Agassi Outlasts Rafter, Capriati Ousted by Testud in Florida

In a match worthy of a Grand Slam final, Andre Agassi won a marathon game in the second set, then went on to beat Patrick Rafter, 6-4, 6-4, Tuesday in the fourth round of the Ericsson Open tennis tournament at Key Biscayne, Fla.

The top-seeded Agassi moved a step closer to his fourth title at Key Biscayne and his first since 1996.

Jennifer Capriati, who had eliminated Serena Williams in a grueling duel Monday, had little energy left against Sandrine Testud of France and lost, 6-3, 6-4.

Second-seeded Pete Sampras defeated Greg Rusedski of Britain, 6-3, 6-3.

Australia’s Rafter, seeded 15th, failed to convert any of his seven break-point chances against Agassi, including five in the eighth game of the second set. The score went to deuce 10 times and included two close calls Agassi disputed, one of which was overruled by the chair umpire, before Agassi prevailed for a 5-3 lead.

Pro Football

NBC is expected to announce today that it has made a deal with the XFL, the World Wrestling Federation’s proposed outdoor football league that is scheduled to begin a 10-week season in February 2001. NBC reportedly will invest $30 million in the league and televise a game of the week, possibly on Saturday nights. Los Angeles is expected to have one of the eight XFL teams.

Ricky Williams, whose incentive-laden contract with the New Orleans Saints backfired on him last season, has fired his agent and hired Leigh Steinberg.

Denver Bronco owner Pat Bowlen was ordered to write the NFL a $22-million check to cover deferred salaries for Terrell Davis and John Elway, the Denver Post reported.

The NFL will make periodic payments to Davis and Elway, according to the Post. The NFL and Bowlen have been involved in a dispute over deferred salaries.

Miscellany

Alexei Yagudin easily won in the men’s short program at the World Figure Skating Championships in Nice, France. Russian teammate Yevgeny Plushchenko was second and American Michael Weiss finished third. . . . Stephane Bernadis, a French pairs skater, was attacked in a hotel room by a man who cut him on the forearm with a razor and then fled.

April Heinrichs, coach of the defending Olympic gold medalist U.S. women’s soccer team, named a pool of 30 players who will enter camp April 17 to begin training for the Sydney Olympics. The pool includes all starters from the 1999 World Cup winners.

Shawn Barnes, a sophomore high school baseball player in Madison, Ind., collapsed and died after he was struck above the heart by a ball thrown during practice. A coroner’s report said the death was caused by an uneven heartbeat as a result of blunt-force trauma.

Seattle Slew, 26, the 1977 Triple Crown winner, will undergo back surgery this week to fuse two vertebrae in his neck, said Dan Rosenberg, farm manager at Three Chimneys Farm in Lexington, Ky., where Seattle Slew stands at stud.