Tennis
U.S. OPEN: Third-seeded Venus Williams increased her winning streak to 20 matches by beating Anne-Gaelle Sidot 6-3, 6-4 in the first round of the $15 million U.S. Open.
Pete Sampras, seeded fourth as he seeks to increase his men's record Grand Slam singles title total to 14, pounded out a 7-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory over Martin Damm.
Not a single seeded player lost, although No. 5 Yevgeny Kafelnikov outlasted Orlin Stanoytchev 6-7 (5), 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3. And Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, seeded ninth in the women's singles, edged Joannette Kruger 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (2).
Top-seeded and defending men's champion Andre Agassi beat NCAA champion Alex Kim of Stanford, a wild-card entry, 6-4, 6-2, 6-0.
Also advancing to the second round were No. 9 Lleyton Hewitt, No. 11 Tim Henman, No. 13 Franco Squillari and No. 16 Nicolas Lapentti.
In women's matches, top-seeded Martina Hingis, No. 6 Monica Seles, No. 8 Nathalie Tauziat, No. 11 Sandrine Testud, No. 13 Amanda Coetzer and No. 15 Jennifer Capriati moved into the second round with victories.
Golf
UTAH CLASSIC QUALIFIERS: Fourteen golfers, including former BYU golfer and State Amateur champion Brad Sutterfield earned spots in this week's Buy.com Utah Classic in a qualifying tournament at Wingpointe Golf Course.
Sutterfield, who played one year on the PGA Tour, was one of 10 golfers who who shot 68 and survived a 12-man playoff for 10 spots. Also surviving the playoff were former BYU golfer Michael Henderson and former SUU golfer Tommy Johnson, who won this year's Provo Open. Logan's Brett Wayment was one of two golfers eliminated in the playoff and is the first alternate.
The four golfers who qualified without the playoff were Jess Daley (65), Joel Kribel (66) and Todd Rose and Joe Acosta Jr. (67).
Also qualifying were Brad Martin, Brian Fogt, Orlando Ruiz, Mike Louden, Tyler Williamson, David Krause and Jeremy Wilkinson.
The $400,000 Utah Classic begins Thursday at Willow Creek Country Club and will run through Sunday.
U.S. AMATEUR: Jeff Quinney, who blew a three-shot lead with three holes to play in regulation, won the weather-suspended 100th U.S. Amateur by sinking a 30-foot birdie putt to defeat James Driscoll on the third playoff hole.
Along with the title, Quinney of Arizona State earned exemptions for the U.S. Open and British Open and an invitation to the Masters next year.
Baseball
PLAY BALL!: Assuring baseball will have labor peace through next season, the players' association exercised its option to extend the sport's collective bargaining agreement through Oct. 31, 2001.
Olympics
BOBEK RETIRES: Former figure skating national champion and 1998 Olympian Nicole Bobek on Tuesday announced her retirement from amateur competition, ending her chance to compete in the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Games.
"I feel that it's my time right now," Bobek said during a telephone interview. "I still have a lot in me, but I want to take figure skating to another level."
Feeling restrained by the rules and requirements of amateur skating while finding her niche as a crowd-pleaser during exhibitions, Bobek said she looks forward to devoting her full attention to developing more creative, artistic programs. She will compete in a bevy of professional events, including the Champions on Ice touring show and the World Professional figure skating competition.
Bobek said she will miss the competitive drive in amateur skating that pushes athletes to progress from novice to elite level competitions, including the Olympic Games. She said she "won't know" how she will feel during the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, and does not plan to attend as a spectator.
"It would probably be hard to be there and watch," she said. "I'd know that it's going on, and know that I could have been there. But I made it once, and it was an amazing experience overall."
Basketball
SHOCK-ING MOVE:Nancy Lieberman-Cline, the only coach and general manager the Detroit Shock have ever had, won't be back with the team next season. The Shock said they are not renewing the Hall of Famer's contract. No replacement was named.
Track and field
NORWICH UNION CLASSIC: Maurice Greene flashed a glimpse of blistering speed in the relay but the world record holder then sputtered to third place in the 100 meters at the Norwich Union Classic.
In one of the last major track meets before the Olympics in Sydney, Greene ran the 100 at Gateshead in a mediocre 10.24 seconds. He finished third behind Britain's Dwain Chambers on a rain-soaked track.
Australian Cathy Freeman, a favorite for the women's 400 meters in Sydney, validated her quest for an Olympic double gold when she burst past world champion Inger Miller in the final few meters to win the 200.
Softball
ALL-WORLD HONOREES: Larry H. Miller Toyota's men's major fastpitch team had two of it players—Kyle Magnusson and Curt Martin — named to the International Softball Congress All-World Men's Fastpitch Team.