Korda, Davenport romp in Wimbledon openers

Amid sunshine and the prospect for the most wide open men's tournaments in years, Petr Korda today underlined his status as a Wimbledon contender.

Korda, the Australian Open champion and No. 3 seed, needed less than 90 minutes to defeat Spain's Javier Sanchez, 6-3, 6-4, 6-3. Looking at home on the grass, the Czech left-hander served 16 aces and served notice he could be among the top challengers for Pete Sampras' crown.

The highest women's seed in action today, No. 2 Lindsay Davenport, cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 victory in 50 minutes over Argentina's Florencia Labat.

The 22-year-old American, still looking for her first Grand Slam title and largely overlooked amid the focus on the teenage stars, never faced a break point in the match and dropped only three points on her serve in the second set.

Meanwhile, Anna Kournikova withdrew from the tournament because of torn thumb ligaments, leaving the tournament without one of its headline attractions. The 17-year-old Russian, a semifinalist last year, injured her right thumb last Thursday at Eastbourne during a three-set victory over seven-time Wimbledon champion Steffi Graf.

The first women's seed to advance was No. 9 Amanda Coetzer of South Africa, who beat Kerry-Anne Guse of Australia 6-2, 6-2 in just over an hour.

Marion Jones scores a triple

The heat in south Louisiana was enough to double athletes over with cramps, send fans scrambling for shade and keep the surface of the track simmering at more than 114 degrees. Through it all, Marion Jones kept her cool. Jones ran away from the fields in the 100 and 200 meters and won the long jump in the USA Track and Field Championships at New Orleans, becoming the first woman to take the three events in 50 years. Jones, 22, captured attention just a year ago by winning the 100 in 10.97 seconds and the long jump at 22 feet, 9 inches, beating the great Jackie Joyner-Kersee in the U.S. championship. She is the first athlete to capture the three women's event since Stella Walsh did it in 1948. Jones wrapped it up Sunday, winning the 200 in 22.24 while running into a headwind. The time was the second-fastest of the year and only Jones has run faster.

UNLV's Coleman wins rodeo title

Buoyed by second-place rides in bareback and bull riding during Saturday's final round, UNLV's Ross Coleman clinched the all-around cowboy title in the College National Finals Rodeo Saturday at Rapid City, S.D. Coleman finished the four-performance finals with 440 points, easily outdistancing Travis Goad on Panhandle (Olka.) State, who was second with 207.5. Josh McIntyre won the steer wrestling event, helping Panhandle State win the men's team championship. UNLV finished fourth. Lewis-Clark State won the women's division. Lynn Wiebe of Central Wyoming College won the all-around cowgirl title.

Canadian prevails at LVMS

Fast qualifier Trevor Lowe of Aggasiz, British Columbia powered his 1957 Chevrolet to a time of 6.647 seconds at 206.833 mph Saturday night to beat Glen May and highlight the Pro Mod Invitational drag races before about 5,000 fans at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Randy Holly powered his '73 Plymouth Barracuda to a time of 12.287 seconds at 118.464 mph to capture his third Pro ET triumph of the year to highlight the seventh NHRA/Craftsman ET points race of the year. In stock car racing action at the LVMS clay oval, Dan Fitzgerald held off Steve Linthium and Levi Keifer in the IMCA Modifieds, while Wyatt Earp zipped to the Street Stock victory and Corey Lassiter won the Dwarf Car main. Jack Bass defeated Reyes Valenzuela and Bob Darling in the Street Stock feature.

Panthers GM hires brother

Florida Panthers general manager Bryan Murray decided the best candidate for the team's coaching job was as close as his own family tree. "The bottom line is this is the guy that worked best with the criteria we established," Bryan Murray said Sunday as he introduced his kid brother Terry as the team's fourth coach. Terry Murray never missed the playoffs in seven-plus seasons with Washington and Philadelphia, posting a career record of 281-198-58. He took the Flyers to the 1997 Stanley Cup finals, only to be fired after they were swept by Detroit. Now he inherits the job relinquished by Bryan Murray, who coached the final 59 games last season after Doug MacLean was fired. His task will be to turn around a freefall that has taken Florida from the Stanley Cup finals to the NHL's second-worst record in two years.

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