Ruling on Umpires Is Expected Soon

The fate of three International Tennis Federation (ITF) umpires -- including Lynn Welch of the U.S. -- who were dismissed from the U.S. Open earlier this week after allegations they had mishandled their Olympic credentials in Athens last month -- will be decided this week, according to Stefan Fransson of Sweden, supervisor of officials for the ITF.

Welch, Fergus Murphy of Ireland and Christina Olausson of Denmark tried to alter their Olympic credentials so they could attend swimming events, according to two sources at the Open. The three had credentials that restricted them to the tennis venue in Athens.

Fransson said it was wrong to suggest that Mariana Alves, the chair umpire who made the controversial overrule in the Jennifer Capriati-Serena Williams quarterfinal, would not have been working that match had the three top-rated officials not been sent home. Alves is a silver badge-level official while the three dismissed umpires are gold-rated.

“We’ve had silver badge umpires in quarterfinals before,” Fransson said. “I see no relation.”

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The team of Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain and Paola Suarez of Argentina became the first since 1968 to win three consecutive U.S. Open women’s doubles titles. They beat Svetlana Kuznetsova, who won the singles title Saturday night, and Elena Likhovtseva of Russia, 6-4, 7-5, Sunday. Andrew Murray became the first British player to win the U.S. Open junior boys’ title; and Richard Krajicek’s half-sister, Michaella Krajicek, 15, won the junior girls’ title Sunday.

Murray, who was on his way to school in Dunblane, Scotland, when a man opened fire and murdered 16 children and a teacher in 1996, defeated Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine, 6-4, 6-2. Krajicek of the Netherlands defeated Jessica Kirkland, 16, of Dayton, Ohio, 6-1, 6-1.