, June 4 (UPI) -- Venus, Serena get to French semis
PARIS, June 4 (UPI) -- Venus and Serena Williams moved closer to their first French Open championship match Tuesday with straight-sets quarterfinal victories.
Venus, the No. 2 women's seed, beat three-time champion Monica Seles, 6-4, 6-3, before Serena humbled former winner Mary Pierce of France, 6-1, 6-1, in just 49 minutes.
Last September at the U.S. Open, the American siblings squared off in the final, marking the first time in the Open Era that sisters met for a major singles title. Venus was victorious then as she won her fourth career Grand Slam crown.
Next up for Venus is unseeded Clarisa Fernandez. Serena awaits the winner of the quarterfinal between top-seed and defending champion Jennifer Capriati and No. 7 Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia.
Fernandez won the first all-Argentine women's quarterfinal at Roland Garros, 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1, in just over two hours. Fernandez, ranked 87th, would have had to qualify had it not been for the withdrawal of Martina Hingis because of an ankle injury.
Venus held a 3-1 lead in the first set before a 10-minute rain delay. Seles was able to level things when play resumed, but Williams held her serve for a 5-4 advantage and broke to take the first set in 49 minutes.
Things were considerably easier in the second set, despite losing her serve in the opening game. She immediately broke back and snatched her 28-year-old compatriot's serve two more times to close out the set in 24 minutes.
"I expected to maybe play a few longer points," Venus said. "Monica, just like me, we're both looking to end the points and play aggressive, so I wasn't looking for three-hour rallies either. I've always felt I had the groundstrokes and the speed
to play well here. It just hadn't happened yet. But now I'm a little older and a little wiser. More than anything, I'm not trying to hit every ball so hard and just keep some in play and move it around."
"I just struggled with my game out there today," Seles said. "Things were just a bit off starting from the serve and the groundstrokes. Against a player like Venus, you can't do that. It was just one of those days that my strokes did not feel they were there. My timing was off, so off from the first game to the end and I pressed a little bit too much and missed a couple of balls at key times. Then I was wavering, 'What should I do,
should I pressure her or not?' That's not a good situation against someone like Venus."
The win allowed Williams to gain a measure of revenge after she lost for the first time in seven lifetime meetings with Seles in the Australian Open quarterfinals in January.
"I thought if I could just play a little better than what I did in Australia, I could hopefully get the win," Venus said. "I don't think she played her best today. Maybe she felt a little rushed, I'm not sure."
The 21-year-old Venus advanced to her first semifinal at Roland Garros. She leads the WTA Tour this season in titles, winning at Gold Coast, Paris Indoors, Antwerp and Amelia Island, and was ranked No. 1 in the world for the first time in her career earlier this season.
However, she is not overlooking Fernandez.
"I'll have to walk out there and play well, like always," she said. "It's somewhat like when I played Justine (Henin) in the final at Wimbledon (last year). You play someone who has nothing to lose, so it makes it a bit more difficult. But also I have a small advantage with experience."
Fernandez advanced to her first career Grand Slam semifinal in only her third major. She is the first Argentinian female to reach the last four here since Gabriela Sabatini in 1992 and the first unseeded semifinalist here since Capriati in 1990.
"This is a surprise for me to have reached this level, but my effort has paid off," Fernandez said. "I don't want to be compared to (Sabatini). I am happy to be here and to have fought hard against Paola before finally winning today."
The 20-year-old from Cordoba already has had an excellent event, ousting No. 4 Kim Clijsters and No. 13 Elena Dementieva to reach the quarterfinals.
"This is definitely a great tournament for her," Venus said. "It will get her up in the rankings and give her the opportunity to play a lot of the higher-level events. It will give her the opportunity to get in there and compete."
In the men's draw, No. 20 Albert Costa of Spain advanced to his first Grand Slam semifinal with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 6-0 win over 15th-seeded Guillermo Canas of Argentina.
Costa stopped the winning streak by Canas in five-setters at four and improved to 3-0 lifetime against the Argentine. The Spaniard's
previous best result in a major was the French quarterfinals in 2000 and at the 1997 Australian Open.
His previous lack of success at Roland Garros is surprising considering Costa has won all 11 of his career titles on clay. But he has not won a tournament since 1999 at Kitzbuhel.
In the semifinals, Costa will take on either countryman Alex Corretja, the 18th seed who has reached the French final twice, or No. 22 Andrei Pavel of Romania.
The men's quarterfinals were scheduled for the main court, Court Philippe Chatrier, while the women's matches were placed on the slightly- smaller Court Suzanne Lenglen. This has caused a bit of a scandal and the top women are lobbying for at least two women's quarterfinals being played in the main stadium.
NHL Stanley Cup Final commences
DETROIT, June 4 (UPI) -- The Detroit Red Wings open their bid for a third Stanley Cup in six seasons Tuesday night when they host the upstart Carolina Hurricanes in Game One at Joe Louis Arena.
Detroit, with several future Hall of Famers on its roster, the best record during the regular season and a defeat of the defending champion Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference finals, is considered the heavy favorite. The Red Wings lost the fifth game against Colorado in overtime, but posted a 2-0 victory in Game Six as Dominik Hasek made 24 saves, and a 7-0 thrashing in the deciding game.
Hasek, who has never won a Stanley Cup in his brilliant career but reached the Finals while with Buffalo in 1999, has made 43 saves in the past two games and has an NHL-record five shutouts this postseason.
Long-time captain Steve Yzerman leads Detroit with 19 points despite a painful knee injury. He, Brendan Shanahan, and defenseman Mathieu Dandenault each scored twice in two wins over Carolina during the regular season.
The Red Wings seek their 10th Stanley Cup and first since capturing consecutive championships in 1997 and 1998, the last time they were in the Finals.
The Hurricanes were not considered a good bet to make their Stanley Cup Finals debut after winning the weak Southeast Division, but they got past the New Jersey Devils, the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs all in six games to bring pride to a franchise that started out as the Hartford Whalers of the WHA.
Carolina is winless at Joe Louis Arena since Nov. 14, 1989, going 0-10-1, and is just 3-16
1 overall against Detroit in the last 10 seasons.
Hurricanes goaltender Arturs Irbe has had some success against the Red Wings. He was the netminder for the San Jose Sharks in 1994 when they ousted Detroit in the Western Conference quarterfinals.
Irbe had been benched in favor of Kevin Weekes in the series against New Jersey, but has surrendered just 10 goals in nine games, no more than two in one contest, since returning.
Rod Brind'Amour, Bates Battaglia and Erik Cole carried the offense in the first two rounds for Carolina, but went without a goal in the conference finals. However, the No. 1 line of captain Ron Francis, Sami Kapanen and Jeff O'Neill picked up their production against Toronto.
Francis, who has two Stanley Cup rings from his days with the Pittsburgh Penguins, had two goals while O'Neill collected three. Kapanen scored his first goal of the playoffs in Game Four.
Both Carolina and Detroit are 2-1 in Game Ones this year.
Game Two will be in Detroit on Thursday.
Report: Pronger to miss playing time
ST. LOUIS, June 4 (UPI) -- St. Louis Blues star defenseman Chris Pronger could miss the first three months next season because of the knee injury he suffered in the Western Conference semifinals.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports the former Hart Trophy winner was scheduled for surgery Tuesday to repair the shredded ligament in his right knee, a procedure that would sideline him until January.
Blues officials were unavailable for comment.
Pronger suffered a torn right ACL in a collision with Detroit center Steve Yzerman in Game Four of their series on May 9.
Pronger, who two years ago captured the Norris Trophy as the league's best defenseman and the Hart Trophy as the league's Most Valuable Player, was upended after running into the Red
Wings' captain along the boards near his own blue line.
Pronger already has had one operation since his team was eliminated in five games by the Red Wings, undergoing successful wrist surgery on May 9.
Athletics activate David Justice
OAKLAND, Calif., June 4 (UPI) -- Veteran Oakland outfielder David Justice has been activated from the disabled list in time for the Athletics' home game Tuesday night as a four-game series against Seattle.
Justice has been out since May 8 with a groin injury, which has forced him to miss 23 straight games and 31 of the last 35 for the disappointing A's.
Justice initially suffered the injury in a game against the New York Yankees on April 24. He missed eight games, but played in four before aggravating the injury on May 8 against the Boston Red Sox.
The 36-year-old Justice is batting .301 with four home runs and 11 RBI. He was acquired in December from the Yankees in a three-player deal that included cash considerations.
The A's could use a healthy Justice as they try to get back to respectability in the American League West. They have won seven of 10 games, but are just 27-29, nine games behind the first-place Mariners.
Cleveland P named top AL rookie for May
NEW YORK, June 4 (UPI) -- Cleveland Indians righthander Ryan Drese Tuesday was named American League Rookie of the Month for May after winning three of his five starts.
Drese went 3-1 with a 3.44 ERA, striking out 24 and walking only eight in 34 innings. The 26-year-old Drese pitched six innings or more in each of his five starts. He went eight innings on May 18, striking out 10 in a win over Kansas City.
Also considered for the award were Bobby Kielty of Minnesota, Toronto's Eric Hinske, Rodrigo Lopez of Baltimore and Detroit's Ramon Santiago.
Ball State P goes first in draft
NEW YORK, June 4 (UPI) -- The Pittsburgh Pirates, who have gotten unexpected production from starters Kip Wells and Josh Fogg, Tuesday added another solid young arm to its system by taking Ball State righthander Bryan Bullington with the top pick in the first-year player draft.
After days of speculation, the Pirates settled on the 21-year-old Bullington, who bolstered his stock this spring with another big season in the Mid-American Conference.
The 6-5, 212-pounder was 10-2 with a 2.11 ERA in 10 games for the Indians this season, and struck out 126 in 94 innings. While not as polished as Mark Prior, the first pitcher taken in 2001, Bullington should be on the fast track to join a rotation that features 25-year-olds Wells and Fogg and 27-year-old Kris Benson.
"We are very happy to select Bryan Bullington with the No. 1 pick in this year's draft," said Pirates General Manager Dave Littlefield. "With his determination and competitive nature, we feel he will be a great asset to the Pittsburgh
Pirates organization."
"Bryan Bullington is a big, strong, durable, righthanded pitcher with a power arm," said Pittsburgh Director of Scouting Ed Creech. "He has a variety of pitches, which will allow him to be a solid major league pitcher."
Tampa Bay took high school shortstop B.J. Upton with the second pick, and Cincinnati chose high school righthander Chris Gruler third. Baltimore made Canadian lefthander Adam Loewen the fourth pick, with Montreal tabbing another high school righthander, Clint Everts, fifth.
Tuesday's draft was among the weakest in recent memory and featured a heavy emphasis on high school players.
Pittsburgh reportedly was considering Upton and Loewen right up to the final day, but opted for Bullington, who should reach the major leagues well before the two high-schoolers.
Bullington is a well-rounded pitcher whose parents were both athletes. He is the first collegiate player to be selected with the top pick since Pat Burrell was taken by Philadelphia in 1998. He is the first college pitcher taken No. 1 overall since Matt Anderson was selected by Detroit in 1997.
"He's a competitive kid who has made a lot of strides since high school," said Littlefield. "There seems to be a pretty solid future for him."
Benson (1996) and Jeff King (1996) were the only other Pirates taken with the first pick in the draft.
Other notables taken in the first round included Prince Fielder, the son of former slugger Cecil Fielder. The 18-year-old Fielder was tabbed by Milwaukee with the seventh pick.
John Mayberry Jr., an 18-year-old first baseman, was chosen 28th by the Seattle Mariners while Nick Swisher, son of former major league catcher Steve Swisher, was selected 16th by the Oakland Athletics.
