Sampras agrees to play in team pro league
Pete Sampras is returning to the tennis court, signing up for the World Team Tennis Pro League more than three years after his last match.
“This is more about just getting myself a little busier and focused on something I used to be good at,” Sampras, 34, said in a telephone interview Tuesday ahead of today’s announcement by the league. “It’s time this year to do a little more. Last year, I was kind of floating along.”
Sampras’ last professional match was the 2002 U.S. Open final, when he beat longtime rival Andre Agassi for his record 14th Grand Slam title. Sampras held a news conference a year later at the U.S. Open to say he was retiring.
As much as he said he’s looking forward to playing in the WTT, he made one thing quite clear: Don’t call it a comeback.
Football
Labor talks hit wall
NFL labor talks broke off three days before the start of free agency, leaving teams and players in a quandary about negotiating new contracts.
Gene Upshaw, executive director of the NFL Players Association, spent the last three days meeting in New York and Washington with commissioner Paul Tagliabue.
Although the contract does not expire until after the 2007 season, this is a critical period in the negotiations to extend the 12-year-old agreement. Talks have extended more than a year.
•Former Atlanta offensive lineman Travis Claridge, who played for Hamilton of the Canadian Football League last year, died after being found unconscious at his home in Las Vegas, according to the CFL team. The 27-year-old Claridge died after being taken to a hospital. The cause of death was not specified.
•NFL Hall of Famer Carl Eller was charged with drunken driving during a Sunday incident in Golden Valley, Minn. A prosecutor said the ex-Viking likely faces probation and community service if convicted.
Olympics
Vancouver raises flag
The Olympic flag was raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, greeted by the cheers of thousands while four years of preparations await the 2010 Winter Games.
“Ten years of dreaming and the flag is finally ours,” said John Furlong, the Vancouver Organizing Committee chief executive.
Basketball
Big Sky punishes crew
The Big Sky Conference has suspended three officials for misapplication of a rule during the Eastern Washington women’s 63-56 win over Montana State in Bozeman, Mont., last Saturday.
Montana State had six players on the floor on defense with 7:09 left in the first half. An out-of-bounds play ended with an EWU field goal.
The officiating crew called a technical on MSU but mistakenly nullified the two points scored by EWU on the play, the conference said.
Horse racing
Colt draws record price
A 2-year-old colt who has yet to run a race drew a world record sale price of $16 million at auction at the Fasig-Tipton sale at Calder Race Course at Miami.