Hewitt Has to Work Hard Before Defeating Martin

Top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt and Tim Henman advanced to the semifinals of the Queen’s Club grass-court tennis tournament Friday at London.

Hewitt, bidding for a third consecutive Queen’s title, defeated ninth-seeded Todd Martin, 7-6 (4), 7-5, in a match that was twice held up by rain. Henman, meanwhile, fought back from a set down to beat Hyung-Taik Lee, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.

The first service break in Hewitt’s match came at 3-3 in the second set, and the next occurred at a crucial stage with Martin holding a break point to lead 4-3.

Martin converted that opportunity, but Hewitt immediately broke back and went on to close out the victory on his fourth match point.

In the other quarterfinals, former champion Wayne Ferreira was forced to pull out with a back injury while trailing Raemon Sluiter, 6-1, 5-4, and fifth-seeded Sjen Schalken beat Wayne Arthurs, 6-3, 7-6 (4).

Hewitt will now face Schalken in the semifinals and Henman will play Sluiter.

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Second-seeded Roger Federer beat Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny, 6-3, 6-4, in 52 minutes to advance to the semifinals of the Gerry Weber Open at Halle, Germany. Federer will play Germany’s Nicolas Kiefer.

Denmark’s Kenneth Carlsen beat third-seeded and defending champion Thomas Johansson, 7-6 (3), 6-3. Carlsen advanced to play top-seeded Yevgney Kafelnikov.

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Top-seeded Jelena Dokic moved into the semifinals of the DFS Classic grass-court tournament at Birmingham, England, with a three-set victory over unseeded Eleni Daniilidou.

In a match delayed a total of four hours by rain, Dokic beat the 19-year-old Daniilidou, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Dokic next plays eighth-seeded Lisa Raymond, who advanced to the semifinals after Clarissa Fernandez retired during the first set because of a knee injury. Raymond led, 4-2.

Pro Football

The Atlanta Falcons have signed nine-year veteran defensive tackle Maa Tanuvasa, sixth-round draft pick Kahlil Hill, a wide receiver from Iowa, and seventh-round pick Kevin Shaffer, an offensive tackle from Tulsa.

The Green Bay Packers signed running back Ki-Jana Carter, the first pick of the 1995 draft who has been hampered by injuries. The Packers waived Josh Heupel, the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy in 2000, and veteran linebacker Robert Jones.... The New England Patriots released injury-plagued linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer.

Auto Racing

In CART, Brazilian Cristiano da Matta won the provisional pole for Sunday’s G.I. Joe’s 200 at Portland, Ore.... Dale Jarrett won his first pole of the year at Brooklyn, Mich., to earn the top starting spot for NASCAR’s Sirius Satellite Radio 400 on Sunday.

Basketball

Stacey Dales-Schuman scored 20 points and Chamique Holdsclaw had 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Washington Mystics to their fifth consecutive WNBA win, a 69-63 victory over the Cleveland Rockers in front of 6,424 at Cleveland.... Lauren Jackson had 23 points to lead the Seattle Storm to a 90-82 victory over the Phoenix Mercury in front of 8,237 at Phoenix.

Jurisprudence

On a dimly lit videotape shown in Alameda County Court, the woman who accuses Oakland Raider defensive lineman Darrell Russell of recording her alleged rape appears at times unresponsive and at times reacts in ways defense lawyers say show she was consenting.

Prosecutors charge that Russell, 26, drugged the 28-year-old woman at a San Francisco night club and then held the camera as two friends raped her at the home of one of Russell’s teammates in the early hours of Jan. 31. All three men have pleaded innocent to 25 felony counts.

A judge must decide whether the case goes to trial, which one defense lawyer conceded was probable. The hearing will likely conclude July 1.

Passings

Former Georgia Tech basketball center Michael Isenhour died Thursday after a nine-month battle with leukemia. Isenhour, who was 23, died at Emory Hospital in Atlanta, nine days after he underwent a bone marrow transplant, the university said.