Venus Avenges Her Loss at Wimbledon

Venus Williams reached the second round of the Swisscom Challenge with a 6-2, 6-2 victory Tuesday over Karolina Sprem, who upset her in the second round at Wimbledon.

That match -- Williams’ earliest exit at the All England Club since her 1997 debut -- was marred by the chair umpire’s awarding of an extra point to Sprem.

The No. 7 Williams was the 1999 champion in the tournament in Zurich, Switzerland.

In other action, No. 8 Nadia Petrova downed Lisa Raymond, 6-4, 6-3; No. 9 Ai Sugiyama defeated Shinobu Asgoe, 6-2, 6-3; and No. 10 Patty Schnyder overcame Magdalena Maleeva, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, in a matchup between past Zurich champions.

Top-seeded Amelie Mauresmo withdrew because of a strained thigh muscle. Lindsay Davenport had already pulled out because of flu, and Serena Williams withdrew because of lingering pain in her left knee.

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Andre Agassi got past big-serving Max Mirnyi, 7-6 (5), 6-3, to reach the third round at the Madrid Masters in Spain.

The second-seeded Agassi’s next match is against No. 14-seeded Vince Spadea or Spanish teen Rafael Nadal, a 6-2, 6-1 winner against Davide Sanguinetti.

In other second-round action, Olympic silver medalist Mardy Fish lost to Andrei Pavel, 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (2); Antony Dupuis of France upset 12th-seeded Juan Ignacio Chela, 7-6 (4), 6-3; and No. 4 David Nalbandian downed Robin Soderling, 7-6 (5), 6-3.

Tommy Haas and Taylor Dent reached the second round, with Haas beating Xavier Malisse, 6-4, 6-1, and Dent ousting Mikhail Youzhny, 6-3, 6-2.

Olympics

The Court of Arbitration for Sport will announce Thursday whether U.S. gymnast Paul Hamm can keep his Olympic gold medal.

Hamm won the all-around title in Athens, but South Korea’s Yang Tae-young wants the CAS to change the results and move him from third place to first because of a scoring error.

Hamm has said he will abide by the ruling of the CAS, which cannot be appealed.

The International Gymnastics Federation (wouldn’t change the results, because the South Koreans didn’t file a protest in time.

Greek prosecutors today are expected to announce results of an investigation into whether sprinters Costas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou faked a road accident in a doping scandal before the Athens Olympics.

The sprinters said they had a motorcycle crash hours after missing drug tests on Aug. 12. They then stayed in a hospital for four days. Both athletes eventually pulled out of the Games but denied taking banned drugs.

The Hungarian Olympic Committee will consider whether to ban its athletes from the Olympics for life after one doping offense. Five Hungarians -- including two gold medalists and a silver medalist -- were found guilty of doping during the Athens Games.

Soccer

In three consecutive trading days, Tampa Bay Buccaneer owner Malcolm Glazer has pushed his stake to 28.11% in Manchester United PLC. If his ownership reaches 30%, he is required by British law to make an offer to buy out the remaining stockholders.

Since Friday, Glazer has spent $108 million to increase his stake in the 126-year-old club from 16.3%.

College Basketball

Stanford junior point guard Chris Hernandez has not practiced because of an ankle injury. Coach Trent Johnson isn’t sure when Hernandez will be ready, and plans to be cautious with a key starter who has fought injuries throughout his college career.... Connecticut freshman guard A.J. Price was released from the hospital two weeks after being admitted because of a brain hemorrhage.... Virginia Athletic Director Craig Littlepage will become chairman of the NCAA basketball selection committee in 2005-06. He will succeed Iowa Athletic Director Bob Bowlsby, the NCAA said.

Miscellany

Trying to become the first woman to earn a spot on the men’s tour, LPGA Tour rookie Isabelle Beisiegel shot a 12-over 84 in the first round of a regional PGA Tour qualifying tournament in La Quinta. Her score was the second-highest among 84 golfers trying to earn one of 23 berths into sectional qualifying.