Williams Won’t Blame Injury in Loss to Testud

Venus Williams, playing with what appeared to be an injured leg, was upset by Sandrine Testud, 1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4, Friday in the semifinals of the Dubai Women’s Open in the United Arab Emirates.

Williams, who was 5-0 against Testud, needed only 21 minutes to win the first set, then left the court for unspecified medical treatment and struggled when she returned, apparently bothered by her left knee.

“Sandrine played a lot better than me,” said Williams, who refused to talk about any injury. “I am really disappointed as I hate to lose. But it is impossible to win when you miss every shot.”

In the final, Testud will play No. 3 Amelie Mauresmo, who defeated second-seeded Monica Seles, 6-4, 6-3.

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James Blake took advantage of Tommy Haas’ shoulder injury and upset the top-seeded player, 6-3, 6-1, in the quarterfinals of the Kroger St. Jude tournament at Memphis, Tenn., for the biggest victory of his career.

The eighth-seeded Blake will play No. 3 Jan-Michael Gambill, a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (2) winner over No.5 Rainer Schuettler, in the semifinals.

Second-seeded Andy Roddick also advanced to the semifinals, defeating Sargis Sargsian, 6-4, 6-4. Roddick will play fourth-seeded Xavier Malisse, who faced triple match point before rallying for a 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-5 victory over Todd Martin.

Second-seeded Lisa Raymond downed No. 3 Ai Sugiyama, 6-2, 6-1, in the women’s semifinals. She will play fourth-seeded Alexandra Stevenson, a 6-1, 6-2 winner over Alina Jidkova.

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Ivan Ljubicic defeated qualifier Ivo Heuberger, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, and will meet Tim Henman in the semifinals of the $713,000 ABN Amro indoor tournament at Rotterdam, Netherlands. Henman advanced by defeating Bohdan Ulihrach, 7-5, 6-3.

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Motor Racing

Ricky Craven’s fast lap of 156.008 mph in Cal Wells’ Ford was good enough to beat the 154.696 of Ken Schrader’s Pontiac to lead qualifying for Sunday’s Subway 400 at Rockingham, N.C.

It was the fifth pole of Craven’s career and his second since joining Wells’ team last season.

Johnny Benson, Schrader’s teammate, was third in another Pontiac at 154.631, followed at 154.507 by the Ford of Dale Jarrett, who has eight top-five finishes and 12 top-10s in the last 12 races here.

John Force moved into position to claim his 100th career NHRA victory with an impressive run to open qualifying for the Checker Schuck’s Kragen Nationals at Chandler, Ariz.

Force led the funny-car division with a track-record run of 4.797 seconds at 318.17 mph at Firebird International Raceway.

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Boxing

A day after prosecutors declined to pursue rape charges against Mike Tyson, his attorney expressed hope that the Nevada Athletic Commission would reverse its decision to deny the former heavyweight champion a boxing license.

“We are in discussions with the Nevada deputy attorney general’s office with regard to whether or not there is any appetite on the part of the commission to reconsider their decision,” Tyson attorney Jim Jimmerson said.

But four commissioners said that the decision not to prosecute Tyson for rape doesn’t change anything.

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Pro Football

Dick Jauron, whose coaching job was in serious jeopardy entering the 2001 season, received a new three-year contract from the Chicago Bears after leading the team to a 13-4 record and its first playoff berth in seven years.

The Bears, 5-11 in 2000, gave up the fewest points (203) in the NFL and won the Central Division, but their first playoff game ended in a 33-19 loss to Philadelphia.

Mitch Berger, a former all-pro punter, was released by the Minnesota Vikings after refusing to take a pay cut.... The Carolina Panthers cut four players, including former first-round draft choice Tshimanga Biakabutuka, in a cost-saving measure that put them under the NFL salary-cap figure for next season. The Panthers saved $8 million by waiving Biakabutuka, starting cornerbacks Doug Evans and Jimmy Hitchcock, and reserve linebacker Dean Wells....Michael Sinclair, the defensive end who led the NFL in 1998 with 16 sacks for the Seattle Seahawks, was released by the team.... Running back Joe Montgomery, who missed last season with a ruptured Achilles’ tendon, was released by the New York Giants.

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Miscellany

University of Miami linebacker Chris Campbell was legally drunk at the time of his fatal car accident, police said.

Campbell had a blood-alcohol level of 0.13 when he lost control of his car and hit a tree early on Feb. 16, according to an autopsy performed by the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiners Office. Florida’s legal limit for blood alcohol is 0.08.

University of Texas baseball Coach Augie Garrido moved into second place on the Division I career victories list with 1,333 as the Longhorns defeated Loyola Marymount, 10-1, at Austin, Texas.

Garrido, in his sixth season at Texas, is 1,333-653-8 in over 33 seasons as a college coach, including 19 years in two stints at Cal State Fullerton. He broke a tie with Rod Dedeaux of USC for second on the career list, and trails only former Longhorn coach Cliff Gustafson, who went 1,427-373-2 in 29 seasons.

Washington Freedom forward Mia Hamm will have knee surgery next week and will probably miss the start of the Women’s United Soccer Assn. season.

Chris Albright scored his third goal in three games and recently acquired Eric Wynalda scored on a penalty kick as the Galaxy defeated the Universidad de Chile reserves, 2-0, at Santiago. The Galaxy has two games left on its five-game Chilean exhibition tour.

The Ice Dogs tied their season-high winning streak of five games by defeating the Fresno Falcons, 3-2, at Fresno.