NEWS IN BRIEF
Sorenstam fades as
Inkster wins Open
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) - On
a Prairie Dunes course where
she first made a name for her
self 22 years ago, Juli Inkster
turned in a career-defining per
formance Sunday to beat
Annika Sorenstam and win the
U.S. Women's Open.
Inkster closed with a 4-under
66, matching the lowest final-
round score by an Open cham
pion, for a two-stroke victory. It
was her seventh major, most
among active players.
This one might have been the
sweetest of all.
She faced a two-stroke deficit
against Sorenstam, the best
player in women's golf who has
been virtually unstoppable all
year. Tougher yet, Inkster had
been struggling with her swing
throughout the week.
Streaking Astros
beat Pirates, 6-1
PITTSBURGH (AP) - The All-
Star break arrived at the worst
possible time for the Houston
Astros, just when they're final
ly playing like the team that
won four of the last five NL
Central titles.
Jose Vizcaino's two-run dou
ble keyed the second five-run
inning against Pittsburgh's
Jimmy Anderson in as many
starts, and Wade Miller held the
Pirates to a run over six innings
in a 6-1 Astros victory Sunday.
Miller struck out a season high
nine as he and three relievers
combined for 14 strikeouts. Roy
Oswalt, Octavio Dotel and Billy
Wagner pitched an inning each.
Houston outscored Pittsburgh
27-13 in winning three of four
in a series that finished off a 7-
2 pre-All-Star road trip.
Sports
The Battalion Page 3 • Monday, July 8, 2002
Hewitt wins in Wimbledon
WIMBLEDON, England
(AP) — Lleyton Hewitt made
certain this Wimbledon of
upsets wouldn't end with one.
The No. 1-ranked player kept
his temper in check, his strokes
on the lines, and wasn’t fazed by
rain delays or a streaker’s show.
Hewitt won his second
Grand Slam title with a com
mand performance, beating
greener-than-grass David
Nalbandian 6-1, 6-3, 6-2
Sunday in a baseliners’ duel that
produced the most lopsided
Wimbledon final since 1984.
At 21, the Australian is the
tournament’s youngest champi
on since Boris Becker won it a
second time in 1986 at 18.
“I kept looking at the score-
board to see if it was real,”
Hewitt said. “It’s an unbeliev
able feeling. I always dreamed
that some day I would be play
ing for this trophy.”
Nalbandian’s nerves showed
on the match’s very first point
— a double fault. He had every
right to be a bit shaken: Before
this fortnight, the 20-year-old
Argentine had never played in a
tour-level grass-court event, had
never been past the third round
in three majors, and
owned exactly one
career title.
His first shot
on Centre
Court came the
morning of the
final, when he
practiced with
coach Gabriel
Markus for 30
minutes.
“I didn’t care about
the conditions, the stadium, the
situation,” the 28th-seeded
Nalbandian said. “It was diffi
cult because Lleyton is playing
very good.”
Despite dictating play and
going for corners or lines repeat
edly, Hewitt had more winners
(30-12) and fewer unforced
errors (25-41) than Nalbandian.
Ripping returns off both
wings, Hewitt broke
Nalbandian’s serve eight times.
Nalbandian was a big benefi
ciary of a topsy-turvy tourna
ment in which Pete
Sampras, Andre
Agassi and Marat
Safin all lost in the
second round.
Nalbandian
would have had
to face Sampras
in the third
round, Safin in the
quarterfinals, and
Agassi in the semis.
Instead, he got to
play George Bastl, Nicolas
Lapentti and Xavier Malisse.
Before Sunday, there had
been four straight first-time
major winners, and eight men
had won the last eight Grand
Slam events.
In a wide-open era of men’s
tennis, Hewitt is as close to dom
inant as anyone right now, and
it’s been a quick trip to the top.
In 1997, at 15 years and 1 1
months, he became the
youngest qualifier for the
Australian Open. He turned pro
the next year and upset Agassi
en route to a hard-court title in
his hometown of Adelaide
while ranked 550th — the low
est for a tournament winner in
ATP Tour history.
When Hewitt beat Sampras
in September for his first major
title, he was the U.S. Open’s
youngest champ since Sampras
in 1990.
He finished 2001 as the
youngest year-end No. 1.
Hewitt, however, hasn’t
always been adored by his
sports-wild countrymen
because of his brash style.
While playing James Blake
at the U.S. Open, he made a
comment interpreted by some
as racist during a tirade.
He’s been fined for using
romp
foul language on court and for
calling a chair umpire at the
2001 French Open “spastic.” He
angered fans in Adelaide by
calling them “stupid” for cheer
ing for his opponent during a
match in 2000.
A more mature Hewitt was
on display at Wimbledon.
He did nothing to rile up the
partisan crowd during a
straight-set semifinal victory
over Britain’s Tim Henman and
was never rattled during
Sunday’s match, which was
suspended twice for a total of
49 minutes because of rain.
Just as the players came out
of the locker room after the first
delay, a male streaker hopped
out of the stands, dropped his
clothes and shoes on court, and
pranced around for two minutes.
He danced, somersaulted over
the net and bowed to a laughing
crowd while being chased by
guards brandishing red sheets
like matadors.
Williams’ greatness came the old-fashioned way
F orget about today’s
pro baseball players
and their juiced up
muscles. Forget about the
looming player strike and
the sky-high salaries that
dominate the game.
Instead of watching the All-Star game
Tuesday night, shut off the television
and crack open an encyclopedia or
baseball almanac and read about Ted
Williams, the greatest hitter of all time.
Read about how he won six batting
titles, four home run crowns, two
MVPs and two Triple Crowns, all while
never being accused of using illegal
substances. No special power drinks for
him; Williams put up his stats the old-
fashioned way.
And, if you’re a mod
ern day major leaguer, the
most amazing thing is that
it worked. Williams, who
passed away Friday, was a
student of the game. The
“Splendid Splinter,” as he was called,
was a hitter in the truest sense of the
word. He was a player who took obses
sive care of his bats, claimed he could
see the individual stitches on a pitched
ball and rarely drank anything stronger
than a milk shake for fear it would dull
his skills.
Williams’ hitting skills are unrivaled
by any pro to ever step on a diamond.
Not Honus Wagner, not Joe DiMaggio,
not Ty Cobb and not Tony Gwynn.
Williams had a career on-base per
centage of .483, almost 100 points higher
than DiMaggio’s .398. Teddy Ballgame’s
.344 career batting average bests
Gwym nark of .338, and Williams’
521 career home runs is over 300 more
than Wagner and Cobb combined.
No one besides Williams has ever
led the American League in on-base
and slugging percentage in the same
year eight times, or done it six seasons
in a row.
The lone blemish on his career is his
World Series record, which amounted to
going 5-for-25 in the 1946 fall classic.
But that is still overshadowed by his
career-long dominance at the plate.
Williams, who hit under .300 just
twice, even took five seasons off in his
prime to serve as a Marine pilot in two
wars. In fact, Williams began his serv
ice in World War II the season after
winning the Triple Crown, leading the
AL in home runs, RBI and batting aver
age. He picked up where he left off
after returning to baseball in 1946 by
hitting .342 with 38 home runs.
But Williams’ most telling stat came
from 1941 when he hit .406, the last
major leaguer to top the .400 mark in a
season. The way he hit .400 is the most
impressive part of all.
The Red Sox faced Philadelphia in a
See Williams on page 4
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