Germany piles on against Saudi Arabia
SAPPORO, Japan, June 2 (UPI) -- With France quickly fading as a potential World Cup champion, Germany stepped up to take its place Saturday night.
In one of the most overwhelming performances in the history of the World Cup finals, Germany mauled Saudi Arabia in Sapporo, 8-0, taking the lead in its group and building confidence for the much tougher matches to come.
Elsewhere on the first full day of World Cup competition, Denmark downed Uruguay in Ulsan, 2-1, and Ireland took advantage of a defensive lapse to score a second-half goal and tie Cameroon in Niigaya, 1-1.
Denmark's victory came in Group A, where defending champion France now finds itself in a hole after the first round of matches.
France lost its opener Friday night to Senegal, 1-0, and with both Senegal and Denmark now having three points, it will be imperative that the world's No. 1-ranked team win both of its remaining group matches.
That will be difficult, especially since French coach Roger Lemerre said Saturday that star midfielder Zinedine Zidane probably would not be ready to play against Uruguay next Thursday.
Zidane strained a thigh muscle in a tune-up match last weekend and France clearly missed him in its opening game loss.
Germany missed nothing, however, in its rout of Saudi Arabia. The Germans came within one goal of equaling the most one-sided game in the 72 year history of the World Cup finals and produced the biggest victory margin since Hungary crushed El Salvador in Spain 20 years ago, 10-1. Germany outshot the Saudis, 24-2.
The three points put Germany in command of Group E with Ireland and Cameroon each having to settle for one point earlier in the day.
Miroslav Klose produced a hat trick in Germany's win, scoring all three goals on headers. He delivered the game's first two goals and set up another.
Carsten Jancker, Michael Ballack, Thomas Linke, Oliver Bierhoff and Bernd Schneider also scored for Germany, which came into the competition as a major question mark.
The quality of the German team was in doubt after a 5-1 loss to England during European qualifying and no member of the squad had any World Cup experience.
Some questions remain, however, since Saudi Arabia did not resemble a world class soccer team Saturday night. Germany's next game will be against Ireland on the evening of June 5 and a win in that one would not only clinch a spot in the second round but would stamp the Germans as a legitimate contender for the title.
Capriati, Agassi advance
PARIS, June 2 (UPI) -- Jennifer Capriati, top-seeded American and defending champion, coasted past Evie Dominikovic, 6-3, 6-1, Saturday to advance to the fourth round of the French Open.
Third seed Serena Williams of the United States and seventh seed Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia also were winners, as was American Andre Agassi on the men's side.
Since capturing her second straight Australian Open crown four months ago, Capriati has yet to win another tournament. But the focus of the American remains on the second Grand Slam of the season.
Capriati committed three unforced errors in the first game of the match, but finishing strong, winning 11 of the last 12 games against her Australian opponent.
Williams cruised past Janette Husarova of Slovakia, 6-1, 6-3 ,and Dokic defeated Elena Likhovtseva, 6-2, 6-3, in other third-round matches.
Dokic was an early-round loser in last year's French Open and viewed the surprising losses by top seeds Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters earlier this week as a wakeup call.
In another women's match, No. 9 Silvia Farina Elia of Italy topped Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand, 6-0, 7-6 (7-1).
Agassi advanced to play 2000 Roland Garros junior champion Paul-Henri Mathieu of France in the next round. Mathieu surprised 14th seed Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. Gaston Gaudio of Argentina, the 31st seed, advanced when Hicham Arazi of Morocco retired after the pair split the first four sets of their match.
Marat Safin, the second seed from Russia, needed four sets on Saturday to defeat David Nalbandian of Argentina, 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
Wilson's slam carries Yankees
NEW YORK, June 2 (UPI) -- Light-hitting infielder Enrique Wilson took advantage of a rare start Saturday by belting his second career grand slam that snapped a tie in the sixth inning and powered the New York Yankees to a 10-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox.
Wilson, inserted into the starting lineup when Alfonso Soriano was a last-minute scratch due to a sore hip suffered Friday night, came into the game with five hits in 29 at bats this season.
His previous grand slam came against the Yankees as a member of the Cleveland Indians four years ago.
The Yankees evened the three-game series at a win apiece and handed the Red Sox only their fifth road loss in 26 games this season. Boston had won four in a row.
New York, which leads the majors with 91 homers in 56 games, hit four more Saturday. The Yankees are on pace to shatter the franchise record of 240, set in 1961.
Other American League results: Cleveland 8, Chicago 4; Oakland 8, Tampa Bay 3; Baltimore 4, Seattle 3; Toronto 4, Detroit 1 in 11 innings; Minnesota 4, Anaheim 2; Texas 3, Kansas City 1.
Dodgers make good use of few hits
LOS ANGELES, June 2 (UPI) -- Brian Jordan belted a two-run homer and Andy Ashby tossed eight scoreless innings Saturday to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 2-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Dodgers got only two hits off Arizona starter Brian Anderson. Both of them came in the fourth inning and the Dodgers made the most of them. Rookie Cesar Izturis led off with a single into shallow right field and stole second one out later.
Shawn Green's groundout advanced Izturis to third before Jordan belted a 1-0 pitch over the left-center field fence.
Ashby (5-4) scattered five hits with a walk and two strikeouts en route to his fourth straight win over Arizona.
Eric Gagne worked a perfect ninth for his major league-leading 19th save.
Anderson (0-5) was the tough-luck loser, allowing two runs and two hits with four strikeouts in seven innings. The lefthander has not won since July 22, going 0-7 with nine no-decisions.
Other National League results: Atlanta 7, Cincinnati 1; Houston 7, Chicago 3; Colorado 5, San Francisco 4; Florida 9, New York 7; Philadelphia 8, Montreal 4; St. Louis 9, Pittsburgh 4; Milwaukee 4, San Diego 3.
Norman lets lead slip away
POTOMAC, Md., June 2 (UPI) -- Bob Estes and Bob Burns took over the lead after three rounds of the Kemper Open Saturday while Greg Norman, a World Golf Hall of Fame member and winless since 1997, saw his hopes for victory diminish.
Norman held a surprising two-shot lead entering the third round after carding a bogey-free 6-under-par 65 Friday.
But the 47-year-old Norman could not follow up that round as he struggled on nearly every hole en route to a 3-over 74. Norman had a double-bogey, three bogeys and two birdies.
His struggles were most evident on the par-5 sixth, when hit his second shot with a 5-iron into a creek. He lost his lead on the hole, two-putting for a double-bogey.
Norman dropped to 7-under 206 for the event, and was among five players tied for ninth, three shots behind co-leaders Burns and Estes.
Both Burns and Estes shot a 69 Saturday, moving to 10-under 203 overall.
Jay Williamson and Bob May were one shot back. Duffy Waldorf was among four players two shots behind.
Comets win in overtime
CLEVELAND, June 2 (UPI) -- Tina Thompson scored 26 points Saturday, including four in overtime, as the Houston Comets used a stifling defense to post a 69-65 victory over the Cleveland Rockers.
Thompson opened the scoring in the extra session with a basket and Sheryl Swoopes added a jumper for a 65-61 lead with just over two minutes left. Chasity Melvin's basket with 64 seconds remaining cut the deficit to 67-65 and Cleveland got the ball back with a chance to tie.
The Rockers went to former Comet Jennifer Rizzotti, who missed a driving layup with three seconds left. Two foul shots by Janeth Arcain provided the final margin for Houston.
Cleveland managed just four points in overtime, all by Melvin. The Rockers shot 28 percent from beyond the arc.
Thompson also grabbed eight rebounds and made 12 of 22 shots while Arcain netted 17 points for Houston, which improved to 2-1 on the young season. Swoopes, who missed the entire 2001 season, made just three of 12 shots for 10 points.
Other WNBA results: Washington 93, Orlando 82; Charlotte 94, Los Angeles 87 in overtime; Indiana 79, Detroit 62; Phoenix 71, Utah 66; Minnesota 63, Sacramento 61.
Fernandez wins CART pole
WEST ALLIS, Wis., June 2 (UPI) -- Mexico's Adrian Fernandez barely avoided a spinout on the first of two qualifying laps Saturday and earned the pole for the CART Miller Lite 250 at the Milwaukee Mile.
Fernandez nearly lost control of his Honda, but the grip of his Potenza racing radials enabled him to save the car and keep charging.
Fernandez, who was the fastest driver in all three practice sessions, delivered a speed of 167.532 miles per hour (22.176 seconds) to record his third career pole.
Fernandez will be joined on the front row by Canadian Paul Tracy, who turned in a lap of 22.205 seconds. Tracy is a two-time winner of the Miller Lite 250, finishing first in 1995 and 1999.
Patrick Carpentier qualified third with a time of 22.324 seconds (166.422 mph), while Scott Dixon and teammate Bruno Junqueira completed the top five. Less than eighth-tenths of a second covered the entire field.
LSU, South Carolina win track titles
BATON ROUGE, La., June 2 (UPI) -- A stirring duel in the decathlon won by LSU's Claston Bernard had major implications in the chase for the national title Saturday night as the Tigers claimed the NCAA track and field championship.
In the women's competition, South Carolina won its first national crown in any sport by outlasting UCLA.
LSU began the final night of the four-day meet with a 13-point lead, but midway through the evening the Tigers were tied by Tennessee with 48 points each.
There were only two events left in which the schools had competitors -- the decathlon and 4x400-meter relay.
The decathlon is not usually the center of attention at the NCAA championship, but the home fans found themselves caught up in Bernard's attempt to finish higher than Tennessee's Stephen Harris.
Going into the last of the 10 events that make up the decathlon, the 1,500-meter run, Bernard was second behind Ryan Harlan of Rice.
But the 1,500 is one of Harlan's weak events and Bernard finished 34 seconds ahead of him. That swept Bernard into first place with 8,094 points and gave LSU the 10 points that goes with a first place finish.
Although Harris had the best time in the 1,500, he wound up fourth overall -- an effort that gave Tennessee five points but left the Volunteers five points behind going into the relay.
Even if Tennessee had won the relay, LSU had to finish only third to clinch the title and that was where the Tigers did finish. Tennessee wound up fifth.
LSU piled up 64 points to 57 for Tennessee, which won last year's title with 50.
South Carolina and UCLA went back and forth all night in the women's race.
A victory by UCLA's Jessica Cosby gave the Bruins a 13-point lead, but South Carolina's Melisa Barber, Leshinda Demus and Demetria Washington finished 2-3-4 in the 400 to put their school in front.
Lena Nilsson of UCLA won the 1,500 and the Bruins went back ahead, but South Carolina moved six points in front when Aleen Bailey finished second and Barber finished fifth in the 200.
South Carolina still had the six-point lead going into the concluding relay and a win in that event gave it 82 points. UCLA finished third in the relay and closed the meet with 72 points.
