Capriati Will Replace Hingis Atop Rankings

Jennifer Capriati’s remarkable renaissance has reached its peak--the No. 1 ranking.

Capriati was assured of taking over the top spot for the first time when Martina Hingis sprained her right ankle Saturday and was forced to quit during a semifinal against Lindsay Davenport in the Porsche Grand Prix at Filderstadt, Germany.

Hingis needed to defeat Davenport to stay at No. 1, which the Swiss player held for 209 weeks, the last 73 in a row.

“I’ve always dreamed about it. But I never thought that some time at the end of my career I’d be able to look back and say that I was No. 1,” Capriati said, “even if it was just for a day.”

Hingis hasn’t won a major tournament since 1999, but had retained her top ranking thanks to a complicated computer system that rewards her consistency. She’s now in the worst slump of her career, going 13 events without a title.

Davenport, seeded third and looking for her fifth title this year, will play Justine Henin today for the title. The sixth-seeded Henin defeated Sandrine Testud, 6-3, 7-6 (3), in the other semifinal.

Top-seeded Monica Seles defeated Alicia Molik of Australia, 6-1, 6-0, and unseeded Nicole Pratt ousted Italy’s Rita Grande, 6-3, 6-4, in the semifinals of the Kiwi Open at Shanghai.

India defeated the United States in doubles to stay in contention in a Davis Cup World Group qualifier at Winston-Salem, N.C.

French Open champions Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi defeated Don Johnson and Jared Palmer, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6), to cut the U.S. lead to 2-1 in the best-of-five competition.

Sixth-seeded Tommy Haas ousted Bohdan Ulihrach, 6-1, 6-4, Friday in the quarterfinals of the CA Trophy at Vienna.

Croatia’s Ivan Ljubicic defeated third-seeded Marat Safin of Russia, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (7) and Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco beat Belgium’s Xavier Malisse, 7-6 (5), 6-2, in the semifinals of the Lyon Grand Prix in France.

Serena Williams pulled out of this week’s WTA tournament in Zurich, Switzerland, citing safety concerns in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Golf

Scott McCarron shot a nine-under-par 63 for a three-shot lead over Tom Lehman in Invensys Classic at Las Vegas.

Lehman shot 67 and Craig Parry 70 for a third-place tie with Rory Sabbatini and Bob Estes.

John Mahaffey broke the course record with a 10-under 62 to share the second-round lead in the Transamerica seniors’ tournament at Napa.

Mahaffey is tied with Sammy Rachels and Allen Doyle.

Ian Woosnam defeated Lee Westwood, 10 and 9, and Padraig Harrington beat Sam Torrance, 4 and 3, in the semifinals of the World Match Play tournament at Virginia Water, England.

Suzanne Strudwick of England closed with an even-par 72 for a three-stroke victory in the LPGA Qualifying tournament at Daytona Beach, Fla.

Basketball

Michael Jordan scored 18 points--all in the first quarter--as the Washington Wizards beat the Miami Heat, 99-79, in an exhibition game at Miami.

Kentucky sophomore forward Jason Parker will sit out the season after reinjuring his surgically repaired right knee.

Kentucky will apply for a medical redshirt that will leave Parker with three years of eligibility.

Texas Tech, where Bob Knight now coaches, and Indiana, where he was fired 13 months ago, agreed not to play in Bloomington, Ind., in December 2002.

Figure Skating

Irina Slutskaya of Russia defeated U.S. and world champion Michelle Kwan for the second time this season, winning the Masters of Figure Skating title Saturday at the San Diego Sports Arena. Slutskaya had previously topped Kwan at the season-opening Goodwill Games.

Slutskaya, who is expected to vie with Kwan for gold at the Salt Lake City Olympics, won both phases of the women’s competition Saturday. Yuka Sato of Japan was third.

Three-time world champion Alexei Yagudin of Russia performed two dynamic routines to win the men’s competition, earning a perfect 6.0 for the presentation of his short program. Todd Eldredge of the U.S., making his season debut, was ranked second by the judges in both programs. Ilia Kulik of Russia, the 1998 Olympic champion, finished third.

U.S. pair champions Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman won the pairs title, rallying from second place.

Soccer

A stadium fire forced suspension of a World Cup qualifying game between Thailand and Bahrain at Bangkok.

There were no reports of injuries among the crowd of 1,000.

A decision will be made during the week about when the match will resume. Bahrain led, 1-0, when play was interrupted.

In other games, China beat Qatar, 3-0, and Oman upset Uzbekistan, 4-2.

Miscellany

The Ice Dogs scored five goals in the third period to remain undefeated with a 6-3 victory over San Diego in a West Coast Hockey League game before 7,501 at the Long Beach Arena.

Rasa Polikeviciute won the gold medal in the women’s 75-mile road race at the world cycling championships at Lisbon.