Loss to Dokic May Be Costly One for Clijsters

Top-ranked Kim Clijsters was upset by Jelena Dokic, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, Saturday at Zurich in the Swisscom Challenge semifinals, giving Justine Henin-Hardenne a chance to move into the top spot.

Henin-Hardenne reached her 11th final of the season by defeating Nadia Petrova, 6-4, 6-4. She can replace Clijsters atop the WTA Tour rankings by beating Dokic today.

“If Justine wins tomorrow and becomes No. 1, I’ll be happy for her,” Clijsters said. “I’ve always said if it had to change, then it should go to another Belgian. She’s had a great year and is probably the most improved player on the tour this year.”

Henin-Hardenne already has won seven titles in 2003, including the French Open and U.S. Open, and currently is ranked a career-high No. 2.

Dokic will be playing in her first title match of the season. She has fallen from No. 4 to No. 25 in the rankings and hadn’t won four straight matches in 2003 until this week.

*

French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero beat Wimbledon champion Roger Federer, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, to reach the final of the Madrid Masters. Ferrero, ranked No. 1, will play Nicolas Massu, who advanced by defeating Younes El Aynaoui, 7-5, 6-4.

Golf

Defending champion Ernie Els defeated Vijay Singh, 5 and 4, giving him a chance for a record-tying fifth World Match Play title.

Thomas Bjorn beat Ben Curtis, 2 up, in the other semifinal at Virginia Water, England.

This will be Bjorn’s first appearance in the event’s final, which is worth $1.67 million to the winner.

Players qualified through a system that takes into account performances in the four majors. Els will try to join Seve Ballesteros and Gary Player as the only five-time winners.

*

Shigeki Maruyama, who had a five-stroke lead after two rounds of the Chrysler Classic at Greensboro in North Carolina, saw his advantage cut to a stroke before making an eagle at No. 13 and finishing with a two-under-par 70. He is at 17-under 199, three strokes ahead of Brad Faxon, who shot a 68.

*

Craig Stadler shot a seven-under 64, giving him an 11-under 131 and a two-stroke lead over Bob Gilder after two rounds of the SBC Championship in San Antonio. Gilder shot a four-under 67 and is at 13-under 133.

Baseball

General Manager Omar Minaya of the Montreal Expos will interview for the vacant general manager job with the Seattle Mariners and still is talking with the Cincinnati Reds and the New York Mets, a source told Associated Press. Seattle’s interest in Minaya was first reported Saturday by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

*

Keith Hernandez’s two World Series rings are missing from his New York apartment, police said. The rings are estimated to be worth $10,000 each, according to police.

Hernandez’s rings from the 1982 season with the St. Louis Cardinals and 1986 with the New York Mets were missing Friday when he visited his apartment, which is being renovated.

Motor Racing

Bobby Hamilton Jr. picked up his third NASCAR Busch Series victory of the season when he nudged past Johnny Sauter with three laps to go to win the Sam’s Town 250 at Memphis Motorsports Park in Millington, Tenn.

After Hamilton took the lead in his Ford, Jason Keller, also driving a Ford, passed Sauter for second place.

*

Jon Wood held off a charge by Roush Racing Ford teammate Carl Edwards to win the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Advance Auto Parts 200 at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia.

Dennis Setzer led 118 of the 200 laps in his Chevrolet but was bumped aside by Wood on lap 176. He finished third.

Miscellany

Julio Gonzalez of Mexico won the World Boxing Organization light-heavyweight title in Hamburg, Germany, on a split-decision, handing Poland’s Dariusz Michalczewski his first loss in 49 fights.

Michalczewski was trying to match the record of Rocky Marciano, who was unbeaten in 49 fights from 1947 to 1955.

*

The WNBA Select team defeated US Valenciennes Olympic of France, 71-68, to reach the finals of the Women’s World Cup at Samara, Russia.

The WNBA team will play for the title today against SGAU Samara, which upset European champion UMMC Yekaterinburg, 75-67, in an all-Russian semifinal.

*

Peter Reid, 34, of Canada made a strong marathon run and won the 25th anniversary Ironman Triathlon World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. He finished the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bicycle ride and 26.2-mile run in 8 hours 22 minutes and 34 seconds.

Lori Bowden, Reid’s estranged wife, won the women’s race with a time of 9:11:55.

*

The top-ranked USC women’s volleyball team extended its winning streak to 30 matches by defeating California, 30-22, 30-18, 27-30, 24-30, 15-13, in front of 2,117 at Berkeley.

April Ross led USC with 20 kills. The Trojans improved to 18-0 overall and 9-0 in the Pacific 10. The Bears are 16-2 and 7-2.