Hingis Holds Off Seles in Final of Pan Pacific

Top-seeded Martina Hingis won the Toray Pan Pacific tennis tournament title for the fourth time in six years, beating Monica Seles, 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-3, in the final Sunday at Tokyo.

It was the second time in just over a week that Hingis defeated Seles, following their Australian Open semifinal at Melbourne.

Hingis was coming off a loss to Jennifer Capriati in the Australian Open final.

Seles led, 5-1, in the first-set tiebreaker and had two set points after Hingis’ backhand went long. But Hingis tied the score, 6-6, and won the next two points.

“It was important for me to win the first set and then I was able to lift my level in the third set,” Hingis said.

Seles, seeded third, drew on her strong backhand in the second set, breaking in the seventh game to lead, 4-3. She broke again in the ninth game before evening the match on her first set point.

In the third set, Hingis went ahead, 4-1, and held serve to finish off Seles.

“I felt like I could have won in Melbourne,” Hingis said. “And now I’ve won here, the confidence level is back and hopefully I can carry that over to the next tournament.”

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Davide Sanguinetti became the first Italian in 10 years to win the Milan (Italy) Indoors, upsetting Roger Federer, 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-1, in the final.

Sanguinetti is ranked 87th and was playing his fourth ATP final.

Winter Sports

Stephan Eberharter of Austria won a World Cup giant slalom at St. Moritz, Switzerland, showing he will pose a threat in several events at the Olympics.

American speed specialist Bode Miller finished fourth. He traveled from the United States just for the race but did not seem his usual attacking self.

Eberharter, the overall World Cup leader, won a downhill Saturday to clinch the title in that discipline.

Laure Pequegnot of France won the last women’s World Cup slalom before the Olympics, with Kristina Koznick of the United States finishing second.

Pequegnot won by 1.25 seconds at Are, Sweden, for her third slalom victory this season. She has been the most consistent racer, with points in all eight races and her worst finish a seventh place.

American Sarah Schleper finished in eighth place.

Track and Field

Russia’s Svetlana Feofanova broke American Stacy Dragila’s world record in the women’s indoor pole vault with a leap of 15 feet 51/2 inches at Stuttgart, Germany.

Feofanova topped Dragila’s record of 15-5, clearing the bar by several inches on her third attempt. A week ago, Feofanova set a European indoor mark of 15-31/2.

Ethiopia’s Berhande Adere set a world record in winning the women’s 3,000 meters in 8 minutes 29.15 seconds; South Africa’s Hezekiel Sepeng won the men’s 800 in 1:46.38, the fastest time of the indoor season, and Jamaica’s Lacena Golding-Clarke ran the year’s best time in the women’s 60-meter hurdles, 7.88.

Baseball

Jorge Posada became the second-highest paid catcher when he agreed to a five-year, $51-million contract with the New York Yankees.

Posada’s annual average of $10.2 million is second among catchers to the New York Mets’ Mike Piazza, who averages $13 million in a seven-year, $91-million deal that began in 1999. Pittsburgh’s Jason Kendall is third with a $10-million average in a six-year deal that began last season.

Posada batted .277 with 22 homers--including three grand slams--and 95 runs batted in last season.

Jacob Cruz hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 10th inning to give Mexico an 8-7 victory over Venezuela in the round-robin Caribbean Series at Caracas, Venezuela.

Motor Racing

Pole-winner Didier Theys led an international quartet of drivers to victory in the Rolex 24 endurance race at Daytona International Speedway.

The Belgian driver, along with car owner Fredy Lienhard of Switzerland and Italians Mauro Baldi and Max Papis, drove a Judd-powered Dallara from seven laps down in the early morning hours to a six-lap victory.

The Elan Riley & Scott shared by NASCAR’s Robby Gordon, Indy Racing League star Scott Sharp, Jim Matthews and Britain’s Guy Smith finished second.

The winners completed 716 laps and 2,548.96 miles at an average speed of 106.142 mph.

Miscellany

The 11th Southern California Sports Broadcasters awards luncheon will be held today at Lakeside Golf Club in Toluca Lake. Award winners in seven categories will be announced.

Also, Chuck Benedict, a founding member of the organization, will receive a lifetime achievement award; Bill Shumard, Long Beach State athletic director, will receive the Clay Sanders Good Guy Award and King announcer Bob Miller will be inducted into the SCSB Hall of Fame.

Heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis said in London he won’t fight Mike Tyson on April 6, but he could take on another challenger.

Ethiopian Abebe Yimir, a Las Vegas resident, won the Las Vegas International Marathon and Midori Sperandeo of Fair Oaks, Calif., won the women’s division.

Passings

Army receiver Anthony Miller, who made three starts for the Black Knights, died after a heart attack. He was 20.

Miller was hospitalized Thursday after complaining of nausea and dizziness and died Friday shortly after the heart attack.

An immune deficiency left him vulnerable to a virus that enlarged his heart, his mother Veronica said.

“We are devastated by the loss of Anthony,” Coach Todd Berry said.

Miller had 27 receptions for 358 yards last season.

Ed Jucker, who coached Cincinnati to NCAA men’s basketball championships in 1961 and 1962, died Saturday in his home at Callawassie Island, S.C. He was 85. Story on Page B9.