Bad Ankle Forces Sanchez Vicario To Quit Family Circle Cup

Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, the world’s No. 1 player, made a painful exit from the Family Circle Cup in Hilton Head Island, S.C., on Friday while defending champion Conchita Martinez made a forceful entrance into the semifinals.

Sanchez Vicario withdrew from a tournament for the first time in 10 years as a pro because of a right ankle sprain suffered a day earlier.

Martinez, the tournament’s second seed, overcame her own woeful display of tennis to reel off 12 straight games and reach the semifinals with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 win over No. 6 Iva Majoli.

Martinez will face fourth-seeded Natasha Zvereva in today’s semifinals, while No. 5 Magdalena Maleeva, Sanchez Vicario’s opponent, will meet unseeded Silvia Farina.

Sanchez Vicario severely wrenched her ankle sliding on a forehand return on Thursday against Amanda Coetzer. Sanchez Vicario was able to finish off the three-set victory.

The injury may ultimately cost her the No. 1 ranking. It will keep her out of next week’s Amelia Island, Fla., event.

Andre Agassi beat Andrea Gaudenzi 6-4, 6-4, 6-1 in just more than 2 hours with such ease that even Agassi seemed surprised, giving the heavily favored U.S. team an opening victory over Italy in the Davis Cup in Palmero, Sicily.

The heavy rain that interrupted Agassi’s match for 90 minutes later postponed the second singles match between Pete Sampras and Italy’s Renzo Furlan. The match will be played today, along with the doubles.

The decision by Sampras, the world’s No. 1 player, and Agassi, No. 2, to join the U.S. team after long reluctance thwarted any ambitions that Italy might have harbored.