Sampras, Agassi Lose Early in Clay-Court Tuneup

Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi have some work to do before the French Open.

With the Grand Slam event less than three weeks away, both fell out of the Italian Open clay-court tournament Tuesday at Rome, losing first-round matches to unheralded opponents.

“I’ve been training a lot, running a lot to prepare for five-set matches at the French,” the fourth-seeded Sampras said after losing to Harel Levy of Israel, 7-5, 2-6, 6-4.

“It’s disappointing to lose right away. You really need to get in a lot of matches.”

The match was carried over from Monday because of rain.

The third-seeded Agassi, who won the 1999 French Open but has never won in Rome, followed Sampras onto center court at the Foro Italico and lost to Spain’s Alex Calatrava, 6-3, 6-3.

Martina Hingis of Switzerland defeated Tathiana Garbin of Italy, 6-2, 6-3, in the second round of the German Open at Berlin. . . . John McEnroe will play Scott Davis tonight at 7 in the opening match of the Success magazine Champions Tournament, a four-day senior tennis event at Newport Beach Tennis Club.

Pro Football

Michael Vick, the top pick in the NFL draft, has agreed to terms with the Atlanta Falcons, a team source told the Associated Press. ESPN.com reported that Vick will sign a six-year contract worth up to $62 million. . . . Jeremaine Copeland, who led the XFL with 67 receptions for the league champion Los Angeles Xtreme, signed with the Dallas Cowboys. . . . The Chicago Bears signed free-agent quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver.

Miscellany

Heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman is expected to decide today whether he will make his first title defense against Lennox Lewis, contractually tied to HBO, or Mike Tyson, tied to Showtime. Tuesday, Rahman was leaning toward HBO, but Showtime President Jay Larkin took one last run at Rahman Tuesday night with a final offer. . . . Undefeated International Boxing Federation lightweight champion Paul Spadafora retained his title with a unanimous decision over Joel Perez at Pittsburgh.

An appeals court in Daytona Beach, Fla., denied a Web site operator access to Dale Earnhardt’s autopsy photos. . . . The widow of former Dallas Cowboy tackle Mark Tuinei sued a friend and former teammate in connection with Tuinei’s drug death. A lawyer for Ponolani Tuinei accused Nicky Sualua of causing Tuinei’s death two years ago by not calling 911 for several hours after Tuinei passed out from an overdose.

Rookie Casey Mears, nephew of four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Rick Mears, suffered a bruised back after crashing into the wall during practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The 23-year-old driver, whose father, Roger, also is a former Indy driver, had just completed a lap at 216.573 mph. He was briefly hospitalized. . . . Mark Dismore had the fastest speed of Indy 500 practice with a lap of 224.823. . . . Jack Miller, hospitalized because of a concussion after a fiery crash at Atlanta Motor Speedway, won’t try to qualify for the Indy 500.

The final hour-plus of the Kentucky Derby telecast outdrew last year’s by about 40%. NBC Sports’ debut broadcast under a five-year, $51.5-million deal to air thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown series produced a 9.2 national rating from 2:30 to 3:42 p.m. PDT Saturday.

Omar Cook, second in the nation in assists last season as a freshman basketball player at St. John’s, will make himself available for the NBA draft but will not sign with an agent. . . . The U.S. warmed up for the World Hockey Championship quarterfinals by defeating Slovakia, 3-1, at Cologne, Germany. The U.S. team has a 3-1-1 record and will play Canada in the quarterfinals Thursday.

Passings

Dan Hanley, former chief physician to the U.S. Olympic team and among the first to recognize the dangers of steroids, died Sunday at Maine Medical Center in Portland. He was 85. (See story, B11).