Agassi Beats The Heat And Chang For Atp Title

Andre Agassi handled 96-degree heat and two-time champion Michael Chang to win the ATP Championship in Atlanta, matching a career high with his sixth tournament title of the year.

Agassi outplayed Chang 7-5, 6-2 to solidify his No. 1 ranking.

-- Conchita Martinez overcame hard-hitting Chanda Rubin to win the Acura Classic 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 in Manhattan Beach, Calif., for her sixth title of the year. Martinez won consecutive tournaments for the third time this year.

Basketball

Agent Leonard Amato, who represents Hakeem Olajuwon and Shaquille O'Neal, said he's recommending that his clients vote in favor of the proposed NBA collective bargaining agreement, despite the opposition of a group led by Michael Jordan.

"If you look at what happened to baseball, the work stoppage caused an all-time low in interest of the All-Star Game," Amato said.

Swimming and diving

Amy Van Dyken broke her 9-day-old American record in winning the women's 50-meter freestyle in 25.03 seconds in the Pan Pacific Championship in Atlanta. It was the sixth-fastest time in history, with two Chinese women accounting for the other five.

-- In Bartlesville, Okla., Patrick Jeffrey, out four months this year with a back injury, won the 10-meter platform and a national title when Chuck Wade balked on his last dive at the Phillips 66 National Championship.

Wrestling

Bruce Baumgartner won the team title in the World Freestyle Championships. Baumgartner, the Olympic gold medalist in 1984 and 1992, beat Sven Thiele of Germany 1-0 to give the Americans the title 71-59 over Iran.

Ping pong

The U.S. men's table tennis team had its best performance in 58 years when it reached the semifinals of the World Team Cup in Atlanta.

Ranked 25th, the U.S. upset No. 8 Belgium and No. 4 France before losing to eventual champion South Korea 3-1.

Football

Lou Saban, the much-traveled former Buffalo Bill coach who agreed to start a football program at a junior college in New York, says he's quitting a month before the first game.

Saban cited Alfred State University's financial problems and athletic department cutbacks in resigning 10 months after taking the job.