Mauresmo ousts Capriati
LONDON, July 4 (UPI) -- Ninth-seeded Amelie Mauresmo of France ended Jennifer Capriati's run of six consecutive Grand Slam semifinal appearances Wednesday while Serena Williams kept rolling on another rain-soaked day at Wimbledon.
In a match delayed for three hours and interrupted twice by showers, Mauresmo dominated play in the 6-3, 6-2 victory over the third-seeded Capriati, who twice received medical treatment for an apparent left shoulder injury.
Williams, the second seed and reigning French Open champion, inched closer to another meeting with her sister, Venus, by coasting to a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia.
Williams needed just over an hour to dispose of Hantuchova and will meet Mauresmo in one semifinal. Venus Williams, who is seeking her third straight Wimbleton title, will face Justin Henin of Belgium in the other semifinal.
Wearing a tatoo of an angel on her upper arm, Mauresmo seemed to have extra jump in her game. The Frenchwoman pushed Capriati around the court, dictating play with big serves and winners.
Unable to handle Mauresmo's relentless game, Capriati failed to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since the 2000 U.S. Open, where she was beaten in the fourth round.
Mauresmo is having her best showing in a Grand Slam since losing to Martina Hingis in the 1999 Australian Open final.
On the men's side, Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands moved into the quarterfinals by outlasting Australian Mark Philippousis, 7-6 (7-2), 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-1), 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, in a match that began on Monday.
Home favorite and fourth seed Tim Henman of Britian got off to a good start in his quarterfinal match with Brazil's Andre Sa, taking the first set, 6-3. That match will resume Thursday.
Top seed Lleyton Hewitt of Australia and Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands had their quarterfinal match pushed back to Thursday.
Wilson's triples key New York win
NEW YORK, July 4 (UPI) -- Enrique Wilson hit two triples and scored twice and Alfonso Soriano drove in three runs Wednesday night as the New York Yankees held on for an 11-8 victory over the Cleveland Indians.
Wilson spent his first three-plus major league seasons with Cleveland, but hit just one triple with the Indians and had only three in 958 career at bats before Wednesday's meeting with his former squad.
Playing third base in place of All-Star Robin Ventura, Wilson delivered an RBI triple in a five-run second inning and tripled again in the eighth.
Wilson scored both times courtesy of Soriano, who belted a two-run homer in the second and lifted a sacrifice fly in the eighth.
The Yankees were clinging to a 6-4 lead when David Wells surrendered a solo homer to Jim Thome with two out in the seventh. Thome has homered in seven consecutive games, extending his team record and pulling within one of the major league mark shared by Dale Long, Don Mattingly and Ken Griffey Jr.
Other American League results: Boston 5, Toronto 2; Detroit 5, Chicago 4; Texas 6, Tampa Bay 5; Anaheim 1, Baltimore 0; Seattle 3, Kansas City 0; Minnesota 2, Oakland 1
Braves rally past Expos
ATLANTA, July 4 (UPI) -- Javy Lopez scorched a two-out single in the bottom of the ninth inning that scored Vinny Castilla with the winning run Wednesday night as the Atlanta Braves rallied for a 6-5 victory over the Montreal Expos.
With two out in the ninth, reliever Jim Brower (3-1) hit Castilla with a fastball and gave up a single up the middle to Keith Lockhart that put runners on the corners. Lopez took a pitch, then smashed a grounder off the glove of third baseman Fernando Tatis, bringing home Castilla.
Trailing in the eighth, 5-4, Atlanta pulled even when Julio Franco lined a double down the right field line that scored Darren Bragg.
Closer John Smoltz (1-2) threw a scoreless ninth for the victory, which clinched the Braves' 12th straight winning series. That is their longest stretch of success since taking 14 in a row in 1993.
Other National League results: Philadelphia 8, New York 7, Chicago 6, Florida 2; Pittsburgh 3, Milwaukee 1; Houston 11, Cincinnati 4; St. Louis 4, San Diego 1; Colorado 14, San Francisco 4; Arizona 5, Los Angeles 3.
Stars sign Bill Guerin
DALLAS, July 4(UPI) -- The Dallas Stars announced late Wednesday night they had signed Bill Guerin, one of the NHL's premier unrestricted free agents, to a five-year contract.
Financial terms were not disclosed, but the 31-year-old Guerin reportedly was considering offers worth upwards of $10 million a year.
Guerin has reached the 40-goal plateau each of the last two seasons, producing a career-high 41 for Boston last season. That tied for second in the NHL.
Comets win eighth straight
SALT LAKE CITY, July 4 (UPI) -- Janeth Arcain scored 23 points to join two other teammates with more than 20 Wednesday night as the Houston Comets rolled to their eighth straight victory, 78-67 over the Utah Starzz.
The Comets won the WNBA's first four championships behind the unstoppable trio of Cynthia Cooper, Sheryl Swoopes and Tina Thompson. Cooper, a two-time MVP, retired before last season and Arcain has stepped up to fill the void.
Arcain made 10 of 19 shots and handed out six assists. Houston is riding its longest winning streak since a nine-game run from May 31-June 27, 2001. Swoopes scored 22 points and Thompson added 20 and nine rebounds.
Utah led by as many as nine points and took a 40-33 halftime advantage. The Comets started the second half with an 11-2 run and grabbed a 44-42 lead on Tiffani Johnson's basket with 16:14 remaining.
Back-to-back buckets by Marie Ferdinand gave Utah its final lead at 46-44 before Houston went on another huge run. Swoopes had five points and Arcain added four, including a layup that capped the 13-0 spurt for a 57-46 cushion with 11:19 to play.
Other WNBA results: Portland 76, Charlotte 73; Miami 86, Phoenix 61; Orlando 79, Indiana 71 in overtime; Washington 64, Minnesota 63.
Castroneves Indy 500 win upheld
INDIANAPOLIS, July 4 (UPI) -- Tony George, President and CEO of the Indy Racing League, Wednesday upheld the determination that Helio Castroneves won the 2002 Indianapolis 500 and denied the final appeal by Team Green, Inc.
In an 11-page ruling, George determined that the decision by Indy Racing League officials as to the placement of the race cars at the commencement of the yellow caution period immediately after an accident on Lap 199 "is a judgment call and is not protestable nor appealable under the Rule Book."
George also concluded that League officials were correct in determining that Castroneves' No. 3 car was ahead of Paul Tracy's No. 26 car on Lap 199 when the yellow caution period commenced, and that ample evidence supports that determination.
Team Green, owner of Tracy's car, protested the finish of the race to Indy Racing League Vice President of Operations Brian Barnhart, who denied the protest. Team Green then filed an appeal of that decision.
Under League rules, George chose to personally handle the final appeal by conducting an all-day hearing June 17. Representatives of Team Green and Penske Racing appeared at the hearing, along with Indy Racing League officials.
U.S. Women's Open begins Thursday
HUTCHINSON, Kan., July 4 (UPI) -- Karrie Webb will begin her quest for an unprecedented third consecutive U.S. Women's Open title Thursday at Prairie Dunes Country Club, where she is not even the favorite.
That honor goes to Annika Sorenstam, who has won her last two starts and half of her 12 this season as she continues to establish herself as the most dominant player on the tour. But she is not satisfied.
Sorenstam has won this event twice. The the 31-year-old Swedish star had a chance to become the first player to "three-peat" as Open champion in 1997 at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in Oregon, where she missed the cut.
She will have to be ready to defeat Webb, a two-time Player of the Year who claimed her first title in 12 months two weeks ago in Rochester. She may be peaking at the right time.
Brazilian fans feel jilted
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, July 3 (UPI) -- Fans celebrating Brazil's World Cup championship turned violent in the early morning hours Wednesday when the national soccer team cut short a parade commemorating its triumph.
The team arrived in Brazil Tuesday with parades planned in the capital Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. Celebrations in Brasilia took much longer than expected, which left fans in Rio de Janeiro -- who began lining parade route at 2 p.m. -- anxiously awaiting sight of their national heroes.
Finally, at 7 p.m., the team arrived in Rio and was met by fans crowding the streets. That slowed the parade to a crawl and at 2 a.m. the team decided to return to the airport to go to Sao Paulo, thus cutting short the celebration and leaving thousands of fans gathered along the famed Copacabana beach disappointed.
Shouts of "disillusionment," and the universal thumbs-down signal were conveyed throughout the crowd. Slumbering children were tossed over their parents' shoulders as angry families headed home. "That is the problem with Brazilian football," said Andreia Moura, a 24-year-old awaiting the team's arrival at Copacabana. "They are all about the money, not the love."
Newspaper reports said when the team members, who were riding a large truck in the Rio parade, stopped and boarded a bus to return to the airport, that the crowd began to pelt the bus with rocks. There were reports of broken windows, but no one was injured.
