Davenport Too Tough for Hingis

Lindsay Davenport defeated Martina Hingis, 7-6 (7), 6-4, on Sunday to win the Advanta Championships at Villanova, Pa., beating the No. 1 player in the world in the title match for the second year in a row.

The tournament will be played next year in Nice, France, ending a 10-year run in the Philadelphia area.

“It’s sad. You hate to see it go off the calendar,” said Davenport, who made four consecutive appearances in the Advanta finals. “I’ve always done well here, could’ve won all four. As an American, it’s always hard when you lose a tournament to Europe.”

It was the fourth championship of the year and 30th overall for Davenport, ranked No. 2 in the world.

Hingis twice rallied from match point and won nine points in a row before losing serve in the final game. Davenport, who earned $87,000 for the victory, won last year by beating Hingis in straight sets.

*

Marat Safin smashed his racket and injured his hand, but defeated Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia to win the $800,000 St. Petersburg Open. The top-seeded Russian won, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, for his first pro title in his home country. By winning, Safin, the U.S. Open champion, has overtaken Brazil’s Gustavo Kuerten for the No. 1 spot in the ATP Champions Race.

*

Arnaud Clement, playing in only his second final, won the first title of his career by upsetting Patrick Rafter of Australia, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5) before a roaring home crowd in the $800,000 Lyon Grand Prix at Lyon, France. . . . Henrieta Nagyova of Slovakia defeated Iva Majoli of Croatia, 6-4, 6-2, to win the Wismilak International at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Miscellany

An international agency will consider today whether to take over drug testing of American track and field athletes, a move prompted by allegations that the U.S. federation covered up positive cases.

The World Anti-Doping Agency in Oslo will examine a proposal from USA Track and Field to take control of its drug-control program, a precedent which could be extended to all countries and all sports.

The credibility of the U.S. system came under fire during the Sydney Olympics with accusations by the International Amateur Athletic Federation that USATF had suppressed 15 positive tests in the last two years.

The pressure intensified after it was revealed that shot putter C.J. Hunter, husband of sprinter Marion Jones had tested positive four times for the steroid nandrolone last summer.

With the integrity of U.S. testing at stake, USATF chief executive Craig Masback suggested that WADA take over all in- and out-of-competition controls of American track athletes and handle reviews and appeals of all positive cases.

Cristina Teuscher of the U.S. won the 400-meter freestyle at the FINA short-course World Cup swimming meet at Rio de Janeiro. Teuscher, a bronze medalist in the 200 individual medley at the Sydney Olympics, won in 4 minutes 9.81 seconds. In all, Brazil won 41 medals during the three-day meet and the U.S. won 12.

Barbara Fusar-Poli and Maurizio Margaglio of Italy won the ice dance on the final day of the Nations Cup figure skating grand prix event at Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Fusar-Poli and Margaglio, second in the world championships last year, easily won the free dance to sweep all three sections of the competition.

Former heavyweight champion Michael Spinks was arrested at his home in Greenville, Del., and charged with second-degree assault in the beating of his girlfriend, state police said.

Spinks was released in the afternoon on $2,500 unsecured bail for the assault charge and an additional $10,000 cash bail for an outstanding Family Court warrant. Police said they did not know what charges were pending in that court.