Karol Kucera

Where was Mardy Fish when the lights went out? Sitting in the dark, trying to figure out a way to ward off a blackout of the U.S. Davis Cup team, which was in big trouble. "It was not pleasant, the thought of being behind, 2-0," said Patrick McEnroe, the U.S. captain. Certainly not when the Americans were in a best-of-five-match series that began Friday amid the din of drums, horns and boisterous voices of the home crowd. Most certainly not when the toast of tennis 12 days before -- U.S.

Pete Sampras played 71 games and three tiebreakers and outlasted two opponents in one day as he tuned up for defense of his Wimbledon title by winning the $625,000 Queens Club grass-court tournament in London on Sunday. After saving three match points and turning around a 5-2 deficit in his semifinal against German Marc Goellner, the top-seeded American fired 21 aces in a 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (8-6) triumph over Guy Forget in the final.

Patrick Rafter and Lindsay Davenport, two of the hottest players in tennis, powered their way to straight-set victories Wednesday to reach their respective semifinals on another wind-swept day at the U.S. Open. Defending champion Rafter, seeded third, was near-perfect as he overwhelmed doubles partner Jonas Bjorkman with a welter of volleys in a 6-2, 6-3, 7-5, quarterfinal win after the second-seeded Davenport strong-armed South Africa's Amanda Coetzer with her forceful groundstrokes, 6-0, 6-4.

Carlos Moya is one match from joining an exclusive club with a little more than a dozen members, a group known pretty much on a first-name basis. Bjorn. Boris. Jimmy. Andre. Pete. Ilie. The tight circle of 14 could expand to 15 if the fourth-seeded Moya defeats Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil today in the semifinals here at the Newsweek Champions Cup. Moya, ranked fourth, could supplant Pete Sampras, becoming the first Spaniard to attain the No. 1 ranking.

After losing the 2006 Olympic Games to Turin, Italy, on Saturday, angry and unruly Sion supporters in Switzerland turned against the International Olympic Committee. Widespread rage broke out among the crowd watching the announcement live on a jumbo screen in Place de la Planta in the morning dawn.

The gusting winds, the cold weather and Karol Kucera did little to slow top-seeded Pete Sampras in his quarterfinal match on Wednesday night at the U.S. Open. He was so convincing in his 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 victory against the ninth-seeded Slovak, attention turned toward his next match, a long and winding search for a viable rival for Sampras. In Saturday's semifinals, Sampras will play third-seeded and defending champion Patrick Rafter of Australia.

Joe DiMaggio, who has been hospitalized for more than a month, has lung cancer and suffered a heart attack last week, TV station WPIX reported Monday. The station, which televised New York Yankees games for 48 years, cited three sources who spoke on condition of anonymity. WPIX news executives declined to elaborate on the sources. The Hall of Fame Yankee outfielder has been hospitalized in Hollywood, Fla., since Oct.

The clouded future of American men's tennis looked slightly more promising after Day 2 at the All England Club. Whether it's more than a fleeting moment, of course, will be determined later this fortnight. Still, the biggest upset so far at Wimbledon came Tuesday from 23-year-old Jan-Michael Gambill of Spokane, Wash. Gambill, ranked 56th, took out seventh-seeded Lleyton Hewitt of Australia, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5, using a blend of power and poise.

A blister on his big right toe may have been his final undoing in a second-round loss to Karol Kucera of Slovakia, but another body part apparently gave away defending champion Andre Agassi's eventual fate at the French Open. The eyes had it. Swedes must sense these sorts of things. Tournament favorite Magnus Norman took measure of Agassi and counted him out. On Thursday, Norman's hunch turned into reality, as the top-seeded Agassi unraveled against Kucera, losing, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-0.

The European vacation of accidental tourist Marcelo Rios has quickly gone from bad to worse. He lasted three days into Wimbledon, and that was only because of the rain. The second-seeded Rios lost in five sets to Francisco Clavet of Spain--not exactly a grass-court guru himself--and sounded like a disgruntled tourist Wednesday, complaining about Wimbledon and such issues as transportation. It was one of those dissonant days on the men's side.