French Open Champion Courier Is Hall of Famer

French Open champions Jim Courier and Yannick Noah have been elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s 2005 class, joining Wimbledon champion Jana Novotna.

Courier, 34, won 23 singles titles in his 13-year career, including Australian Open titles in 1992 and ’93 and French Open titles in 1991 and ’92. He spent 58 weeks at No. 1.

In 1983, Noah, who is now 44, became the first Frenchman in 37 years to win the Open at Roland Garros. Novotna, a 35-year-old from the Czech Republic, won Wimbledon in 1998.

The induction ceremonies will be July 9 in Newport, R.I.

*

Fourth-seeded Vince Spadea reached the second round of the Heineken Open with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over David Sanchez on Monday in Auckland, New Zealand.

Also, fifth-seeded Fernando Gonzalez beat American James Blake, 7-6 (4), 6-1.

*

Defending champion and top-seeded player Amy Frazier of the United States was upset by Li Na of China, 7-5, 7-5, in the first round of the Moorilla International Hobart, Australia.

Australian wild card Casey Dell’Acqua won her first WTA tour match, upsetting Alina Jidkova of Russia, 7-5, 6-4.

Jurisprudence

Kobe Bryant’s attorneys asked the judge in the federal civil case against him to bar his accuser’s lawyers from inquiring about his consensual sexual relationships during his deposition. Attorney Ty Gee also asked that the media be barred from attending the deposition, which could take place in February.

Bryant is being sued by a 20-year-old woman who alleges he raped her in a Colorado hotel room in June 2003. A felony sexual assault charge against the Laker guard was dropped in September 2004 because the woman decided not to testify.

Boxing

Having lost his World Boxing Council super-featherweight title by majority decision to Marco Antonio Barrera in November, Erik Morales (47-2, 34 knockouts) has signed to fight Manny Pacquioa (39-2-2, 31), who beat Barrera in November 2003.

The fight, to be held in Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena on March 19, will not be for a title, but is scheduled for the championship distance of 12 rounds. Pacquioa, who won a decision over Juan Manuel Marquez for the World Boxing Assn. and International Boxing Federation featherweight titles last year, will be making his debut at super-featherweight.

Soccer

Players rejected the U.S. Soccer Federation’s offer to send their labor dispute to arbitration and instead proposed that mediation be used in an effort to get the regulars on the field for next month’s World Cup qualifier at Trinidad and Tobago.

Players objected to the USSF’s strict rules for the arbitration, which allowed for only a contract running through 2006 and placed limits on what could be in each side’s proposal. Players, who want a deal running through 2010, say that after mediation, unresolved issues should be submitted to arbitration.

College Football

Utah receiver Steve Savoy is skipping his final two seasons and making himself eligible for the NFL draft.

Savoy, the second-leading receiver in Utah’s 12-0 season, told the Salt Lake Tribune for a story Monday that he is joining quarterback Alex Smith as an early entrant in the draft.

*

All-American tight end Heath Miller of Virginia is giving up his final season of eligibility to make himself eligible for the NFL draft.

The, 6-foot-5, 255-pounder led the Atlantic Coast Conference in receptions by a tight end in each of his three seasons, highlighted by 70 catches for 835 yards and six touchdowns in 2003. This season, he had 41 catches for 541 yards and five touchdowns.

*

A former Colorado kicker who says she was raped by a teammate and terrified of telling her coach about it said sexual harassment started the day she joined the team.

Katie Hnida said she is still haunted by what she went through.

“It’s been five years, and it’s still terrifying. It’s still something that I wake up with and I deal with,” Hnida said in an interview aired Monday on NBC’s “Today.”

At least nine women have said they were assaulted by Colorado football players or recruits since 1997. No criminal charges have been filed.

The university said it had asked Hnida to provide information about the alleged attack so action can be taken.

“Regretfully, she has chosen not to respond to these calls, but we understand that is her personal decision,” the school said.

Passings

International Olympic Committee member Eduardo Hay, a physician who helped bring the 1968 Summer Games to Mexico, has died, the IOC and his family said. Hay, who was 89, developed an infection Jan. 3 and died two days later, said his widow, Yolanda.

*

Spanish motorcyclist Jose Manuel Perez, 40, injured last week in the Dakar Rally, died after developing a fever, a hospital in Alicante, Spain, said.