Davenport Will Skip Wimbledon

Former champion Lindsay Davenport withdrew from Wimbledon on Tuesday because she has not fully recovered from knee surgery.

Davenport, who won in 1999, had surgery on her right knee in January and has missed the Australian Open and French Open, causing her to drop from No. 1 to No. 6 in the WTA world rankings.

“I am extremely disappointed not to be able to play on the grass at Wimbledon this year,” the 26-year-old American said. “I really hoped I could make it back from my surgery earlier than expected and be able to play at Eastbourne and Wimbledon but it is just not possible yet.”

Davenport said she was optimistic she would be ready for the hardcourt season, starting in July. Tony Godsick, her agent, said Davenport is scheduled to play at the Bank of the West event in Stanford on July 22.

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Pete Sampras won for only the second time in his last eight matches, defeating Russia’s Andrei Stoliarov, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, in the first round of the Gerry Weber Open at Halle, Germany. Defending champion and Australian Open winner Thomas Johansson advanced with a 7-6 (4), 6-0 victory over Germany’s Axel Pretzsch. Top-seeded Yevgney Kafelnikov also advanced, beating Jonas Bjoerkman, 7-6 (4), 6-2.... Mark Philippoussis beat sixth-seeded Greg Rusedski, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5) to advance to the third round of the Queen’s Club at London. In other matches, American Todd Martin, seeded ninth, rallied to defeat Paraguay’s Ramon Delgado, 6-2, 6-7 (8), 7-6 (6).

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Former Wimbledon semifinalist Alexandra Stevenson reached the second round of the DFS Classic grass court tournament at Birmingham, England, with a 6-2, 7-6 (3) victory against Wynne Prakysya of Indonesia.... Russian teenager Dinara Safina beat fourth-seeded Seda Noorlander, 6-4, 6-1, in the opening round of the Tashkent Open in Uzbekistan.... Former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez beat Austria’s Daniela Kix, 7-5, 6-1, to advance to the second round of the Wien Energie Grand Prix at Vienna.

Miscellany

Cornerback Daylon McCutcheon, one of the few impact players left from the Cleveland Browns’ 1999 expansion team, signed a three-year contract. McCutcheon, a Bishop Amat High graduate who has become one of the Browns’ best defensive backs since being drafted out of USC in 1999, had been a restricted free agent.

Howard David is being replaced by Marv Albert on radio broadcasts of Monday night football. Albert, who turns 61 today, said on a conference call with reporters that he has signed a three-year contract with Westwood One/CBS Radio to do the play-by-play on the NFL broadcasts with Boomer Esiason, beginning next season.

The Mighty Ducks signed left wing Travis Brigley to a two-year contract and right wing Jonathan Hedstrom to a one-year entry level contract.

Brigley, 24, a free agent, had 22 goals and 43 points for Cincinnati of the American Hockey League last season. Hedstrom, 25, had 29 goals and 72 point while playing for Lulea in the Swedish Elite League the last three seasons.

The Long Beach Ice Dogs re-signed goalie Mike Buzak, who led the West Coast Hockey League last season with a 2.39 goals-against average, to a one-year contract.

The Galaxy became the fourth Major League Soccer organization to establish a reserve team when it announced a partnership with the Orange County Blue Star of the Premier Development League. The squad will be called the Galaxy Reserves and will play home matches at the Santa Ana Bowl and Sage Hill School in Newport Coast.

Dartmouth’s new athletic director resigned abruptly after questions were raised about his resume. Charles Harris stepped down the day before he was to have been officially introduced. Harris never completed a master’s degree in journalism he claimed to have had from the University of Michigan.

The college postseason game played in Orlando, Fla., formerly known as the Florida Citrus Bowl, will now be known as the Capital One Bowl.

A preliminary autopsy by Utah County medical examiners has confirmed Redondo Beach triathlete John Boland, 53, drowned during the Ironman Utah event in Provo.

Boland was pulled from Utah Lake less than 10 minutes into the scheduled 2.4-mile swim portion of the triathlon Saturday. Because of wind gusts estimated at 50 mph, swimmers encountered three-foot swells that forced the need for several rescue boats and led to the cancellation of the race.