It Isn’t Easy, but Hewitt and Henman Advance

Top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt and second-seeded Tim Henman will meet in the final of the Queen’s Club grass-court championship at London for the second year in a row after overcoming stubborn opposition Saturday.

Hewitt advanced with a 7-6 (5), 6-3 victory over Sjeng Schalken, and Henman defeated Raemon Sluiter, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-2.

Hewitt, the defending champion, is the first player since John McEnroe to reach the Queen’s final for three consecutive years. McEnroe reached five consecutive finals between 1979 and 1983, winning the first three.

Hewitt failed to convert two break points in the second game of the second set, but a netted forehand gave him the only break of the match for a 3-1 lead.

“It wasn’t bad,” Hewitt said. “There’s still room for improvement, but I haven’t dropped a set all week so far so I can’t complain. He was hitting well from the baseline.

“This is a perfect preparation for Wimbledon for me. I’ve had four tough matches so far and I’m going to have to play even better if I’m going to win.”

Henman was forced to fight back from a set and a break down to overcome the 81st-ranked Sluiter, who troubled him with big service returns and winning volleys.

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Nicolas Kiefer charged back in the third set to beat Roger Federer and advance to the final of the Gerry Weber Open at Halle, Germany. Kiefer, who also beat Pete Sampras at the Wimbledon warmup, rallied to win, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

“I was very unhappy with my performance, I know I can play a lot better,” Federer said.

Kiefer will play Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who reached his first final of the year by defeating Kenneth Carlsen, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Kiefer, ranked fourth in the world two years ago before he dropped to 66th, has struggled to a 4-16 record this year before the grass-court event.

“I beat two of the best grass-court players, I think,” Kiefer said. “I think I’m on the best way to get back to where I once was.”

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Top-seeded Jelena Dokic beat Lisa Raymond, 6-1, 7-5, to advance to the final of the DFS Classic grass-court tournament at Birmingham, England.

Dokic will face Anastasia Myskina, who advanced with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Nicole Pratt.

Dokic lost to the 20-year-old Myskina on clay in Rome earlier this year.

“I was very disappointed with the way I played against Myskina in Rome. I wasn’t physically or mentally as good as I am now, so I am looking forward to the final,” Dokic said. “It is very important for me to win this final and go to Eastbourne next week before Wimbledon. It would be a good time to get my first tournament win on grass.”

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Anna Smashnova beat local favorite Patricia Wartusch, 6-3, 6-2, to reach the final of the WTA Wien Energie Grand Prix at Vienna, rallying from an 0-3 deficit in the first set and winning 12 of the match’s final 14 games.

Smashnova will face defending champion Iroda Tulyaganova in the final. Tulyaganova beat Petra Mandula, 6-0, 6-3.

Pro Football

Defensive end Regan Upshaw, the Oakland Raiders’ sacks leader last season, will sit out the season after tearing a ligament in his right knee during a mini-camp.

An MRI exam of Upshaw’s knee revealed the tear in his anterior cruciate ligament, Coach Bill Callahan said Saturday at the close of the Raiders’ three-day camp. Upshaw, a seven-year veteran in his third season with Oakland, was injured during a drill Thursday.

Beach Volleyball

Eighth-seeded Mike Lambert of Honolulu and Lee LeGrande of Hermosa Beach upset the top-seeded team of Stein Metzger of Honolulu and Kevin Wong of Hermosa Beach, 21-15, 23-21, 15-13, in the quarterfinals of the AVP Michelob Light Santa Barbara Open.

In another upset, Albert Hanneman of Torrance and Jeff Nygaard of Los Angeles, who won last week’s AVP event at Hermosa Beach, were eliminated from the tournament after losing to Karch Kiraly of San Clemente and Brent Doble of Capistrano Beach, 21-10, 21-13.

In other quarterfinal matches, sixth-seeded Eduardo Bacil of El Segundo and Frederico Souza of Rio de Janiero defeated third-seeded Canyon Ceman of Manhattan Beach and Mike Whitemarsh of San Diego, 25-23, 21-18, and second-seeded Eric Fonoimoana of Hermosa Beach and Dax Holdren of Santa Barbara beat 10th-seeded Adam Jewell of San Juan Capistrano and Colin Smith of Hermosa Beach, 21-16, 21-9.

The highlight of the women’s competition was the upset loss in the quarterfinals of second-seeded Barbra Fontana of Manhattan Beach and Dianne DeNecochea of San Diego. They were beaten, 21-16, 15-21, 20-18, by Angie Akers of Long Beach and Jen Pavley of Agoura Hills.

In other women’s quarterfinals, top-seeded Holly McPeak of Manhattan Beach and Elaine Youngs of Durango, Colo., defeated Nancy Mason of Hermosa Beach and Rachel Wacholder of El Segundo, 21-14, 21-13.

The women’s final match at East Beach is set for 2 p.m. today followed by the men’s final match at 3 p.m.

Pro Hockey

Defenseman Fredrik Olausson will leave the Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings and return to his former team in Sweden.

“It’s the right time after 15 years in the NHL,” Olausson, 35, told Nya Wermlands-Tidningen, a Swedish newspaper, in Saturday’s editions.

The paper said Olausson, who won the Stanley Cup for the first time with the Red Wings last week, will sign a two-year contract with Farjestad on July 1.

Olausson played two seasons for Farjestad before being drafted by the Winnipeg Jets in 1985.

He moved on to the Edmonton Oilers, the Mighty Ducks, the Pittsburgh Penguins and SC Bern in Switzerland before signing as a free agent with the Red Wings last year.

Passings

Count Jean de Beaumont, a former vice president of the International Olympic Committee who helped build support for sports in the developing world, died at 98. Also a journalist, politician and world-class marksman, de Beaumont died Wednesday in Paris, France-Info radio reported.