Henin-Hardenne Gets to the Quarterfinals

Justine Henin-Hardenne, ranked No. 1 in the world, reached the quarterfinals of the Bausch & Lomb Championships at Amelia Island, Fla., by rallying Thursday to deny Conchita Martinez her 700th victory.

Henin-Hardenne won, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3, despite losing her serve three times in each of the first two sets of the third-round match.

Second-seeded Serena Williams came back from 3-0 down in the second set to defeat Karolina Sprem, 6-1, 7-5, and set up a quarterfinal against No. 7 Nadia Petrova. Petrova handled Petra Mandula, 6-1, 6-4.

Martinez, the tournament champion in 1995, was trying to become only the seventh woman in the Open era to win 700 matches.

Henin-Hardenne next faces eighth-seeded Vera Zvonareva, who hammered No. 12 Patty Schnyder, 6-2, 6-3, in only 50 minutes. Schnyder, twice a quarterfinalist at the event, made 21 unforced errors and won only a third of her first serves.

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Defending champion Rita Grande beat local wild-card entry Bahia Mouhtassine, 6-3, 6-3, to reach the quarterfinals of the Grand Prix SAR at Casablanca, Morocco.

Grande next faces seventh-seeded Lubomira Kurhajcova, who defeated Flavia Pennetta, 6-4, 6-3.

Jurisprudence

Defense lawyers for Jayson Williams asked a judge to dismiss all charges against the retired NBA player, charging that prosecutors in his Newark, N.J., manslaughter trial intentionally withheld evidence.

In legal papers filed, the lawyers contend Williams has been denied a fair trial by the prosecution’s “intentional and egregious” misconduct, including its failure to give the defense notes and photographs by a prosecution weapons expert before the trial started.

Prosecutors have said the error was inadvertent and that the material did not undercut the opinions of defense weapons experts.

The trial has been in recess over the dispute since April 1; the jury will not be in court until Tuesday at the earliest. Superior Court Judge Edward M. Coleman is set to hear arguments on the dispute Monday.

Pro Football

Steve Bisciotti, 43, officially became the majority owner of the Baltimore Ravens, ending Art Modell’s 43-year control of the franchise.

With the transfer of $325 million from Bisciotti to Modell for a total sale price of $600 million in a deal initially struck in 1999, Bisciotti becomes the third-youngest owner in the league.

Modell, 78, will retain a 1% ownership stake.

Bisciotti is older than only Washington Redskin owner Daniel Snyder, 39, and Cleveland Brown owner Randy Lerner, 42.

The Jacksonville Jaguars traded cornerback Jason Craft to the New Orleans Saints for a fifth-round pick in the draft.

College Basketball

Southern Illinois Coach Matt Painter resigned to take an assistant coaching position at Purdue with the expectation that he will succeed Boilermaker Coach Gene Keady after next season.

Painter, a former guard for the Boilermakers, will be introduced as Purdue’s associate head coach at a news conference today, a university spokesman said. Painter’s contract is for six years, with the last five as head coach.

Terms of the deal were not immediately available.

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Jeff Lebo resigned at Chattanooga to take over as coach at Auburn, ending a three-week search to replace Cliff Ellis.

Lebo moves to a program that missed the postseason twice in the last three seasons and faces possible NCAA sanctions.

Lebo was 40-20 in two seasons at Chattanooga of the Southern Conference. A former standout at North Carolina, Lebo also coached at Tennessee Tech and worked as an assistant at Vanderbilt and South Carolina.

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Minnesota freshman Kris Humphries, who led the Big Ten in scoring and rebounding, announced his intention to declare himself available for the NBA draft.

The 6-foot-8, 240-pound Humphries, who averaged 21.7 points and 10.1 rebounds, plans to hire an agent, which would end his collegiate eligibility.

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Baylor junior forward Harvey Thomas has declared himself available for the NBA draft. Thomas averaged 15.6 points and 5.5 rebounds last season.

Hockey

Lukas Dora scored the game-winner with 11:35 left as Denver rallied from a two-goal deficit to beat Minnesota Duluth, 5-3, in the NCAA hockey semifinals and advance to the Frozen Four championship game at Boston.

In the other semifinal, Dustin Penner scored the winning goal early in the third period and Jimmy Howard stopped 40 shots, leading Maine to a 2-1 victory over Boston College. The title game will be Saturday.

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The Kings signed forward Greg Hogeboom, a fifth-round selection in the 2002 draft, to a two-year contract. Hogeboom, 21, had 19 goals and 42 points in 41 games this season as a senior at Miami of Ohio.

Boxing

The United States will not have a competitor in the 125-pound division at the Athens Olympics this summer. Mickey Bey of Cleveland, who won the 125-pound spot on the team in a box-off in February, lost to Daniel Brizeula of Argentina at the final Olympic qualifying event in Rio de Janeiro. The U.S. has qualified in eight of the 11 divisions.