Mauresmo makes case for French Open

Tennis: Amelie Mauresmo of France staked her claim to the French Open throne of compatriot Mary Pierce by winning the German Open title in Berlin yesterday, defeating US third-seed Jennifer Capriati 6-4 2-6 6-3 to take her fourth title of the season.

Mauresmo, having already ousted Martina Hingis, showed impressive resilience to win a finely-balanced contest in one hour 52 minutes. Acknowledging that the match could have easily swung away from her before she broke for a 2-1 lead in the final set, Mauresmo said it was immensely satisfying that she had found the extra gear to nail the match down.

Meanwhile in Rome, Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero claimed the first Tennis Masters Series title in his career yesterday by defeating Gustavo Kuerten 3-6 6-1 2-6 6-4 6-2.

Cycling: Former professional Morgan Fox yesterday showed he is coming back into form after a 2000 season destroyed by glandular fever, reports Shane Stokes.

The 26-year-old, whose selection for the Irish team in next week's FBD Milk Ras had been questioned, answered those doubters with an excellent fourth place in the world-ranked Lincoln GP race in England which was won by British Champion and last year's Ras winner Julian Tanner.

Meanwhile, Dave Peelo yesterday won the Shay Elliot memorial race in Wicklow. Peelo was part of a 15-strong group which escaped after 25 miles. With 500 metres to go he jumped clear to take a well-deserved win.

Athletics: Maurice Greene threw down an ominous marker for the rest of the world when, in his first outdoor race since the Sydney Olympics, he ran the fastest 100 metres of the year at the Osaka Grand Prix on Saturday, winning in 9.96 seconds.

Boxing: Newly-crowned world champion Hasim Rahman has agreed in principle to a deal with Don King, the Los Angeles Times reported on Saturday. According to the newspaper, Rahman has accepted a $5 million signing bonus from King, and if he signs the contract he is supposed to receive a $5 million purse for fighting unranked heavyweight Brian Nielsen of Denmark, possibly in Beijing on August 4th.

Boxing: The Irish Amateur Boxing Association has accepted the resignation of Cuban coach Nicolas Cruz, its chief coaching administrator, on the eve of next month's world championships in Belfast. The decision was taken at a special IABA meeting, held in camera, on Saturday. Cruz tendered his resignation "for personal reasons". Gerry Storey and Austin Carruth will act as joint coaching administrators, with Jim Moore chief coach for the world tests.

Cricket: Surrey batsman Ian Ward and Yorkshire left-arm seamer Ryan Sidebottom received their first call-up into the senior England squad for Thursday's first Test of two against Pakistan at Lord's.