Jana Novotna

PARIS -- Pete Sampras survived the inquisition and the two-sets-to-none scare Jim Courier supplied, but his counterpart at the head of the women's draw, the three-time champion Monica Seles, did the unthinkable and lost because she played scared.Back in Paris for the French Open, which she ruled from 1990 to '92, for the first time since she was stabbed by a deranged German in April 1993, Seles had reverted to her customary invincibility until yesterday. And her sudden vulnerability took her completely by surprise.

WIMBLEDON, England -- For Jana Novotna, the losses hang out there, unmentioned but unforgettable.Nobody brings up Wimbledon 1993, when Novotna handed the title to Steffi Graf and wept on the Duchess of Kent's shoulder. And Wimbledon 1997 is simply a distant memory, when Novotna faded in the third set and let a smiling kid named Martina Hingis steal the title.This year, Novotna is trying to build a new resume, and trying to write some tennis history.With yesterday's 6-2, 6-3 victory over Irina Spirlea, Novotna advanced to today's most enticing quarterfinal match of the tournament, a meeting with No. 7 Venus Williams.

WIMBLEDON, England -- In women's tennis, the next great rivalry is now.It's Martina Hingis vs. Anna Kournikova, savvy 16-year-olds with bruising forehands and electric smiles. Today at Wimbledon, they'll meet in the women's semifinals -- kid division.The other semifinal is more like a senior event, with 29-year-old Jana Novotna meeting 25-year-old Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.But the focus is sure to be on Hingis and Kournikova after they overwhelmed their quarterfinal opponents yesterday.Hingis, the No. 1 seed, defeated her former junior practice partner from the Czech Republic, Denisa Chaldkova, 6-3, 6-2. And Kournikova turned aside French Open champion Iva Majoli, 7-6 (7-1)

WIMBLEDON, England -- Pam Shriver can now do what she should have been doing all along -- take care of the stress fracture in her leg.But to convince her, it took a 6-2, 6-2 beating at the hands of Larisa Neiland and Jana Novotna yesterday to eliminate the women's doubles team of Shriver and Liz Smylie."

NEW YORK -- No. 4 seed Michael Stich lived up to the distinction of being the highest seed left in the men's draw last night, but not without a struggle.Stich advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Open with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (7-9), 6-4 victory over Jonas Bjorkman.Stich became the last semifinal qualifier, joining Andre Agassi, Todd Martin and his next opponent, Karel Novacek, who was credited with 28 aces yesterday for a 1994 tournament high."My serve let me down," said Stich, who had not lost a set prior to last night.

WIMBLEDON, England -- America's top women's player is learning to love Wimbledon's grass courts."If you hit a good shot, you're rewarded," Lindsay Davenport said. "I'm getting used to these courts."Yesterday, No. 7 Davenport led the parade of women's seeds into the third round when she defeated Florencia Labat, 6-1, 6-1.With two impressive victories -- she defeated Gigi Fernandez in the first round -- Davenport is lurking in the top of the draw as a possible challenger for the title."Realistically, I don't know what my chances are," she said.

Tennis: Becker advances in L.A. OpenBoris Becker, looking to regain his form before the U.S. Open begins Aug. 29, survived a second-round challenge to defeat Chuck Adams, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1, in the Los Angeles Open.In other matches, No. 6 Jason Stoltenberg of Australia defeated Steve Bryan, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3, and Karsten Braasch, the eighth seed from Germany, got by qualifier Steve Campbell, 6-4, 6-2.* Goran Ivanisevic and Thomas Muster played up to their top seedings by swiftly dismissing their opponents to reach the quarterfinals of the EA Generali clay-court tournament in Kitzbuehel, Austria.

NEW YORK -- Mary Pierce is sitting with friends in the players lounge at the U.S. Open when she's interrupted. She and Orioles second baseman Roberto Alomar have been an item for about a year, and rumors have been swirling.Are you and Alomar engaged, she's asked?"Don't you know?" said Pierce, who was in good spirits after advancing to the third round with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Cara Black. "Don't you know? We're already married with two children."And then she laughed happily as she flashed her left hand, on which she is wearing a ring with seven diamonds.

The atmosphere in the Harbor Court ballroom crackled with excitement. It might have been all the celebrity-signed sports memorabilia up for grabs at the Chevy Chase Bank Tennis Challenge's player-welcome reception and silent auction. Maybe all the sports celebrities themselves mingling in the crowd, celebs like tennis stars Zina Garrison, Jana Novotna, Richey Reneberg and Tim Wilkison, former Baltimore Colt Toni Linhart, and Philadelphia Eagle Sean Landeta. Perhaps it was anticipation for the next night's tennis tournament featuring Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick (see Around Town)