four without dropping a set in his three Red Group matches.

Kuerten, a Brazilian ranked No. 3 in the world, was the first player to break Agassi’s serve in the tournament and fired 13 aces. But in the end, the American had too much precision and power for the former French Open champion.

After his victory, Agassi received the ATP Tour trophy for finishing the year as No. 1. Agassi is assured of staying No. 1 for the year even if he fails to win the event.

“It symbolized a lot for me professionally and personally,” Agassi said after receiving the glass trophy. “It’s a big accomplishment for me.”

The Red Group will be decided today, when Pete Sampras plays Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador. Kuerten, 1-2, could theoretically still advance. Sampras is 1-1 and Lapentti is 0-2. Sampras needs to win a set to advance.

In the White Group, Nicolas Kiefer of Germany defeated Todd Martin, 6-3, 6-2, to stay alive and Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia picked up his second victory by outlasting Thomas Enqvist of Sweden, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.

Because of the round-robin format, Kafelnikov, Enqvist, Kiefer and Martin were all in the running for the two semifinal places. The group will be decided today.

The $3.6-million season-ending tournament brings together the top eight players in the world, who are split into two groups. The top two from each pool advance to the last four.

Agassi earned the No. 1 ranking after winning the French Open and the U.S. Open this summer.

Horse Racing

Jockey Laffit Pincay, Jr. had a productive Thanksgiving in his quest to catch Bill Shoemaker as racing’s all-time leading rider.

After losing with his first three mounts Thursday at Hollywood Park, Pincay had consecutive winners, taking the sixth with 7-2 shot Hailtheliquidator and the seventh with What’s The Fuss, who paid $33.60 for her first win in California.

The two victories left Pincay with 8,822, leaving him 11 behind Shoemaker’s mark of 8,833. The Hall of Fame rider, who is tied for the lead in the Hollywood Park standings with Pat Valenzuela at 11 wins, is named on three horses on today’s card--Boy Chick in the first, Tera Kitty in the third and Jolie’s Tattletale in the sixth.

Breeders’ Cup sprint winner Artax has been retired because of a ligament injury in his left foreleg. Trainer Louis Albertani said the 4-year-old had worked out the past two days at Belmont Park and was examined Wednesday.

Artax was considered a contender for Horse of the Year honors. In the Breeders’ Cup sprint at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale, Fla., on Nov. 6, he tied Mr. Prospector’s record with a time of 1:07 4/5 in the six-furlong race.

Earlier this year, Artax also broke Dr. Fager’s record in the Carter Handicap at Aqueduct for seven furlongs and Groovy’s six-furlong record at Belmont Park in the Forest Hills Handicap.

Paraneck Stable owner Ernie Paragallo said Artax will stand at stud in New York.

Miscellany

Former Olympic and world 100-meter champion Linford Christie decided not to defend himself when the sport’s world governing body deals with doping allegations against him.

Christie, 39, said he already has retired from athletics and has nothing to prove when his case comes up before an arbitration panel of the International Amateur Athletic Federation.

Christie tested positive for traces of the steroid nandrolone at a small indoor meet in Germany in February. He later was cleared by UK Athletics, which ruled there was no proof the nandrolone in his system was “derived from a prohibited substance.”

But the IAAF did not accept the British decision and ordered the case to go to arbitration. No date has been set for the hearing.

Two people running the lift when a giant crane collapsed onto the partially completed Miller Park in Milwaukee, killing three workers, say tracks on one side of the crane were sinking into the ground just before the accident, and that wind was not the cause.

The comments came in sworn depositions that were released by order of the state Court of Appeals as the result of a lawsuit filed by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Felix Trinidad says he is willing to abandon the World Boxing Council welterweight title he won from Oscar De La Hoya to move up to 154 pounds for a bout in March against David Reid. The WBC is threatening to strip Trinidad of the 147-pound title unless he fights in a mandatory defense against U.S. boxer Derell Coley.