Purses Equal for Australian Open

Men and women will receive equal prize money at next year’s Australian Open.

Geoff Pollard, president of Tennis Australia, said Wednesday that players will compete for a tournament-record prize pool of $7.5 million, an 11.5% increase on this year’s total.

The men’s prize money has been increased by 10% and the women’s by 15.8%. Winners of the men’s and women’s singles crowns will each earn $450,000.

“This is great for women’s tennis,” said Martina Hingis, the world’s top-ranked player.

“We have all been working on achieving equal prize money for a while and it is great that at the turn of the century, progress has been made. It is something we deserve and I appreciate that the Australian Open has done this.”

Equal prize money has been a goal of the women for several years. Until now, only the U.S. Open among the four Grand Slam tournaments paid equal prize money.

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Lindsay Davenport, in her first tournament since pulling out of the Olympics because of a foot injury, showed she is on the mend by defeating Sabine Appelmans of Belgium, 6-2, 6-1, in the Swisscom Challenge at Zurich.

“I felt I competed really well, all things considered,” the second-seeded Davenport said after reaching the quarterfinals. “I’m happy to be back playing.”

Anna Kournikova and qualifier Anastasia Myskina defeated Russian compatriots to advance to the quarterfinals.

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Third-seeded Thomas Enqvist of Sweden was forced to retire from the first round because of an ankle injury, allowing Slava Dosedel of the Czech Republic to advance to the quarterfinals of the CA Trophy tournament at Vienna.

Enqvist suffered the injury last week during training at home in Stockholm and had requested his first match be played Wednesday to give himself time to heal. His injury flared again after only 38 minutes on the court, forcing him to retire.

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Second-seeded Michael Chang was ousted from the Japan Open, losing a second-round match to 130th-ranked Cecil Mamiit, 7-5, 6-4, at Tokyo. Mamiit is a former NCAA champion from USC.

Julie Halard-Decugis of France, seeded No. 1 among the women, got a scare before rallying to defeat local favorite Shinobu Asagoe, 6-2, 3-6, 7-5, in the second round.

College Basketball

University of Miami forward Elton Tyler was not permitted to enroll in fall semester classes, meaning he can’t practice with the team and will probably sit out at least the first 15 games of the season.

Tyler, the top returning scorer from a team that reached the regional semifinals of the NCAA tournament last season, was suspended in August for undisclosed academic reasons. He was initially expected to join the Hurricanes at the end of the fall semester and sit out only six games.

But Tyler won’t be allowed to practice with the team until the spring semester starts on Jan. 15, according to the Palm Beach Post.

Damon Thornton was suspended indefinitely from the North Carolina State team after he was arrested in Raleigh, N.C., on charges of driving while impaired after backing into a parked car.

“This decision will best allow him to devote his full attention to this very important matter,” Coach Herb Sendek said.

Thornton also faces charges of driving without a license, hit-and-run, careless and reckless driving and resisting arrest.

Police said Thornton’s blood-alcohol level was .14--nearly double the legal limit in North Carolina.

Massachusetts guard Monty Mack will have a misdemeanor shoplifting charge dismissed if he stays out of trouble for the next six months.

Mack, 23, admitted to sufficient facts for a guilty finding Tuesday before Northampton District Court Judge James McElroy in Hadley, Mass., four days after he was arrested leaving a Kmart store near the Amherst campus with seven DVD movies worth $159.93 hidden in his sweat pants.

Miscellany

Chicago Fire defender Carlos Bocanegra was honored as Major League Soccer’s rookie of the year. He started 27 games for the Fire, which plays the Kansas City Wizards on Sunday for the league title.

In voting by coaches and general managers, Bocanegra, formerly of UCLA, edged defender Nick Garcia of the Wizards and U.S. Olympic standout Danny Califf of the Galaxy.

The Wizards’ Bob Gansler was named coach of the year.

Mari Holden became the first U.S. road cycling world champion in six years when she captured the individual time trial at Plouay, France.

Holden, who won a silver medal last month at the Olympics, overcame a stiff wind during the second day of the World Road Cycling Championships. She finished the 15.6-mile course in Brittany in 33 minutes 14 seconds.

German cyclists Andreas Kappes and Dirk Mueller face bans from the sport after failing drug tests.

The German Cycling Federation said that Kappes, who competes for the Agro Adler team, could face a two-year suspension after traces of the steroid nandrolone were found. He was tested after taking the points title in the German road race championships at Hamburg in July. He could lose that championship because of drug use for the second time in four years.

Mueller, who competes for the Post Swiss team, tested positive for the female hormone HCG during a race in August, the federation said.

Crew members for the Busch Series cars of Todd Bodine and Lyndon Amick were fined a total of $8,500 by NASCAR for actions during a shoving match in the pits.

The teams confronted one another after their cars were part of a chain-reaction accident during the All Pro Bumper to Bumper 300 on Saturday at Concord, N.C.

Kenny Noe, the top officer of the New York Racing Assn. since 1994, has resigned and will be replaced by Barry K. Schwartz, the chief executive officer of the Calvin Klein fashion company.

Takanori Hatakayama knocked out Hiroyuki Sakamoto 18 seconds into the 10th round at Yokohama, Japan, to retain his World Boxing Assn. lightweight title.