Proserv

Ivan Lendl, the world's top-ranked tennis player, has withdrawn from his scheduled exhibition Thursday night at the Forum, Forum publicist John Black said Monday. Lendl was supposed to play second-ranked Stefan Edberg in the featured match of the Michelin Challenge Series. He will be replaced by Jimmy Connors. Apparently, Lendl withdrew because he is going to have oral surgery this week. Neither Lendl nor his agent Jerry Solomon of ProServ was available for comment.

The story of Karch Kiraly begins with his father, whose own story is even better. That's not to say there is little interesting about the life of Karch Kiraly, acknowledged as the world's best volleyball player on the world's best volleyball team. It's just that even the younger Kiraly can't top the old man's journey. Becoming the best in the world at what you do is remarkable, but what Kiraly's father did in escaping the failed Hungarian revolt of 1956 at least bordered on the heroic.

Pete Sampras sought a second opinion on his injured right ankle Tuesday, and his agent said Sampras may not have a stress fracture after all. According to Ivan Blumberg of ProServ, the results of the examination suggest Sampras may have ligament damage, instead of the more serious fracture. Doctors have prescribed immobilization and rest for Sampras, said Blumberg, who will decide in the next few days if he can play in the Newsweek Champions Cup, which begins Monday.

As a marketing representative for a large, reputable and honorable sports agency, I am sickened by the way the media have assisted in the degradation of all sports agents. Robert Troy Caron may in fact be a "blood-sucking parasite" (as quoted by USC Coach John Robinson), but believe it or not, there really are some intelligent, hard-working professionals in the business. Contrary to the media's image of agents, we really do provide a valuable service by preparing our young clients for the personal and professional challenges they will face before, during and long after their playing days are over.

How's this for a variation on an old joke? Laker trainer Gary Vitti went to a basketball game and a civil war broke out. Vitti was with 21 National Basketball Assn. players, coaches, referees and trainers who went to the Philippines last week expecting to put on two exhibitions, sponsored by a tobacco company. Instead, they awoke last Friday to the news that rebel forces had staged a revolt against the government of President Corazon Aquino. Suffice to say, the games were never played.

Nearly two years after winning a Newport Beach tennis exhibition, Jimmy Connors may finally get his first-place prize money. Connors and three others who played in the eight-player event at the Newport Beach Tennis Club in August 1983--Ivan Lendl, Yannick Noah and Wojtek Fibak--were awarded a total of $1,049,684 in back payments and punitive damages Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court. The players had sued Bill Stamps Jr.

At first glance, the Southern California tennis schedule for this week sounds too good to be true. Yes, tennis fans, you can have it all, watching Bjorn Borg, Stefan Edberg, Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver right here in the Southland. All within 100 miles, and all within a week. Now for the other shoe. Surely, only the most ambitious tennis fan will be able to see all the above-named stars, and for some, the cost may also pose a problem.

Arthur Ashe, captain of the U.S. Davis Cup tennis team for the past five years, announced his resignation Tuesday, less than 24 hours after reports indicated he had been told his contract would not be renewed. A new captain will be selected next week, said J. Randolph Gregson, president of the U.S. Tennis Assn., said at Scottsdale, Ariz., where the USTA management committee is meeting and considering a consultant's study to streamline the organization. Stan Smith, like Ashe a U.S.

And on the eighth day, Shannon Miller did not train. She rested . . . and savored the five Olympic gymnastics medals she earned through a week of pressure-packed competition. Miller showed up at the gymnastics hall Sunday carrying her two silvers and three bronzes. She did a brief interview with the TripleCast crew. She watched the men complete their individual apparatus finals. She signed autographs.