Serena Williams’ Streak Ended

U.S. Open champion Serena Williams’ winning streak was ended at 16 matches Wednesday when she was upset by France’s Sandrine Testud after leading, 5-1, in the third set at the Porsche Grand Prix at Filderstadt, Germany.

Testud, the defending champion who is ranked 13th in the world, charged back to deal Williams her first loss since the French Open in June, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Top-seeded Martina Hingis of Switzerland beat Jennifer Capriati, 6-4, 6-0, to reach the quarterfinals. Lindsay Davenport also advanced, crushing Silvia Farina of Italy 6-0, 6-1. Mary Pierce of France, seeded fourth, struggled past Natasha Zvereva of Belarus, 7-6 (7-3), 5-7, 6-4. Another Frenchwoman, Nathalie Dechy, ousted American Mary Joe Fernandez, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1.

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Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia kept alive his bid to end the season as the world’s top-ranked player with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over American Vincent Spadea at the Swiss Indoor tournament at Basel.

Third-seeded Greg Rusedski of Britain, winner of last week’s Grand Slam Cup, defeated Fabrice Santoro of France, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2.

The second-seeded Kafelnikov advanced to the second round and kept pace with French Open and U.S. Open champion Andre Agassi in the battle for the No. 1 year-end ranking.

Meanwhile, Agassi said he has changed his mind and will play for the U.S. in its first-round Davis Cup match in February.

In March, Agassi said he would never participate in Davis Cup competition after friend and team doctor George Fareed was dropped from the squad. He apparently had a change of heart when John McEnroe was appointed captain.

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Top-seeded Marcelo Rios of Chile defeated Croatian Ivan Ljubicic, 6-3, 6-2, to move into the third round of the Heineken Open at Shanghai. Rios will face Australian Todd Woodbridge, who beat Lee Hyung-Taik of South Korea, 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (10-8).

College Basketball

Matt Barnes, a key member of the UCLA basketball team last season and a potential starter in 1999-2000, will miss at least the first four regular-season games and two exhibition contests after being declared academically ineligible, the school announced.

Barnes, a 6-foot-7 sophomore, will be allowed to practice with the team and can participate in the Nov. 6 intrasquad game in Pauley Pavilion, but he can’t play against the Chinese national team or the California all-stars or in the first four games that count: Fairfield, Iona, Morgan State and Gonzaga.

The soonest he could return would be Dec. 18 against DePaul.

Pro Basketball

Dale Davis reported to the Indiana Pacers’ training camp in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., and Isaiah Rider did likewise to the Atlanta Hawks’ camp at Chattanooga, Tenn., after both had missed the first day.

Davis was fined an undisclosed amount after failing to show up for the team’s first two practices at the Disney Institute. Davis said he was tending to personal matters.

Rider, acquired in an August trade with the Portland Trail Blazers, was not immediately available for comment, although he met with General Manager Pete Babcock.

Latrell Sprewell remained absent from the New York Knicks’ training camp at Charleston, S.C. Sprewell’s agent told General Manager Scott Layden the player was in Milwaukee and would join the team Wednesday night or this morning.

The Toronto Raptors have given General Manager Glen Grunwald a multiyear contract extension, the Globe and Mail reported. . . . The Portland Trail Blazers signed free-agent center Joe Kleine to a one-year contract.

A federal appeals court in Boston reinstated a negligence lawsuit against Celtic forward Antoine Walker that said he might be liable for an alleged rape at his home in November 1997 if he could have stopped it without danger to himself. The court said that if Walker knew his friends were dangerous, he should have warned the woman, who was identified only as “Jane Doe.”

Miscellany

Bobby Labonte completed a season sweep of Winston Cup poles at Lowe’s Motor Speedway at Charlotte, N.C., winning the top starting position for the UAW-GM Quality 500 with a fast lap of 185.682 mph.

Jeff Gordon signed a contract to stay with Hendrick Motorsports for the rest of his Winston Cup career, a deal that gives him an equity ownership share of his car with team founder Rick Hendrick. . . . Scott Pruett said he is leaving CART to compete on NASCAR’s Winston Cup circuit next year.

Brazilian soccer star Edmundo turned himself in to police, a day after a court upheld his conviction for manslaughter.

The LPGA announced it is dropping two tournaments from its 2000 schedule after HealthSouth and Safeco Corp. said they would not renew sponsorship agreements.

Jan Ullrich of Germany won his first world title as a professional, capturing the elite men’s time trial at the World Cycling Championships at Treviso, Italy.