Mauresmo Reaches Antwerp Quarterfinals

Defending champion Amelie Mauresmo defeated Iveta Benesova, 6-3, 6-3, Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Diamond Games at Antwerp, Belgium.

Mauresmo won her 12th consecutive match, a streak that includes her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open followed by the Gaz de France last weekend in Paris.

Second-seeded Mauresmo will next play sixth-seeded Patty Schnyder, who advanced on a walkover when Kveta Peschke suffered a sprained wrist during their match.

In other matches, Olga Savchuk upset ninth-seeded Daniela Hantuchova, 6-4, 6-3. Despite 13 double faults, fifth-seeded Elena Dementieva beat Marta Domachowska, 6-3, 7-6 (5).

Top-seeded Rafael Nadal beat wild-card entry Gilles Simon, 7-5, 6-4, to reach the quarterfinals of the Open 13 at Marseille, France.

Nadal next plays Paul-Henri Mathieu, who upset seventh-seeded Radek Stepanek, 7-6 (0), 6-3. In another upset, third-seeded Nikolay Davydenko lost to Evgeny Korolev, 6-4, 7-6 (6).

Third-seeded Lleyton Hewitt advanced to the quarterfinals of the SAP Open in San Jose with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over former Stanford star Sam Warburg.

Hewitt hurt his left ankle during a second-round loss to Juan Ignacio Chela at last month’s Australian Open, but he has shown no effects of the injury so far in the tournament.

In other second-round matches, top-seeded Andy Roddick defeated Kenneth Carlsen, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3, and Wayne Arthurs beat seventh-seeded Dmitri Tursunov, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3.

PRO FOOTBALL

Bengals Give Lewis

Two-Year Extension

Marvin Lewis got a two-year extension for leading the Cincinnati Bengals to their first playoff appearance in 15 years, putting him under contract until 2010. The Bengals also announced that their coaching staff will return intact next season.

Cincinnati went 11-5 -- its first winning record since 1990 -- and won the AFC North during Lewis’ third season as coach. The Bengals lost to eventual Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh in the first round of the playoffs.

JURISPRUDENCE

Dolphin Tackle Is

Released From Jail

Miami Dolphin tackle Damion McIntosh was released from jail after allegedly pushing his wife to the floor in their Fort Lauderdale, Fla., home.

McIntosh was arrested Wednesday on a misdemeanor count of domestic violence. He told Davie police he pushed his wife and said she “hit her head pretty hard,” according to a police report.

Precious McIntosh was treated at a hospital and released.

Milwaukee Buck forward Bobby Simmons will not face charges stemming from an October incident outside a Milwaukee nightclub, the investigating prosecutor said.

Simmons, a former Clipper, was arrested Oct. 1 after a 25-year-old woman alleged he fondled and punched her in a car outside the nightclub. According to police, outside the club after it closed at 2 a.m., the woman asked for a ride and got into Simmons’ car, which had another man in it police didn’t identify.

Simmons was released on $700 bail the day of his arrest on tentative misdemeanor charges of battery and fourth-degree sexual assault.

SOCCER

FIFA Says Warner

Violated Ethics Code

FIFA vice president Jack Warner was cited by the governing body for an ethics violation over ticket sales for the 2006 World Cup.

The Trinidad and Tobago Express said in January that Simpaul, the sole agency selling World Cup tickets in Trinidad, was owned by Warner’s family.

The FIFA ethics committee said Warner’s actions posed a “conflict of interest.” FIFA added that he had “brought the matter to the committee’s attention.”

MISCELLANY

Miami, Oklahoma Will

Renew Football Rivalry

The Miami Hurricanes and Oklahoma Sooners will renew their football rivalry in 2007 after a hiatus of nearly 20 years. The teams will play at Oklahoma on Sept. 8, 2007, and in Miami on Sept. 12, 2009, officials said.

The Harlem Globetrotters are bringing their 2006 North American Tour to the Arrowhead Pond and Staples Center.

They will play a day-night doubleheader at the Arrowhead Pond on Saturday with games at 2 and 7:30 p.m. against the New York Nationals, and on Monday at 1 p.m., also against the Nationals, at Staples Center.

Tickets cost from $15 to $130 for courtside and are available at the Arrowhead Pond, by calling (714) 740-2000, the Staples Center, by calling (213) 480-3232, online at Ticketmaster.com and at area Ticketmaster outlets.

PASSINGS

Ernie Stautner, Steeler

Hall of Famer, Dies at 80

Ernie Stautner, a Hall of Fame defensive lineman for the Pittsburgh Steelers and longtime Dallas Cowboy defensive coordinator, died Thursday in a nursing home in Carbondale, Colo., his wife said. He was 80.

Stautner, who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1969, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 1998, Jill Stautner said. Story in Section B.