Kuerten Rallies to Win Tiebreaker, Match

Gustavo Kuerten, on the edge of defeat in a second-set tiebreaker, rallied to defeat Jiri Novak, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5, Saturday to reach the final of the Mercedes Cup tennis tournament in Stuttgart, Germany.

The top-seeded Brazilian will play Guillermo Canas today in the title match of the $800,000 clay-court tournament. The 10th-seeded Argentine beat teenage qualifier Marc Lopez of Spain, 6-2, 6-2.

Kuerten is playing his first tournament after taking five weeks off following his third French Open title that he won in June.

Alex Corretja defeated Sjeng Schalken, 7-6 (4), 6-1, to set up a meeting with Younes El Aynaoui in the $400,000 Energis Open final today in Amsterdam. El Aynaoui beat defending champion Magnus Gustafsson, who also won the tournament in 1991, 6-4, 7-5.

Top-seeded Carlos Moya of Spain won two matches to reach the final of the $400,000 Croatia Open in Umag. Moya will play Jerome Golmard of France today for the title.

Top-seeded Kim Clijsters lost in the semifinals before her home fans, 6-0, 6-4, to Iroda Tulyaganova of Uzbekistan at the $110,000 Sanex Trophy tournament in Knokke-Heist, Belgium.

In the final, Tulyaganova will face Spain’s Gala Leon-Garcia, who beat Marta Marrero of Spain, 6-4, 6-3, in the other semifinal.

France, led by Amelie Mauresmo and Sandrine Testud, and Australia took 2-0 leads in the Fed Cup playoffs. Mauresmo and Testud won singles matches in straight sets against Italy in Vittel, France. Australia leads Switzerland.

Basketball

Denied a contract extension and caught off-guard by his team’s courtship of Derek Anderson, Portland Trail Blazer shooting guard Steve Smith has asked to be traded. Smith, 32, has two years left on a contract that will pay him $9 million during the 2001-02 season and $10 million in 2002-03.

David Robinson re-signed with the San Antonio Spurs for a reported $20 million over two years. Last season, Robinson had career-low averages of 14.4 points and 8.6 rebounds. . . . Chris Webber signed his seven-year, $122.7-million contract with the Sacramento Kings.

The Czech Republic beat the U.S., 92-88, in the semifinals of the Junior World Championship girls’ tournament in Brno, Czech Republic. Connecticut’s Diana Taurasi, from Chino Don Lugo High, led the Americans with 25 points. The Czech Republic plays Russia in the final. The U.S. plays Australia, which lost to Russia, 69-54, for the bronze medal.

Aquatics

Long Beach lost to Montreal, by one vote, as FINA voted to hold its 2005 World Swimming Championships in Canada.

Tony Azevedo of Long Beach scored a goal to help the U.S. men’s water polo team defeat Canada, 6-3, at the world championships in Fukuoka, Japan. Brenda Villa of Commerce scored five goals to help the U.S. women’s team defeat Brazil, 12-2.

Russia won two gold medals at swimming’s world championships in Fukuoka. Russia’s Yury Koudinov won the men’s 25-kilometer open-water title and Italy’s Viola Valli won the women’s title. Russia won the team synchronized swimming gold medal.

The U.S. placed fourth in the team, solo and duet events--the first time it was out of the medals in a world championships.

Miscellany

Florida running back Eraste Autin was in critical condition after collapsing during a voluntary workout with teammates in Gainesville, Fla. The 18-year-old freshman was jogging with teammates Wednesday when he collapsed from heat stroke while on his way to the locker room.

Britain’s Johnny Nelson successfully defended the WBO cruiserweight title for the eighth time with a unanimous decision over Argentina’s Marcelo Dominguez in Sheffield, England.

Olympic champion Stephanie Cook of Britain ended her modern pentathlon career by winning individual and team gold medals in the world championships at Somerset, England.