Davenport Secures Top Ranking

Second-seeded Lindsay Davenport clinched the women’s tennis No. 1 ranking for the year by rallying past Kim Clijsters of Belgium, 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3), Saturday in the semifinals of the Sanex Championships at Munich, Germany.

In today’s title match, Davenport will face Serena Williams, a 6-3, 6-0 winner over Sandrine Testud in the other semifinal.

Davenport, who has won three consecutive titles and extended her winning streak to 15 matches, overtook Jennifer Capriati for the top ranking. She will be trying to win eight titles for the second year in a row.

Davenport has been No. 1 five times, starting Oct. 12, 1998, when she became the first American to lead the rankings since Chris Evert in 1985.

She has been ranked No. 1 or No. 2 the last four years.

Yevgeny Kafelnikov moved a step closer to his first Masters Series title, defeating Andreas Vinciguerra of Sweden, 6-1, 7-6 (6), in the semifinals of the Paris Masters.

Kafelnikov will play sixth-seeded Sebastien Grosjean of France in today’s final.

Grosjean defeated Tommy Haas of Germany, 7-5, 6-4, in the other semifinal.

Boxing

Juan Carlos Gomez stopped Pietro Aurino of Italy in the sixth round at Luebeck, Germany, to retain his World Boxing Council cruiserweight title.

Gomez, a Cuban who fights out of Germany, is 34-0 with 29 knockouts.

Gymnastics

Svetlana Khorkina added gold medals on the vault and uneven bars to her individual all-around title in the world gymnastics championships at Ghent, Belgium.

Katie Heenan of Burke, Va., won a bronze medal in the uneven bars at age 15 in her first world championships.

The last U.S. woman to win an individual medal in the championships had been Dominique Dawes in the balance beam in 1996.

Stephen McCain, who helped the U.S. men to an unprecedented silver in the team event this week, was fourth in the floor exercise.

Other U.S. performances included seventh and eighth place in the women’s vault by Mohini Bhardwaj and Ashley Miles, respectively.

In the men’s finals, Bulgarian Jordan Jovtchev won two gold, sharing honors with Marian Dragulescu of Romania on the floor and winning the rings.

Romania’s Marius Urzica won the pommel horse.

Two unidentified gymnasts tested positive for a banned diuretic during the 2001 Goodwill Games in Australia, the International Gymnastics Federation announced during the world championships.

Soccer

Captain Claudio Reyna was dropped from the U.S. roster for the Nov. 11 World Cup qualifier at Trinidad and Tobago following a request from his club, Glasgow Rangers, who want Reyna to rest.

The U.S. already clinched a berth in the Cup and Trinidad and Tobago has been eliminated.

Miscellany

Japhet Kosgei never experienced anything but victory in a marathon until he competed in New York City a year ago.

That didn’t deter him from taking another crack at the New York City Marathon, though, and he hopes today’s race is as much about personal triumph as it is about helping a community cope.

Kosgei wants to hear enthusiasm from the expected turnout of 2 million spectators lining the 26.2-mile course through New York’s five boroughs.

“The deep sorrow--you have to face it. We can come together again,” the Kenyan said. “When they are happy cheering, I will feel as if I am the one bringing them joy.”

About 10 relatives are running in place of victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.