Tennis

Top seeds Serena Williams, Jennifer Capriati and Amy Frazier were among the absent players from the Toyota Princess Cup field at Tokyo, because of the terrorist attacks.

“It’s not good for the tournament,” said Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn, who flew out of New York the Wednesday before the attacks. “I’m feeling pretty sad about the situation, but we just have to go ahead and concentrate and there are still some pretty good players here.”

Tanasugarn defeated Rita Grande of Italy, 7-6 (2), 6-4, in the first round of the $565,000 tournament.

Kenneth Carlsen of Denmark eliminated fifth-seeded Alex Calatrava of Spain, 6-4, 7-6 (1), in the first round of the $400,000 Heineken Open at Shanghai, China. Top-seeded Andre Agassi, in his first tournament since losing to Pete Sampras in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open, plays his first match today.

Jurisprudence

Boxer Tony Ayala Jr. pleaded guilty to burglary at San Antonio in a deal that calls for 90 days in jail and 10 years’ probation.

Ayala, 38, also pleaded guilty to trying to commit aggravated assault, abruptly ending his trial, said his lawyer, Mike McCrumb.

A more serious charge--burglary with intent to commit sexual assault--was dropped.

The former junior-middleweight contender, who spent 16 years behind bars for raping a neighbor in 1983, had faced life in prison on the latest charges.

Soccer

The Chinese women’s team canceled a trip to Saskatoon and returned home to Beijing on Monday because of terrorist attacks last week in the U.S.

The Clemson women’s team canceled its West Coast trip because of fears of flying after last week’s attacks. The team was to play San Diego and UCLA at a tournament Friday through Sunday.

Lisa Murphy, state Department of Transportation spokeswoman, said the Highway Patrol would not elaborate on their findings until investigators received results from victims’ blood tests, which could take up to two weeks.

The eight student-athletes were killed when their SUV collided head-on with a pickup truck that apparently swerved into their lane at about 1:30 a.m. Sunday south of Laramie.

The person sitting in the SUV’s front passenger seat was thrown from the vehicle despite wearing a seat belt, she said.

“The force was so great the seat belt was actually broken,” Murphy said.

The other six SUV passengers also were ejected. All the SUV occupants died at the scene.

Starting in 2003, the NCAA women’s basketball tournament will follow a Saturday-Monday and Sunday-Tuesday format to allow telecasts of all 63 games by ESPN or ESPN2.

The 2003 women’s Final Four will be played on Sunday, April 6, and Tuesday, April 8, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

The Indiana Pacers waived forward-center Sam Perkins. He averaged 5.3 points and 3.1 rebounds over three seasons for the Pacers .... The Orlando Magic re-signed free-agent forward Monty Williams. Williams averaged five points and three rebounds .... The NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets signed defenseman Derrick Walser to a one-year contract.

Cricket’s ruling body changed the venue of its October Executive Board meeting from Pakistan to Malaysia, citing “uncertainty over the security of international travel to the region.”

Passings

Jerry Harper, who helped Alabama win the Southeastern Conference basketball championship in 1956, died at age 67 Sunday .... Don Hume, who won a gold medal in rowing at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, died of complications from a heart attack and a stroke Sunday at Monroe, Wash. He was 86.