Hewitt Advances, but Safin, Kafelnikov Out

Top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt advanced to the third round of the RCA Championships on Wednesday, but two of the top four seeds did not accompany him at Indianapolis.

Hewitt outlasted Alberto Martin, 6-3, 7-5, cruising through the first set, then taking charge with passing forehands late in the second set.

He will play 14th-seeded Greg Rusedski in the third round. Rusedski advanced by beating Lionel Roux, 6-3, 6-2.

Marat Safin withdrew before his match, blaming an upper respiratory infection.

Yevgeny Kafelnikov, fourth-seeded and a former top-ranked player, absorbed his second early ouster in as many weeks, losing, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, to 18-year-old Mario Ancic. Younes El Aynaoui, the seventh seed, and No. 10 Max Mirnyi also lost. El Aynaoui lost, 7-6 (2), 7-5, to Felix Mantilla and Nicolas Kiefer ousted Mirnyi, 6-4, 7-5.

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Andy Roddick overpowered Justin Gimelstob, 6-2, 6-2, to reach the third round of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic at Washington. Roddick will play the No. 16 seed Fernando Meligeni, who beat Atilla Savolt, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4. Roddick broke serve in the opening game and followed with opening serves that reached 132 mph.

Todd Martin, seeded 10th, was knocked out by Alex Kim, 6-4, 7-6 (5). Frenchman Jerome Golmard defeated Michael Chang, 7-5, 6-4.

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Second-seeded Jennifer Capriati defeated qualifier Sarah Taylor, 6-4, 6-1, in the first round of the Rogers AT&T; Cup at Montreal. Third-seeded Jelena Dokic and fourth-seeded Kim Clijsters both overcame spotty play and tough conditions to advance in the tournament.

Dokic defeated Martina Sucha, 6-3, 6-4, and Clijsters defeated Nicole Pratt, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1. Chanda Rubin, who won last week’s Manhattan Beach event, lost to Barbara Schett, 6-4, 6-4.

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Prakash Amritraj, who helped USC win the 2002 NCAA tennis title as a freshman and won the USTA Boys’ 18 Super National Hard Court singles title Sunday, is among eight American men who received wild-card entries to the U.S. Open.

NCAA singles champion Matias Boeker, Alex Bogomolov Jr., Jack Brasington, Mardy Fish, Justin Gimelstob, Alex Kim and Brian Vahaly also were put into the main draw for the year’s final Grand Slam tournament, which starts Aug. 26.

The women’s wild-card entries are expected to be announced today, and 1997 champion Martina Hingis probably will receive one of the berths.

Swimming

World record-holder Michael Phelps won the 200-meter butterfly in a meet-record time of 1 minute, 54.86 seconds in the U.S. national swimming championships at Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Phelps’ swim was the second-best time in the event, behind only the 1:54.58 Phelps turned in last year.

He is the only swimmer to break 1:55 in the event, and he has done it three times. This was Phelps’ second national title. His first was a victory in the 200-meter individual medley Monday, setting an American record of 1:58.68.

Natalie Coughlin won her third title of the meet, taking the 200-meter freestyle in 1:58.20. In the other women’s finals, Haley Cope of Chico held off a surging Jenny Thompson to win the 50-meter freestyle in 25.48, .07 ahead of Thompson, an eight-time Olympic gold medalist.

Jason Lezak of Irvine won the 50-meter freestyle in 22.34 seconds, ahead of favorites Anthony Ervin and Gary Hall, Jr., both Olympic gold medalists in the event.

Golf

Upsets dominated the opening round of match play in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championships at Scarborough, N.Y. Meredith Duncan, the 22-year-old defending champion from Shreveport, La., lost in the first round to Australian Katherine Hull on the second extra hole of a playoff at the Sleepy Hollow Country Club.

Courtney Swaim, the medalist from Sugar Hill, Ga., who set a 36-hole qualifying record of 135 on Tuesday, was upset by Elizabeth Janangelo of West Hartford, Conn., 2 and 1. The 18-year-old Janangelo won her second match, against Sunny Oh of Torrance, 4 and 3. Oh defeated Hana Kim of Los Angeles, 1-up, in the first round.

Carol Semple Thompson, who at 53 is the oldest player in the field, won both of her matches. Erica Blasberg of Corona and Walailak Satarak, a UC Irvine sophomore, both advanced to the round of 16 with two victories Wednesday.

Jurisprudence

UCLA reserve Asi Faoa reached a financial settlement with a former student he punched more than two years ago. The agreement is contingent on Faoa having a professional football career.

The junior defensive end must pay $100,000 to Rodrigo De Zubiria only if he plays in the NFL within three years after completing his UCLA eligibility. If Faoa does not play in the NFL, he owes De Zubiria nothing.

Faoa pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge Sept. 4 and was sentenced to 180 days in jail, a sentence he has yet to serve. He has applied for a work furlough program and must appear in court Sept. 11.

Former Dallas Cowboy lineman Nate Newton, 40, was sentenced to 30 months in prison after being caught with 175 pounds of marijuana in December.

Newton, who faces similar charges in Louisiana, pleaded guilty in April to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute marijuana. He could have faced up to 20 years and a $1-million fine.

Newton, who lives in East Ellijay, Ga., helped the Cowboys win three Super Bowls.

Hockey

The New York Rangers re-signed center Roman Lyashenko and defenseman Tom Poti. The 23-year-old Lyashenko came to the Rangers in a trade with Dallas. Poti, who played for the U.S. during the Salt Lake City Olympics, was awarded a one-year, $1.8 million contract through arbitration.

John Ahlers has been hired to be the Mighty Ducks’ television play-by-play announcer. Ahlers was the Tampa Bay Lightning’s announcer the last three seasons.... Bill Barber, fired as coach of the Philadelphia Flyers in April, was named director of player personnel of the Lightning.