Miscellany

A new generation of women’s tennis players will lead the U.S. against France in the semifinals of this year’s Fed Cup.

Singles play begins today in Wilmington, N.C., with reverse singles and doubles on Sunday. The winner will play Spain or Germany in November.

The U.S. players this year are Mary Joe Fernandez, Gigi Fernandez, Lindsay Davenport and Chandra Rubin.

The 14th U.S. Olympic Festival got under way at five sites in the Denver area while U.S. Olympic Committee officials began talks about the event’s future.

Diving was the highlighted sport of the day, which also included rowing, tennis, volleyball and team handball. The pace of the 10-day festival picks up today when 21 sports are scheduled, including figure skating, boxing, diving and swimming.

Because of Dodgers pitcher Hideo Nomo, 25 percent of television households in Japan watched the All-Star Game on July 11, making it one of the most-watched North American team sporting events ever in Japan.

Hurt by another poor shooting performance, the United States lost to Argentina 67-58 in the consolation semifinals of the Junior World Championship in Athens, Greece.

The loss was the third straight and fourth in seven games for the United States, the defending champions.