Mauresmo Serves Notice by Overpowering Capriati

Add Amelie Mauresmo to the growing list of French Open favorites.

Mauresmo of France defeated fourth-ranked Jennifer Capriati, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3, Sunday in a hard-fought match to win the German Open at Berlin, where she also defeated top-ranked Martina Hingis.

“Beating who I beat proves I’m playing at a very high level,” Mauresmo said. “. . . It gives me a lot of confidence for the French Open.”

Mauresmo’s only two losses this year were close three-set matches to top-ranked Hingis and Venus Williams.

Mauresmo broke open the close match with a decisive break to take a 2-1 lead in the final set, then increased the margin to 5-1 after a second set in which it appeared Capriati had gained the upper hand.

“I felt like I was back in the match and had the momentum, but she played unbelievable tennis to reach 5-1,” Capriati said. “I think that score didn’t show how close the points were.”

Capriati was playing her first tournament on European clay this season.

“I feel very confident. Maybe I haven’t played my best tennis here, but I’m hoping to peak at the French Open,” she said.

Juan Carlos Ferrero defeated Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil to win the Italian Open in a final at Rome between the two sharpest clay-court players this season.

Ferrero enjoyed the biggest victory of his career, winning, 3-6, 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, against the reigning French Open champion.

This was the Spaniard’s fourth title of 2001--more than any other player on the men’s circuit. The loss ended a 10-match winning streak for Kuerten, who finished last season No. 1 in the ATP rankings.

This was the first time Kuerten had faced Ferrero since a five-set semifinal at last year’s French Open on his way to a second Paris title.

John McEnroe beat Australia’s Pat Cash, 7-6 (4), 5-7, 10-7, in the final of the senior tour’s Success magazine Champions tournament at Newport Beach.

McEnroe won the last five points in the champions tiebreaker used to decide matches tied after two sets.

Soccer

Tisha Venturini scored in the 67th minute as Bay Area defeated the Carolina Courage, 2-1, at San Jose in front of 5,543, for the CyberRays’ (1-2-1) first WUSA victory.

Carolina (0-4) opened the scoring on Danielle Fotopoulos’ header in the sixth minute.

Bay Area tied the score in the 42nd minute when Carolina’s Wen Lirong put the ball in her own goal.

Rakel Karvelsson scored off a scramble in front of the net in the 81st minute as the first-place Philadelphia Charge (2-0-2) rallied to tie the New York Power (1-0-3), 2-2, in a WUSA game in front of 2,348 at Uniondale, N.Y.

China put itself into good position to advance to the finals of Asian qualifying for next year’s soccer World Cup by defeating Indonesia, 5-1, at Kunming, China.

China (4-0), coached by former U.S. coach Bora Milutinovic, and Indonesia (4-1) are the top two teams in Group Nine.

In the opening games of Group Five, Lebanon routed Pakistan, 6-0, and Thailand defeated Sri Lanka, 4-2, at Beirut.

Miscellany

The Czech Republic won its third consecutive world hockey title, defeating Finland, 3-2, on David Moravec’s goal 10:38 into overtime at Hanover, Germany.

The U.S. lost to Sweden, 3-2, in the bronze-medal game. Andreas Johansson scored the winning goal for Sweden, which won its eighth medal in 10 years.

The U.S. finished the tournament in fourth place, its best result since winning the bronze in 1996.

University of Houston freshman Alton Ford has applied for the NBA draft. The deadline for declaring for early entry was Sunday.

The 6-foot-9, 280-pound forward averaged 11 points and six rebounds last season when the Cougars went 9-20. He did not hire an agent, leaving open the possibility he could return to college.

The draft will be held June 27 and players wishing to maintain their college eligibility must remove their name one week before.

Passings

Corissa Yasen, a former track and basketball star at Purdue who played one season with the Sacramento Monarchs of the WNBA, was found dead at Coeur D’Alene, Idaho. She was 27.

Don Yasen said he discovered his daughter’s body at her home after her employer called and said she had missed two days of work. Yasen said there was nothing to indicate cause of death, and that a coroner’s report is due today.

Luis Ayala, 23, a five-time New England Golden Gloves champion, was shot and killed Saturday after getting into an argument with a driver he cut off at Lowell, Mass., police said.