Henman Ousts Ailing Kuerten

Tim Henman followed up his upset of the Wimbledon winner by defeating the French Open champion.

Henman, who defeated Pete Sampras earlier in the week, advanced to the final of the Tennis Master Series-Cincinnati at Mason, Ohio, with a 6-7 (11), 6-4, 7-6 (0) victory over Gustavo Kuerten Saturday.

“I knew coming into the match that I was playing well,” Henman said, “but I knew that I had a tough opponent.”

The match lasted 2 hours 36 minutes, two minutes shorter than Kuerten’s quarterfinal match when--as on Saturday--he called for a trainer to apply a Band-Aid to a blister on his right ring finger.

“Maybe I should not have played today,” the fourth-seeded Kuerten said.

“I thought I could not play when I went to hit [before the match]. But they put on some anesthetic and it felt better.”

Henman will face Sweden’s Thomas Enqvist in today’s final. Enqvist, seeded seventh, defeated France’s Arnaud Clement, 6-2, 6-2, Saturday.

The 13th-seeded Henman sensed he was playing the best tennis of his career when he defeated defending champion Sampras here. Henman, the first British player to reach the semifinals of this tournament in 23 years, had been 0-6 against Sampras.

Henman might have ended the match against Kuerten sooner if he had not double-faulted three times in the first-set tiebreaker. One double-fault cost him a set point when he was up 6-5. The other, at 11-12, gave the Brazilian the set.

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Fifth-seeded Polina Zaretser of New York rallied to defeat fourth-seeded Tracy Lin of Anaheim, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, in the singles final of the U.S. Tennis Assn. Girls’ 14 Super National Hardcourt Championships at South Fulton Tennis Center in College Park, Ga.

Motor Racing

Gil de Ferran clinched the pole position for the CART Miller Lite 200 by crashing his car at Lexington, Ohio.

Late in Saturday’s final qualifying session, de Ferran’s Reynard-Honda slid across the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course at the apex of the first turn and its rear end struck a tire barrier. The car turned over, trapping de Ferran briefly, but course workers quickly got it upright and he emerged unhurt.

The accident brought an abrupt end to the session. No driver had improved on de Ferran’s 124.394-mph lap that led Friday’s qualifying, so that means the Brazilian will start first in today’s race.

Friday’s top three qualifiers retained their positions, with de Ferran’s Penske Racing teammate Helio Castroneves second and Dario Franchitti of Team Kool Green third.

Michael Schumacher, driving a Ferrari, won the pole for the Hungarian Grand Prix, producing a qualifying lap time of 1 minute 17.514 seconds on his first trip around the track at Budapest. He missed that mark by only 0.002 seconds on a later lap.

Schumacher’s two McLaren rivals weren’t close. David Coulthard was second, 0.372 of a second behind, and two-time world champion Mika Hakkinen was 0.408 back.

Schumacher, who holds a two-point lead in the drivers’ standings, has failed to finish four of the past five races. He had a 24-point lead before his struggles, making long-suffering Ferrari fans nervous that another drivers’ title could slip away. The last title came in 1979.

Bobby Labonte was awarded the pole for the Global Crossing after qualifying for the Winston Cup race was rained out for the second time in 24 hours at Watkins Glen International in New York. Labonte leads the Winston Cup standings and, thus, was given the pole.

Nearly as fortunate was series champion Dale Jarrett, who will start today’s race alongside Labonte because he’s second in points.

Owner points determined the first 35 spots, Darrell Waltrip got in as a past champion, and the final seven slots were filled by the luck of the draw for order of qualifying.

Randy Tolsma, ended a 73-race victory drought, beating Dennis Setzer by 1.402 seconds in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ Federated Auto Parts 250 at Nashville, giving Dodge a one-two finish.

Miscellany

The Cleveland Cavaliers signed 10-year veteran guard Bimbo Coles to a contract. Coles, 32, spent last season with the Atlanta Hawks where he averaged 8.1 points in 80 games, including 54 starts. The 6-foot-2 free agent has career averages of 8.7 points and 4.3 assists.

Defenseman Jason Smith signed a two-year contract with the Edmonton Oilers, avoiding a salary arbitration hearing. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Andy Kelly passed for 305 yards and seven touchdowns as the Nashville Kats upset the top-seeded San Jose SaberCats, 51-42, in an Arena Football League semifinal playoff game at San Jose. Nashville will play the winner of today’s semifinal between Arizona and Orlando.

Bruny Surin earned an Olympic berth by overcoming a tight hamstring to win the 100 meters in the Canadian track and field championships at Victoria. Surin, silver medalist in the 1999 world championships, was clocked in 10.05 seconds, his best time of the year.

World and Olympic aerial skiing champion Eric Bergoust of the U.S. edged fellow American Jerry Grossi in the opening round of the 2000-2001 Freestyle World Cup at Mt. Buller, Australia. Bergoust, a native of Missoula, Mont., scored 250.3 points to clinch the first round in Australia’s Victorian Alps.

In the women’s event, world aerial freestyle champion Jacqui Cooper of Australia maintained her dominance for the third consecutive year with 181.66 points to earn her 11th World Cup victory.