Hewitt, Venus on to Wimbledon quarters
LONDON, July 1 (UPI) -- The top two seeds, Venus Williams and Lleyton Hewitt, raced into the quarterfinals Monday at The Championships at Wimbledon.
Williams, the two-time defending champion, needed just 48 minutes to crush fellow American Lisa Raymond, the 16th seed, 6-1, 6-2.
"It's definitely nice knowing that I've won the tournament before, have the experience," Williams said. "I know what it takes to win here. That's nice. So I think I have a lot going for me with that. I am the only player in the draw who has won here."
Again sporting a large, white patch on her left knee, the 22-year-old Williams won 85 percent of her first service points and converted 4-of-7 break-point opportunities. She had 20 winners and only nine unforced errors.
Firing her serve consistently above 100 miles an hour, the four-time Grand Slam champion faced just one break point.
Raymond's lone chance on Williams' serve came at 5-2 in the second set, but the world No. 1 elicited a weak reply with a strong serve and earned a match point with a 116-mile-an-hour ace. Raymond netted a forehand service return to end the match.
"(She) definitely (made a) high effort. That's one thing you can admire about Lisa," Williams said. "You could see that in the second set she kept searching for a way to get into the match, try some serve and volleys, try some more approach shots, play the backhand more, try something different. And that's one thing I respected about her. She was always trying a different avenue to get into the match."
Williams next faces Elena Likhovtseva in the quarterfinals. The Russian ousted No. 19 Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria, 6-3, 6-4.
"I did play her here last year, like the third round," Williams said. "She plays a nice game; deep and somewhat flat. So every ball that I get, I'm just going to get on top of it."
Hewitt advanced to his first Wimbledon quarterfinal with a 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 victory over Russia's Mikhail Youzhny. The 21-year-old Australian has not yet dropped a set at the Championships.
With his girlfriend, Kim Clijsters, in attendance, Hewitt handled Youzhny easier than he did two weeks ago in 's-Hertogenbosch,
where he edged the 20-year-old Russian, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6, in the second round.
Monday, he pushed Youzhny all over the court and took advantage of his opponent's 42 unforced errors.
Hewitt captured his fourth career grasscourt title last month at the Stella Artois Championships, but was forced to withdraw from the quarterfinals at 's-Hertogenbosch with a stomach virus.
The reigning U.S. Open champion next takes on No. 18 Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands, who posted a 6-2, 7-5, 7-5 victory over Jan Vacek of the Czech Republic. Schalken won his first grasscourt tournament at 's-Hertogenbosch.
Also, No. 28 David Nalbandian of Argentina topped hard-serving Australian Wayne Arthurs, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 7-6 (9-7) and Brazilian Andre Sa moved into his first career Grand Slam quarterfinal with a 6-3, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, victory over Feliciano Lopez of Spain.
Leafs trade rights to Joseph to Calgary
TORONTO, July 1 (UPI) -- The Toronto Maple Leafs, unable to reach a contract agreement with Curtis Joseph, late Sunday traded the rights to the star goaltender to the Calgary Flames for a conditional 2004 eighth-round draft pick.
The Maple Leafs made a similar deal involving Tie Domi, trading the combative right wing to the Nashville Predators for an eighth-round draft pick in 2003.
Toronto had until midnight Eastern time to re-sign Joseph and Domi or lose them to unrestricted free agency.
"It was clear that we were unable to make a deal with Curtis and his representative before the July 1 deadline, so we proceeded to do what was best for the organization," said Maple Leafs General Manager and Coach Pat Quinn.
Joseph's stay with the Flames likely will not
last. Cash-strapped Calgary has made re-signing Jarome Iginla, the NHL's leading scorer last season, its top priority. Iginla is a restricted free agent.
By acquiring Joseph and letting him become a free agent, the Flames will secure a compensatory pick in the 2003 draft.
It's the second deal of its kind for the Predators, who obtained the rights to veteran goalie Ed Belfour from the Dallas Stars on Saturday.
Joseph, 35, was 29-17-5 last season with four shutouts and a 2.23 goals-against average in 51 games. He was paid $6.575 million, but reportedly rejected the Leafs' offer of $26 million over three years.
Domi, 32, had nine goals, 10 assists and 157 penalty minutes in 74 games last season, his 12th in the NHL and seventh with Toronto.
Report: Ducks ink Adam Oates
TORONTO, July 1 (UPI) -- The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim reportedly were first to wade into the free agent pool early Monday, signing veteran center Adam Oates to a two-year, $7 million contract.
While teams could not negotiate with prospective free agents until midnight Eastern time. TSN of Canada reported that Anaheim received permission from the Philadelphia Flyers, who held Oates' rights.
Oates, one of the premier playmakers of his era, will turn 40 before the start of the 2002-03 season, but the Ducks desperately need offense after ranking next-to-last in the NHL with 175 goals.
Oates ranks third among active players and eighth all-time with 1,027 assists after leading the league with 64 in 2001-02. He started last season, his 17th in the NHL, with the Washington Capitals but was shipped to the Flyers at the trade deadline for goaltending prospect Maxime Ouellet and three draft picks.
In Anaheim, Oates will feed the puck to five-time All-Star left wing Paul Kariya, a restricted free agent and three-time 40-goal scorer.
Mystics place Holdsclaw on IL
WASHINGTON, July 1 (UPI) -- The Washington Mystics have activated Kiesha Brown from the injured reserve list and placed forward Chamique Holdsclaw on injured reserve with a left ankle sprain.
Per league rules, Holdsclaw must stay on the injured list for at least three games before she can be activated again.
"Our team doctor examined Chamique Sunday morning," said Judy Holland-Burton, the team's Senior Vice-President. "Based on his evaluation, we think that it is best to rest her ankle and give her time to get back to 100%."
Holdsclaw suffered the ankle sprain late in the first half of the Mystics' game against Portland on June 28. She did not return for the rest of the game.
Before her injury, Holdsclaw led the league in scoring with 19.9 ppg and rebounds with 11.8 rpg, and recorded eight double-doubles in 12 games this season.
Brown was placed on the injured list on June 26 with left knee chrondomalacia patella. Prior to her injury, she played in eight games for the Mystics, averaging 5.0 minutes per game, 0.8 points and 1.0 rebound.
Syracuse football recruit shot and killed
PHILADELPHIA, July 1 (UPI) -- Syracuse recruit Omain Gullette, an All-State defensive lineman from Glen Mills, Pa., was shot and killed Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia. He was 19.
Gullette was shot 13 times in the chest, reportedly as he was trying to mediate a dispute, and was pronounced dead at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
As a senior at Glen Mills High School, Gullette was a PrepStar All-East Region selection, and also was named to the first team All-Delaware County team. He was scheduled to play in the Big 33 Classic, an all-star game between players from Ohio and Pennsylvania high schools, on July 20.
"In the recruiting process, we were tremendously impressed about Omain's progress at Glen Mills and his accomplishments, not only on the playing field, but off," said Syracuse Coach Paul Pasqualoni. "The tremendous respect, the teaching, administrative and coaching staffs at Glen Mills had for Omain is what convinced us to recruit him. He was a young man with tremendous potential. Our thoughts and wishes are with his family in this time of grief."
Gullette was a state champion in the shot put as a junior and served as student government president as a senior.
