The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 7, 2000 - 31A Agassi says no to * "NEW YORK (AP) - Defending . gold medalist Andre Agassi, his mother and sister both fighting bireast cancer, pulled out of the $'udney Olympics yesterday. ould be with my family during this piod-." ,USTA president Judy Levering "d, "Our thoughts and prayers are th Andre during this very difficult time. We wish him and his family all jte best, and look forward to having pm return to tennis when he is 'xo replacement was immediately attnounced. Agassi's spot would be (ofred first to the players who pre- viusly turned down an ivitation, Wimbledon champion Pete Sampras and Jan-Michael Gambilt. If the'v eline, the next highest ranking 7ayer who would be asked to join t team is Chris Woodruff. Agassi, 30, has had a difficult mer. As defending U.S. Open 4mpion, he lost in the second rtund at the French Open, where he vias defending champion. At $imbledon, he lost to Patrick Rafter ithe semifinals, then injured his lack in a traffic accident after turning to the United States. Gustavo Kuerten, who was seeded N 2 behind Agassi at the U.S. Open and lost in the first round, also 4nlounced he was quitting Brazil's lympic team following a dispute offer whose uniform he would wear Itthe Sydney Games. ;. AMPRAS DEFEATS KRAJICEK: For tte four-time champion Pete Sampras, it was the sweet 4-6, 7-6 6-4, 6-2 defeat yesterday night Richard Krajieek, who had the flest record against Sampras of any aive player and was the only man tobeat him at Wimbledon in the past eni ht years. Sampras moved into the semifi- tials against Lleyton Hewitt, a 19- yer-old Australian who is seeking t6 becomle the youngest winner since Sampras won his first title in 1990. *The 6-foot-5 Krajicek, who beat Sampras en route to winning Wimbledon in 1996 and had held a 6 record against him, sought to iltlyose his big serve on Sampras djwe again. die did just that in the first set and wound up with 23 aces, but the mtch turned on a spellbinding' cpreback by Sampras from 2-6 in ts econd-set tiebreaker. r acing four set points, Sampras eed them all. First came a spectacular drop vol- 16 that nicked the net cord. Next there was a forehand return that Sampras mis-hit but saw it land safe- ly for a winner. He then drilled a perfect backhand prass into the corner and pumped his fis to the crowd. ,When he saved number four with eapproach shot that Krajicek net- and followed it up with a service winner and a sizzling return winner teclose out the set, Sampras deliv- ered an uppercut to the air that might as well have been straight to lKrjicek's jaw. "It was his tiebreaker, somehow" said Krajicek, who couldn't figure out how it slipped away. "It was meant to be that he would win that st. I don't know." Volunteers' two-year backup gets his chance against Florida KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A.J. Suggs is Tennessee's starting quar- terback - for now. Suggs will trade places with last week's starter, Joey Mathews, and lead the Volunteers against Florida in two weeks. Suggs, a redshirt freshman, had a better outing in Saturday's win over Southern Mississippi than Mathews, Tennessee offensive coordinator Randy Sanders said after practice Tuesday. "I think A.J. is the guy from now until next Saturday unless he proves us wrong or Joey proves us wrong. I'm going to operate under the assumption that A.J. is the guy," Sanders said. "We just think he may be the guy to give us the best chance against Florida" No final decision has been made, and Mathews, Tei Martin's backup last year, has a chance to win back the starting ob, Sanders said, "If (Suggs) comes out and starts laying eggs in practice then we may change our minds. or if Joey just really battles and competes and takes it over he may be the guy. But until that happens A.J. will be the starter," Sanders said. Suggs said it was still up to the coaches who will start next, but he said he was named the No. I quarter- back - at least for Tuesday's prac- tice. "We'll just have to see." Suggs said. "It's the coaches' decision. We don't really have anything to do with it. So they are going to make their call and we'll have to go with it." Mathews said he wasn't disap- pointed with the turn of events. "I have no reason to be. We won the game Saturday," Mathews said. "I think I did pretty well. A.J. did very well." Tennessee coaches were particu- larly pleased with the way Suggs confidently managed the team. "It wasn't that A.J. did that much better or that Joey did anything that badly," Sanders said. "We just thought A.J, changed the tempo. He brings a little something to us mov- ing around that Joey doesn't have." Neither quarterback had stellar performances in Saturday's 19-16 victory. Mathews made a complete pass to Eric Parker in his first play of the game, but Leo Barnes intercepted his next pass two plays later. In his next series, Mathews didn't attenpt a single pass and handed the ball to Travis Henry five times before David Leaverton had to punt it away. Mathews' touchdown pass to Cedrick Wilson -that helped put 'ennessee ahead 7-3 in the first quarter was not pretty. Mathews was hit as he threw the ball, and Wilson had to jump above a defender to haul in the wobbly pass. He finished 9-of- 15 for 50 yards with his longest pass a 12-yarder. Suggs came in for one series in the second quarter and again with 5:31 left in the third quarter through the end. He completed two straight passes to Troy Fleming in the first series b0 didn't connect on another until Donte' Stallwortlh turned a catch info a 51-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Suggs was 4-of-9 for 7 yards. Suggs said he thought it was ad. advantage to watch the beginningof the game from the sidelines. ' "I could see what was going-On and see what defense they were play ing and get the flow of the game.,t made it easier to go in," Suggs said. Mathews, 6-3, 215 pounds, has had time to develop an understand= ing of Tennessee's offense, even naling in the plays to Martin in the 1998 national championship gane against Florida State. Suggs roomed with Martin fe: road games last year. Suggs, a 6 220-pounder, of Powder Spring, CI led McEacheron High School to, 14-0 record his senior year in 199: Tennessee's newest quarterback signee, Casey Clausen, ranked oi of the top quarterback recruits in b nation, made some progress Tuesday:. The 6-4,. 210-pounder, fro'Mw Northridge, Calif., has been sid lined with an inflamed rotator cuff i. his throwing shoulder. He threw about 20 times in pra tice Tuesday and said he didn't feel any pain. Sanders said the coaches are just. trying to get him caught up and were unsure if he would be ready in thIe to play Florida in two weeks. A5P PHTO Serena Williams had a lot to scream about in her U.S. Open quarterfinal match against Lindsay Davenport. Williams was soundly thrashed, 6-4, 6-2 Men's Quarterfinals Today: (6) Marat Safin vs. (14) Ncolas Kiefer Todd Martin vs. Thomas Johansson Women's Semifinals Today: (1) Martina Hingis vs. (3) Venus Williams Undsay Davenport took a Tomorrow: (2) Lindsay Davenport vs. Elena Dementieva big step toward the U.S. Open championship by Men's semifinals take place tomorrow. The women's dispatching Serena final is Saturday, and the men's final (not the gentle- WllIams. men's, this isn't Wimbledon) will be held Sunday in front 1W PHO of national television audiences. Davenport tosses erena fiomOpen NEW YORK (AP) - Serena Williams finally cracked at 4-4 in the Williams fractured her racket on the first set, slapping forehands long on the court as her game fell apart, and final two shots of her service game and Lindsay Davenport emerged from the screaming in frustration as she was bro- shadows as a forgotten former chatn- ken. pion to a berth in the U.S. Open semi- finals. Williams, the defending champion who was so eager to meet her sister, Venus, in the final, succumbed to her own impatience and Davenport's deep, sizzling groundstrokes in a 6-4, 6-2 rout yesterday night that took everyone by surprise. Everyone except Davenport. The 1998 champion never fell for all the hype over a Williams sisters final, never worried about her record against Serena - five straight losses over the past three years. "It feels great to get over the hurdle of beating her," Davenport said. "It was a big match to get through, but I'm only into the semis and I look to keep going. "There's no revenge. I'm going to lose to her again and I'm going to beat her again." Williams said Davenport's perfor- mance was "the best she ever played against me. She should take that attitude toward everyone." Three of their matches were close three-setters, including their semifinal meeting at the U.S. Open last year, and Davenport knew that she could beat Williams if she could hold serve, keep a fte r the pressure on her and pin her to the baseline. That's exactly what Davenport did, andw I . MOP"- *5 ester A Semester ALMOST Abroad Program , U mnversitu of Hawai'i at Minoa /I A college semester you'll never forget. Choose from an unparalleled array of courses on Asia, Hawaii, and the Pacific while living in a vibrant multi-cultural community. Next semester, study abroad without leaving the country. For complete information, connect to: www2.hawaii.edulalmost or e-mail anitah@hawaii.edu On rampus housing and meals available. lK I-