Mary Joe Fernandez

WASHINGTON -- Lutherville native Pam Shriver, who just returned from winning three gold medals at the Pan American Games in Cuba, breezed through her afternoon match with Elna Reinach, 6-2, 6-3, in the Virginia Slims of Washington tournament yesterday."

SYDNEY, Australia -- Emilio Sanchez upset defending champion Guy Forget, 6-3, 6-4, yesterday for the men's title in the New South Wales Open.Sanchez's sister, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, advanced to women's final today for the second year in a row, outlasting Anke Huber of Germany, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, in a two-hour battle.Top-seeded Gabriela Sabatini won the other semifinal, overpowering Mary Joe Fernandez, the No. 4 seed, 6-2, 6-3.Emilio Sanchez, seeded seventh, did not lose a set in five matches as he won his 15th career singles title.

From the beginning, Pam Shriver has wanted the First National Bank of Maryland Tennis Festival to benefit children in Baltimore."It was my hope to really try to touch this community as much as possible," she said, before introducing the Baltimore Community Foundation as the organization that will handle the dispersement of funds to local charities."

MELBOURNE, Australia -- MaliVai Washington of the U.S. shocked second seed Michael Stich today in the first round of the Australian Open.Stich, a semifinalist in Melbourne last year and the No. 2 player in the world, was forced into repeated errors at the net by Washington's low returns.Washington, an American ranked 26th in the world, defeated the German 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. He lost his serve only in the third set."It's not like he won the match," Stich said. "I gave it to him."No. 8 seed Petr Korda of the Czech Republic also was ousted today, losing in straight sets to Thomas Enqvist of Sweden.

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. -- Not to be outdone by the U.S. Davis Cup Dream Team of top-ranked Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, Billie Jean King was hoping to drop a bombshell of her own today by announcing the Federation Cup team that will face the Netherlands next month.Encouraged by Monica Seles' apparent interest in playing in the Olympics in 1996, King, the team captain, said she intended to speak with Seles last night about her availability for this year's Fed Cup matches. King, speaking during the Lipton Championships, also planned to recruit Jennifer Capriati, the 1992 Olympic gold medalist.

WASHINGTON -- Six months after she turned pro, 17-year-old Lindsay Davenport of Palos Verdes, Calif., got a taste of the big leagues here last night.Davenport and her partner, Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina, were out-dueled by Spain's Aranxta Sanchez Vicario and Jana Novotna of the Czech Republic, 7-5, 6-3, before 4,026 fans on the third night of the Elizabeth Arden Women's Tennis Association Challenge at the William H. G. FitzGerald Tennis Center.Lutherville's...

PHILADELPHIA -- Call it a no-fault divorce -- tennis style.Pam Shriver and Martina Navratilova, who combined to form the most dominant doubles team in women's tennis history, are severing their partnership.And this time, unlike an on-again, off-again two-year split that began in 1989, it's for good.But Shriver said there are no hard feelings."I knew it was the best deal for both of us," Shriver said. "Martina doesn't want to commit to a full doubles season and I'd like to find a partner who can play 12 to 14 times a year."

WASHINGTON -- The Arantxa Sanchez Vicario express made a stop here last night without being derailed.The third-ranked player in the world used powerful ground strokes and some untimely unforced errors from Mary Joe Fernandez to win, 6-2, 6-4, on the second night of the Elizabeth Arden Women's Tennis Association Challenge at the William H. G. FitzGerald Tennis Center.In the second match, No. 12 Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere of Switzerland rallied from a set down and beat No. 23 Lori McNeil of Houston, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.The four players were half of eight top-ranked players in the world who took part in the team competition.

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. -- She looked like the old Steffi Graf, winning the first set 6-0. But Graf wasn't playing the old Gabriela Sabatini yesterday in the Lipton tennis tournament.The Sabatini of the '90s is a confident player who does not run out of hope or energy. The improved Sabatini climbed out of the hole and beat Graf again 0-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-1.Sabatini now challenges Monica Seles in tomorrow's final. Seles, the defending champion and the No. 1 player in the world, trounced Mary Joe Fernandez 6-1, 6-2 in last night's semifinal.

WIMBLEDON, England -- In years past, Pam Shriver might have cried, angry and frustrated after a third-round loss in a tournament she wanted desperately to win.But, yesterday, Shriver calmly could analyze a defeat at Wimbledon. Her comeback from shoulder surgery remains an ongoing project, subject to dips before a rise. So, a 6-3, 7-5 loss to No. 5 seed Mary Joe Fernandez was neither surprising nor crushing."You have to view it as progress," Shriver said. "That's the whole key to this year.