Kournikova a Win Away From First Title

Anna Kournikova, still seeking her first WTA Tour title, ousted second-seeded Nathalie Tauziat of France, 6-2, 6-1, Saturday to advance to the final of the Kremlin Cup at Moscow.

Kournikova will face her doubles partner, Martina Hingis, in today’s title match. The Russian star has a 1-8 record against Hingis.

Hingis defeated fifth-seeded Amelie Mauresmo of France, 7-5, 6-3. The world’s top-ranked player was broken in the first and fifth games of the opening set and trailed 5-1.

But she won the next six games, giving Mauresmo only four points before closing the set by breaking her serve at love in the final game.

In men’s play, Marat Safin of Russia lost a chance to take the No. 1 spot in the ATP Champions Race when he was beaten by David Prinosil of Germany, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-3, in the semifinals. Prinosil will play defending champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov in today’s final.

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Miriam Oremans of the Netherlands, who defeated top-seeded Anne-Gaelle Sidot of France in the quarterfinals, easily defeated Denisa Chladova of the Czech Republic, 6-4, 6-0, in the semifinals of the Eurotel Slovak Indoor tournament at Bratislava, Slovakia. Oremans will face Daniela Bedanova of the Czech Republic in the final after Bedanova beat hometown favorite Karina Habsudova, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.

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Roger Federer saved a match point and beat Lleyton Hewitt of Australia, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (6), in front of his home crowd to advance to the final of the Swiss Indoors at Basel. Federer will face Thomas Enqvist of Sweden, who defeated Tim Henman of Britain, 6-1, 6-3.

Football

Scott Milanovich, who threw three passes in his four seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was taken by the Los Angeles Xtreme with the first pick of the initial XFL draft in Chicago.

The 27-year-old Milanovich started a run of five quarterbacks taken with the first five selections. Casey Weldon went to the Birmingham Bolts, Marcus Crandell to the Memphis Maniax, Jeff Brohm to the Orlando Rage and Chuck Clements to the Las Vegas Outlaws.

The draft continues today and Monday.

Teams were also allowed to protect players from three designated colleges in their area. Included in the list of protected players are former NFL first-round picks Mike Croel (Las Vegas), Alvin Harper (Memphis) Tommy Maddox (Los Angeles) and Marcus Nash (Memphis).

The Xtreme drafted nine other players, including cornerback Donnell Day of Cal State Northridge in the fourth round and former Washington running back Rashaan Shehee in the seventh round. Other former NFL players selected were John Avery by the Chicago Enforcers, Jim Druckenmiller by Memphis and Vaughn Dunbar by the San Francisco Demons.

Paralympics

Keith Davis of Pacific Palisades won a bronze medal as a member of the men’s T54 4x100 relay. His teammates were Scot Hollonbeck of Atlanta, Troy Davis of Tucson and Chris Waddell of Park City, Utah. The T54 class is for athletes who have normal arm and hand function, a range of trunk function from some to normal, and may have some leg function.

Miscellany

One Brazilian soccer fan was killed and another injured in clashes between rival fans after Flamengo defeated Vasco, 4-0, in Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana Stadium, police said.

Flavio Augusto Marinho, 14, was shot and killed as euphoric Flamengo fans and defeated Vasco supporters faced off at different points around the city after the game Friday night. Rodrigo Cunha Coutinho, 18, was severely beaten and rushed to the hospital at around 2 a.m. Saturday.

A second high school football player within the last two weeks in northeast Ohio collapsed during a game and died.

Joshua Miller, a sophomore at Barberton High, fell backward behind a bench and was taken to Barberton Citizens Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, hospital spokeswoman Elizabeth Wilson said.

Wilson said it was too early to speculate on Miller’s cause of death. On Oct. 13, Marcus Steele, a sophomore linebacker for Cleveland Central Catholic High, died after suffering a heart attack caused by an enlarged heart.

Ulricch Plattenhardt, 66, of Germany was killed when he crashed with a Swiss driver, Daniel Kuenzli, during the Ferrari Challenge at Scarperia, Italy, an event held to celebrate the championship by the automaker’s Formula One team.

Jeff Green only needs to start the Sam’s Town 250 today to win his first Busch Grand National series title. Green won the pole with his first lap during qualifying at Memphis Motorsports Park. . . . Martina Ertl came from 17th place after the first run to win the season-opening women’s World Cup giant slalom event on an Austrian glacier course in Soelden. . . . Apolo Anton Ohno of Seattle led from the start and won the men’s 500-meter World Cup short-track speedskating race at Provo, Utah. The Chinese swept the women’s 500 meters. . . . France’s Olympic sprint team remained unbeaten since 1996 in a major competition, this time taking the gold medal from Britain in the Cycling World Championships at Manchester, England.