Venus Williams Defeats Hingis at J&S; Cup

Venus Williams overcame leg cramps and an inconsistent serve to defeat Martina Hingis, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, Thursday in the second round of the J&S; Cup at Warsaw.

It was the first meeting between the former top-ranked players since 2002 in Hamburg, Germany.

“I’m very elated,” Williams said. “This is a match that seems like I should have lost toward the end, but I didn’t feel that way even though I was in a lot of pain and dire circumstances.”

The 13th-ranked Williams, seeded seventh, received medical treatment for leg cramps at 1-1 in the third set.

Williams played only her third match of the year, having been sidelined since the Australian Open with a strained right elbow. The 25th-ranked Hingis is back on the WTA Tour after an almost three-year hiatus.

They traded breaks early in the third set. Tied 4-4, Williams won a break point with a two-handed backhand crosscourt winner, then Hingis hit a backhand long to trail, 5-4. Williams served out the match.

In other matches, fourth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Tsvetana Pironkova, 6-3, 6-1, Ana Ivanovic upset second-seeded Patty Schnyder, 6-3, 6-2, and Anna Chakvetadze beat ninth-seeded Daniela Hantuchova, 6-4, 6-3.

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Sixth-seeded Carlos Moya had 17 aces in defeating Gustavo Marcaccio, 6-1, 7-5, and Frederico Gil upset fifth-seeded Dmitry Tursunov, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, in the second round of the Estoril Open at Oeiras, Portugal.

In the women’s draw, third-seeded Lourdes Dominguez Lino defeated Kaia Kanepi, 6-1, 6-4, and seventh-seeded Emilie Loit defeated Natalia Gussoni, 6-2, 6-2.

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Fifth-seeded Olivier Rochus defeated Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, 6-2, 7-6 (6), to reach the quarterfinals of the BMW Open at Munich, Germany.

GOLF

Furyk, Three Others Share Wachovia Lead

Four players, including former U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk and rookie Bill Haas, shared the lead after the first round of the Wachovia Championship at Charlotte, N.C., all finishing at four-under-par 68.

Trevor Immelman and Rory Sabbatini also finished with 68s. Billy Andrade, Lucas Glover and Davis Love III are tied for second at 69.

Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh and Ernie Els all had 71s. Singh defeated Furyk and Sergio Garcia in a playoff last year.

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Angela Stanford and Beth Bader each shot seven-under 65 and shared a one-stroke lead over Grace Park after the first round of the Franklin American Mortgage Championship at Franklin, Tenn.

Stanford tied her career-low round and could have had the lead to herself if not for a lone bogey with eight birdies. Bader had five birdies and an eagle as both took advantage of perfect scoring conditions with soft greens.

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Michelle Wie used strong putting to shoot a two-under 70 in the first round of the SK Telecom Open at Incheon, South Korea, and remained in contention to make her first cut at a men’s tournament.

The 16-year-old is five strokes behind leader Adam Le Vesconte. Wie had four birdies and two bogeys in her eighth attempt at making the cut in a men’s tournament.

PRO HOCKEY

Three Finalists Named for NHL’s Hart Trophy

The New York Rangers’ Jaromir Jagr and San Jose’s Joe Thornton, who went back and forth in the NHL scoring race, are among three finalists announced for the Hart Trophy as league MVP. Calgary goalie Miikka Kiprusoff is the other nominee.

Thornton edged Jagr for the scoring title by two points, 125-123.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Source: Lowe to Take N.C. State Coaching Job

Detroit Piston assistant coach Sidney Lowe will return to North Carolina State to coach the team he helped lead to a national championship under Jim Valvano.

North Carolina State, which has searched for a successor to Herb Sendek for the last month, will introduce Lowe as its new coach over the weekend, a person within the Piston organization told the Associated Press.

Lowe, 46, was the point guard on the Wolfpack’s 1983 national championship team.

SOCCER

McClaren Is Named England’s Coach

Steve McClaren was hired to succeed Sven-Goran Eriksson as coach of England’s national team after the World Cup. England’s first game after he takes over on Aug. 1 is an exhibition against European champion Greece on Aug. 16.

McClaren, 45, who signed a four-year contract, has been Eriksson’s assistant for five years. He was appointed by the English Football Assn.

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The official team bus to be used by the U.S. during the World Cup in Germany will not bear a flag for security reasons.

The 32 official buses were presented in Frankfurt, and the other 31 buses have large national flags of their teams painted on rear sides.

German and U.S. security officials decided to leave the flag off the U.S. team bus, an official of the German organizing committee said.

The bus is predominantly blue in color. National teams use their buses to go from their hotels to practices, games and airports. They will have police escorts.

MISCELLANY

49ers Acquire Dilfer From Browns for Dorsey

The San Francisco 49ers acquired a proven backup quarterback for Alex Smith, getting Trent Dilfer from the Cleveland Browns in a trade for quarterback Ken Dorsey and an undisclosed 2007 draft pick.

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Texas and Oklahoma have agreed to a new five-year deal to keep their football rivalry in Dallas until 2010, the schools announced.

The deal adds two years to the previous contract but does not require any improvements to the Cotton Bowl. Any renovations would be a decision by the city of Dallas or the State Fair.

The football game has been played on a neutral field in Dallas every year since 1929.

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The Dallas Cowboys will spend their summers back in San Antonio from 2007 to 2011. The announcement was made by team owner Jerry Jones and mayor Phil Hardberger.

The team trained inside the Alamodome in 2002 and 2003. A scheduling conflict the next year led to a return to Oxnard through this summer.

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Illinois’ mascot has cost the school a chance to extend its seven-year streak of playing host to NCAA Division I men’s tennis tournaments.

The NCAA’s executive committee declined last week to remove Chief Illiniwek from its list of “hostile and abusive” mascots, making Illinois ineligible to host postseason athletic tournaments. The Fighting Illini will play Western Illinois, the Mid-Continent Conference’s automatic bid, on May 12 in the Louisville Regional.

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The U.S. lost, 1-0, to England in Rome in a qualifying tournament for the women’s field hockey World Cup. Chloe Rogers scored, sending England into the final against South Korea.