Sports Briefs

Capriati moves up to No. 1

FILDERSTADT, Germany -- Jennifer Capriati will take over the No. 1 ranking for the first time because Martina Hingis quit her Porsche Grand Prix semifinal against Lindsay Davenport with a right ankle injury Saturday.

Hingis needed to beat Davenport to retain the top spot in the rankings, which the Swiss player held for 73 straight weeks and a total of 209 weeks.

But in the third game, Hingis lunged for a passing shot on her backhand side, stepped awkwardly and fell on her back. She lost that game, to fall behind 2-1 in the opening set, and during the changeover, Hingis' right ankle was taped.

Hingis went back on court for the fourth game but stopped after two points.

''It didn't look good on replay,'' Davenport said. ''I feel very sorry for her, she's a good friend. I was very upset. It's a really bad moment for her.''

Capriati, who lost to Sandrine Testud in the quarterfinals, will nonetheless be No. 1 when the new rankings come out Monday. Capriati won the year's first two major tournaments, the Australian and French Opens.

She is the ninth player, and fourth American, to sit atop the computer rankings since their inception in 1975.

Her rise to No. 1 caps a remarkable comeback.

When Capriati moved into the top 10 after winning the Australian Open in January, it was the first time she had been so high in the rankings since early 1994, when she had abandoned the tour at age 17 because of drug and personal problems.

Capriati went 24-2 at the Grand Slam events in 2001, with the two championships plus semifinal appearances at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

Hingis, meanwhile, hasn't won a major tournament since 1999, but kept the top ranking thanks to a complicated points system.

India beats United States in Davis Cup doubles

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- India beat the United States in doubles Saturday to stay in contention in their Davis Cup World Group qualifier.

French Open champions Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi defeated Don Johnson and Jared Palmer 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6) to cut the U.S. lead to 2-1 in the best-of-five competition.

The deciding singles matches are Sunday.

The winner advances to next year's 16-country World Group and will be eligible for the Davis Cup title, while the loser drops to zonal play.

De Ferran wins pole; adds to points lead

MONTEREY, Calif. -- Gil de Ferran won the pole for Sunday's Honda Grand Prix, adding a precious point to his lead over Kenny Brack in the tense CART championship chase.

It was not the defending series champion's finest hour, however, as he finished the 30-minute qualifying session Saturday with his Penske Reynard-Honda backed into a tire barrier in the sandtrap off the second turn of the Laguna Seca Raceway road course.

''That's not a good way to finish the session, but at least the car isn't too damaged,'' said de Ferran, a little embarrassed he won the qualifying duel with teammate Helio Castroneves on such a down note.

''At first I couldn't get a clean lap on my second set (of tires),'' de Ferran said. ''I finally did and I put it on the pole. But there was still two minutes to go.

''They were telling me that Helio was still a threat, and after my fast lap I just kept it going. I was throwing the car into turn three and it just didn't take and, whew, that was it.''

The fast lap for de Ferran, who earned the 16th pole of his career, was 117.453 mph, while Castroneves had a 117.313. The time difference between the two was just 0.140-seconds.

Rain forces Busch race to run on Sunday

MILLINGTON, Tenn. -- Kevin Harvick spent a relatively uneventful day at Memphis Motorsports Park on Saturday.

The Busch series Sam's Town 250 was rained out and rescheduled for Sunday.

The inclement weather left the Busch series points leader signing autographs, talking to fans and mostly playing video games in his trailer.

Western Michigan tops Fairbanks in overtime

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) -- Chad Kline scored 1:11 into overtime to give Western Michigan a 5-4 victory over Alaska-Fairbanks and a split of their CCHA season-opening series Saturday night.

The Nanooks (3-1-0, 1-1-0), who won 7-3 a night earlier, got goals 33 seconds apart midway through the first period from Cam Keith and Bobby Andrews.

The Broncos (1-1-0 overall and CCHA) came back with four straight goals, the last coming from Jeff Campbell with 14 seconds left in the second period.

Fairbanks tied it when Blaine Bablitz and Jared Sylvestre scored 57 seconds apart early in the third period.

Kline's winner came on Western's only shot in overtime against Mike Mantua, who made 25 saves. The Broncos' Lance Mayes also had 25 saves.