Mcenroe Says Dome Would Help Wimbledon Tennis

-- TENNIS

John McEnroe's Wimbledon tuneup sputtered when he lost to Guy Forget of France 9-7 in a pro-set exhibition yesterday in Wentworth, a London suburb.

Forget reached today's final against countryman Henri Leconte, who beat Jim Courier of the United States 9-8 Thursday and 1987 Wimbledon champion Pat Cash of Australia 9-7 yesterday.

The event was troubled all week by rain, which inspired McEnroe to talk about putting Wimbledon under a dome.

``It would be fantastic if they could put one of those clear domes over the court, and it's something I'd like to see in the future,'' McEnroe said. ``I don't think the fans would object to watching under cover because they would want to see great tennis.

``English fans are very understanding, but they don't see players at their best.''

-- Top-seeded Martina Navratilova overcame a painful knee to beat seventh-seeded Jana Novotna of Czechoslovakia 7-6, 3-6, 6-3 and, for the 11th consecutive year, reached the final of the Eastbourne warmup for Wimbledon. Navratilova will play fellow American Gretchen Magers for the title.

-- Second-seeded Pete Sampras of the United States and unseeded Gilad Bloom of Israel each won two matches and advanced to the final of the tournament in Manchester.

Sampras, the lone seed left, beat Kelly Evernden of New Zealand 6-3, 7-6 in their quarterfinal, then reached his second tournament final of the year by beating Eric Jelen of West Germany 6-7, 6-4, 6-4.

-- AUTO RACING

Neil Bonnett said he will follow doctor's orders and wait at least a year before returning to NASCAR competition, although he is getting tired of finding ways to spend his time. Bonnett, 43, suffered a head injury April 1 in a crash at Darlington, S.C., that left him with severe amnesia.

-- Gerhard Berger took only four laps in his McLaren during the qualifying run but they were enough to earn the Austrian provisional pole position for tomorrow's Mexican Grand Prix motor race in Mexico City.

-- Chuck Bown, formerly of Portland, won his fourth NASCAR pole position of the season during qualifying races for the $79,588 Firecracker 200 in Barberville, Fla.

-- TRACK AND FIELD

Texas A&M shot putter Mike Stulce plans to appeal a two-year suspension levied by The Athletics Congress after he tested positive for high testosterone levels. Stulce, 22, a junior, and NCAA shot put champion in 1988 and 1989, is the first athlete to test positive under TAC's year-round, out-of-competition drug testing program, which began in October.

-- World cross-country champion Khalid Skah beat 10,000-meter world record-holder Arturo Barrios in the 5,000 meters, highlighting an international track and field meet in St. Denis, France. Skah, a Moroccan, was timed in 13 minutes, 16.73 seconds. Barrios, of Mexico, was second in 13:17.17.

-- Olympic champion Roger Kingdom of the U.S. won the 110-meter hurdles in a wind-aided 13.11 seconds, well off his world record of 12.92 during a triangular meet with Kenya and Great Britain in Portsmouth, England. (Related article, B 6.)

University of Washington product Vickie Borsheim finished second in the women's high jump. She leaped 6-1 1/2 at the same meet.

-- COLLEGE BASKETBALL

University of Wyoming basketball coach Benny Dees has given sophomore Quein Higgins permission to talk to other universities about playing for them. There has been speculation that Higgins would leave Laramie since Wyoming assistant coach Thad Fitzpatrick, his godfather, left to take an assistant's job in Miami, Fla.

-- Miami (Ohio) University basketball coach Jerry Peirson has been accused of ``academic fraud'' for giving a player in Peirson's physical education class an ``A'' in the fall of 1988. The NCAA has launched an official inquiry that could lead to sanctions against the program.

-- FOOTBALL

Ohio State running back Carlos Snow and cornerback Vinnie Clark were suspended from the team after their arrest on drunken-driving and assault charges, the university announced. Coach John Cooper suspended them pending the outcome of the investigation.

-- Former Syracuse University running back Robert Drummond was arrested and charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct after a fight at a bar near the school. Drummond, now with the Philadelphia Eagles, was taken into custody about 2:30 a.m. and released after posting $600 bail.

-- BOWLING

Joe Salvemini charged into the top-seeded position for the finals of the PBA Fresno Open, outdistancing Hugh Miller of Seattle by 395 pins after 24 games of match play.

-- DEATHS

Robert H. Lurie, part-owner of two professional sports teams in Chicago and among the nation's richest men, died of cancer. He was 48. Lurie owned part of the Chicago White Sox baseball team and the Chicago Bulls basketball team. He died Wednesday at a Chicago hospital.

-- John Potsklan, 69, who led Albright College to nine titles in 29 years as a football and baseball coach, died in Reading, Pa.

-- BOXING

Two area boxers lost their bouts in the semifinals of the U.S. Junior Olympic Boxing Championships in Marquette, Mich. Calvin Brock of Charlotte, N.C., beat Jason Hall of Seattle, 3-2, in the 156-pound class. Talmadge Griffis of Rockford, Ill., stopped Brock Stodden of Bremerton in the 178-pound class.