Tuesday, March 25, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
By BOB GREENE
AP Sports Writer
STARS
- Thomas Johansson of Sweden won his second straight tournament, beating Italy's Renzo Furlan 6-3, 6-4 in the St. Petersburg Open in Russia.
- H.W. "Bunny" Austin of Britain, Australian Lesley Turner Bowrey and Maj. Walter Clopton Wingfield of Wales are the newest members of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Induction ceremonies for the three will be held at the International Tennis Hall of Fame on Sunday, July 13.
SPEAKING
"She's the same age I am and two heads taller - maybe even three. I didn't grow so much when I was little. It doesn't seem she's the same age I am at all." - Martina Hingis, at 5-foot-6, talking about 6-foot Venus Williams. Both are 16.
"Maybe it's going to be in the history book." - Venus Williams, about her first on-court meeting with Martina Hingis at the Lipton Championships, a match Hingis won 6-4, 6-2.
"Hopefully it's not going to end. I'm going to keep on trying to serve harder and harder." - Mark Philippoussis of Australia, after hitting serves of 140 and 141 mph in his victory over Wayne Ferriera, becoming the first player to reach 140 mph twice in a match. Philippoussis set the record with a 142 mph serve earlier this month.
SWINGING PARTNERS
Russian Andrei Olhovskiy and New Zealand's Brett Steven won their second straight doubles title, taking the crown at St. Petersburg, Russia. They also won the previous week at Copenhagen, Denmark.
STANDING ON TOP
Karim Alami is top-seeded at Casablanca, Morocco, this week, the first time in his career he has been seeded No. 1. It also is the first time any Moroccan player has been seeded No. 1 in an ATP Tour event. The seedings are based on computer ranking.
SAYING SOMETHING
The Corel WTA Tour and United States Tennis Association (USTA) announced a year-long joint program designed to strengthen the women players' communication skills and make them more comfortable when working with the media.
SHORT VISIT
Andre Agassi's opening round loss at the Lipton Championships was only the second time in the tournament's history that the defending champion lost his first match the following year. In 1993, the 1992 winner, Michael Chang, lost his first match. The loss will drop Agassi, once No. 1 in the world, from No. 13 to around No. 28 when the ATP Tour rankings are released next week.
STRAIGHT TO THE TOP
Sixteen-year-old Martina Hingis will officially become No. 1 in the world when the next Corel WTA Tour rankings are released next week, supplanting Steffi Graf, who is sidelined with an injured left knee. Hingis is only the seventh woman to be ranked No. 1 since the computer rankings began in 1975. Besides Graf, the others are Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Monica Seles, Tracy Austin and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.
STRAIGHT TO THE BANK
Switzerland's Martina Hingis is the youngest tennis player, man or woman, to reach $1 million in career prize money. She topped the mark at the age of 16 years, 2 months - one month younger than Jennifer Capriati was when she earned her first million. The only other player to earn $1 million before turning 17 was Monica Seles, who did it at the age of 16 years, 7 months.
STARTING AGAIN
When Monica Seles played her first match at the Lipton Championships, she was making her 1997 debut. Seles had not played since the 1996 season-ending Chase Championships at New York in November, when she defaulted her first-round match against Kimiko Date because of a chronic shoulder injury. In December, Seles broke her right ring finger in two places trying to catch a serve hit by Martina Hingis during a practice session.
SCHEDULE Tournaments this week
Corel WTA Tour
$1,750,000 The Lipton Championships, hardcourt, Key Biscayne, Fla. (second week)
ATP Tour
$2,450,000 The Lipton Championships, hardcourt, Key Biscayne, Fla. (second week)
$203,000 Grand Prix Hassan II, clay, Casablanca, Morocco
Davis Cup
Asia-Oceania Zone 3
At Qatar
Group A: Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Banladesh, Bahrain; Group B: Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Pacific Oceania, Qatar
Asia-Oceania Zone 4
At Oman
Tajikistan, Oman, Syria, UAE, Brunei, Jordan
Tournaments Week of March 31
Corel WTA Tour
$926,250 Family Circle Magazine Cup, clay, Hilton Head Island, S.C.
Davis Cup
April 4-6
Second Round
World Group
Netherlands vs. United States in Newport Beach, Calif.
Czech Republic at North Adelaide, Australia
Spain at Pesaro, Italy
South Africa at Vaxjo, Sweden
Euro-African Zone Group 1
Denmark at Belgium, Zimbabwe at Great Britain, Israel at Slovak Republic, Croatia at Austria
American Zone Group 1
Venezuela at Canada, Argentina at Chile
American Zone Group 2
Peru at Colombia, Uruguay at Paraguay
Asia-Oceania Zone Group 1
New Zealand at Indonesia, Korea at China
Asia-Oceania Zone Group 2
Iran at Chinese Taipei, Thailand at Lebanon
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