Sampras Withdraws With Back Spasms

An aching back forced Pete Sampras out of the Lyon Grand Prix tennis tournament in France today.

The world's top-ranked men's player pulled out of the tournament before his quarterfinal match with Germany's Tommy Haas.

Sampras appeared in top form yesterday as he fired 10 aces in a 6-2, 6-4 second-round victory over Australian Todd Woodbridge, but the three-time Lyon winner started to feel pain this morning.

"I felt a pain originally in the first set against Todd Martin in the first round," Sampras said. "I continued to play on, but I felt it getting worse; and last night and this morning, I had pretty substantial spasms. It's best to rest and hopefully take care of the problem over the next few days."

Sampras planned to fly to Stuttgart, Germany, where the Eurocard Open begins next Monday.

Sampras said he was frustrated after having come back to top form in recent weeks.

"I have never had back problems like this. It's unfortunate, I was playing well," he said.

In other play yesterday, third-seeded Marcelo Rios moved easily ito the quarterfinals, beating Nicolas Escude of France 6-2, 6-3 in 59 minutes.

-- Top-seeded Venus Williams and second-seed Monica Seles breezed to easy quarterfinal victories in the Kremlin Cup tournament today in Moscow. Williams beat Katarina Studenikova of Slovakia 6-1, 6-0. Seles wrapped up her match in less than 50 minutes against Italy's Sylvia Farina, winning 6-0, 6-0.

Seventh-seeded Sandrine Testud of France upset third-seeded Conchita Martinez of Spain 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 and Mary Pierce of France overcame Spain's Magui Serna 7-5, 6-2.

-- Second-seeded Andre Agassi outplayed Magnus Norman of Sweden 6-2, 7-5 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Czech Indoor ATP tournament in Ostrava. Local favorite Martin Damm rallied to defeat fourth-seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

MOTORSPORTS

Mike Bliss, the lap record-holder at Phoenix International Raceway, edged Jack Sprague, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points leader, to win the pole position for the GM Goodwrench-AC Delco 300. His speed of 127.155 mph led the 39 drivers who made qualifying attempts.

HORSE RACING

Trainer Tom Voss was suspended for seven days and fined $3,000 for using a medication he often has used for treating his horses.

The lesson: read the label.

Belmont Park stewards ordered the fine and suspension, which runs from Oct. 26 through Nov. 1, after a test of Grand Turk, who was second in the first race Sept. 3 at Saratoga, revealed the presence of lidocaine, a banned substance.

Voss said he did not realize lidocaine had been added to the over-the-counter product Campho-Phenique, an analgesic and anti-inflammatory medication.

-- Refried Dreams overtook 7-1 outsider Adorjinsky in the late going to win the $50,176 feature race at Santa Anita's Oak Tree meeting by two lengths.

BOXING

Hector "Macho" Camacho, a champion in three weight classes, has plenty of confidence heading into his junior-middleweight fight tonight against Kenny Sigurani in Chester, W.Va.

"I'm in good shape and have been doing a lot of roadwork, so I don't have any worries," said Camacho, whose record is 66-4-1, with 33 knockouts. "I'll do what I do best."

No titles are at stake in the scheduled 10-round bout.

The 36-year-old Camacho, a former WBC super-featherweight and lightweight champion and WBO welterweight titleholder, last fought on Aug. 11, winning a 12-round unanimous decision over Tony Menefee.

SOCCER

The U.S. national teams will make 64 appearances on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 in the next four years. The agreement calls for ABC to air four games a year, with ESPN and ESPN2 doing at least 12 a year. That includes coverage of both the men's and women's team.

The games will include World Cup qualifiers played in the United States, U.S. Cup tournament games and international exhibitions.

The women's team, preparing for next year's Women's World Cup - scheduled for June 19-July 10 in the United States - will have an undetermined number of exhibition games televised by the cable sports networks. In addition, all 32 matches in the World Cup will be shown on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2.