: , « n , «• »V»» *r ■» > .« I •T»“* Page B2 ® lje IJorU aitfr (Observer _I? D Open Champs Bring Life Back to Tennis Milton named AL Player of the Week S po r ts I k h i r NEW YORK (Ticker) — In a week of dazzling pitching perfor­ mances, Eric Milton of the Min­ nesota Twins had the best of all. M ilton, who tossed the fourth no-hitter in Minnesota Twins history Saturday, today was named American League Player o f the Week for the pe­ riod ending Sunday. Milton, acquired prior to last season from the New \ ork Yankees in the deal that sent Chuck Knoblauch to the Bronx, retired the final 18 batters. o f young peo p le, black and w h ite , w ho m ight never have paid attention to the sport. O ne indication: The television rat­ ings for the women’s final between Serena W illia m s and Martina Hingis were up 92 percent over last year, when an­ o th e r A m e ric a n , Lindsay Davenport, beat Hingis. Unlike the 1950s w hen A lth e a Gibson shook ten­ n is w ith h e r tr i­ um phs at W im bledon and the fo rm e rly w h ite s only West Side Ten­ nis Club in Forest Serena Williams’ upset of No. 1 Monica Hingis Hills, there is an op­ made for excitement in the women's final. (AP) portunity now for tennis to broaden its roots to include players o f all races. change w ould be little more than That is precisely the goal o f the superficial. U.S. Tennis A ssociation’s inner W h at th e W illia m s s is te r s city program , the A rthur Ashe brought goes deeper. Their suc­ Foundation and John M cEnroe, cess, their unabashed cockiness, the new U.S. Davis Cup coach their youthful coolness from the who is bound to add his own cha­ beads in their hair to their reveal­ n risma sm a to tne ivnuiB. the resurgence in tennis. ing dresses, is capturing m illions STEVE WILSTEIN C 7 wf A ss o c h te d P kess NEW YORK (Sept. 13) — One o f the most memorable images of the U S. Open is Serena W illiams launching herself toward the net for a volley, her legs spread wide far above the court, her racket high, poised to strike. In that moment o f attack, when the light glints o ff her taut, thick m uscles and her face is filled with voracious delight, she resembles no one so much as M ichael Jordan on a fastbreak, tongue wagging as he leaps to dunk the ball. W illiam s brought a new level o f athleticism to w om en’s tennis in her surge to the Open title Sat­ urday, ju st as M artina N avratilova did in the early 1980s and Steffi G ra f did later that decade. M ore than that, the 17-year-old W illiam s and her big sister Venus, a finalist at the same age two years ago who, no doubt, will be a cham ­ pion h erself someday, brought a new level o f interest to tennis. That interest goes beyond the obvious, the hundreds ofblack tans suddenly sitting in a crowd that had ways .e n a sea o f wl 'e faces. Even if there were thou­ sands o t black tans, as well there "light be in year to com that Uruguayans Bid Farewell to CART Driver Killed in Practice The crash occurred Satur­ day in Monterey, Calif., where Rodriguez died ofmassive head and neck injuries, authorities for the CART Indy-car FedEx Series said. Rodriguez was approaching the famed corkscrew turn on the road course at Laguna Seca Race­ way when his brakes locked and his car hurtled offthe track, struck a tire barrier and slammed into a concrete wall behind the tires, then launched in the a.: before landing upside down. After Saturday' s accident, team owner Roger Pen-7pm Sun l( Phone T 0 0 -3 S 17 3 7 M.F". M irtin I nllier I inq Jr. I h l. , w. . IT*«*- ' • » » * * V* f - ' 1 -8 0 0 -9 9 C O L D S (9 9 4 6 5 Î 7 ) l o c a t io n s IN in TH E P O R T L A N D M E T R O A R EA