Daily Sports Capsule

*Index*
TENNIS	BASEBALL	BASKETBALL
GOLF	FOOTBALL	MISCELLANY

TENNIS

Pete Sampras announced yesterday he will play Davis Cup for the United States after all. Sampras will join Jim Courier and Todd Martin on the team scheduled to face Australia July 16-18 at the Longwood Cricket Club in Brookline, Mass. Sampras said he approached Courier and Martin about joining the team after their dramatic upset victory over Great Britain in April. The win moved the U.S. team into the quarterfinals. Sampras, who helped the U.S. team win the Davis Cup in 1992 and 1995 and last played in the tournament in 1997, said he will play doubles because Courier and Martin have earned the singles' slots. ... In news from London, Sampras moved closer to regaining his No. 1 ranking yesterday, getting a big assist from losses by Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Pat Rafter. Sampras, ranked third, defeated Todd Woodbridge 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 in the second round of the Queen's Club tournament following another setback by the top-ranked Kafelnikov, who lost 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 to Sargis Sargsian, an Armenian ranked 74th. In Germany, the second-ranked Rafter lost to Jan Siemerink in three sets in the Gerry Weber Open. That means Sampras most likely will ascend to the top ranking with another victory at Queen's Club, a grass-court tuneup for Wimbledon. He plays Australian qualifier Wayne Arthurs in the next round. ... The father of 17-year-old Australian player Jelena Dokic was ejected from a Wimbledon warmup tournament for shouting abuse at officials during his daughter's match. He was later arrested for lying down in traffic and jumping on the hood of a car. Police said Damir Dokic had been drinking and was arrested "for his own safety." He was not charged and was released three hours after his arrest. The 40-year-old Dokic was removed by security guards at the DFS Classic at Edgbaston on Tuesday and banned from the rest of the tournament. If he causes any further trouble, he risks a ban from all women's events.

BASEBALL

Cleveland Indians outfielder Wil Cordero had wrist surgery yesterday and was placed on the 60-day disabled list. He broke his left wrist in two places making a diving catch Tuesday night in a game Milwaukee won 2-1 in 10 innings. Cordero, who had been both an outfielder and designated hitter, had a batting average of .316 with five home runs and 26 runs batted in during 40 games for the Indians. He signed with Cleveland as a free agent shortly before spring training. He joins four other Cleveland players on the disabled list, catcher Sandy Alomar Jr., outfielder Mark Whiten and pitchers Mark Langston and Tom Martin. ... New York Mets sensation Benny Agbayani bruised his right eye in batting practice when he hit a ball off the cage and it bounced back into his eye. X-rays were negative and showed only a contusion. Agbayani is day-to-day. Agbayani is hitting .409 with eight homers and 15 RBIs in 66 at-bats.

BASKETBALL

The proposal is a long way from happening, but a group studying NCAA basketball is considering a drastic step: making male freshmen players ineligible. The study is prompted by concerns over poor graduation rates, a freshman's ability to adapt to college life and the willingness of underclassmen to jump to the NBA. Freshmen have been eligible since 1972. The committee is expected to make its recommendations in late July. In another possibly controversial move, the group is thinking about asking the NCAA board of directors to tie scholarship limits to graduation rates. Schools with low graduation rates in men's basketball would have fewer scholarships to offer than those with higher rates.

GOLF

Defending champion Nick Price and 1997 winner Greg Norman, both playing limited schedules this year, head the field at the St. Jude Classic, the final tuneup to the U.S. Open. Tiger Woods, David Duval, Vijay Singh and other top players are skipping the event, which begins today, to prepare for the Open. Norman has played only six events this year and is coming off a 69th-place finish at last week's Memorial Tournament won by Woods.

FOOTBALL

Chris Beard, a former LSU player now a defensive back in the Indoor Professional Football League, is paralyzed and on a respirator after being hurt in a game. Beard injured his neck while making a tackle for the Bayou Beast Saturday night against Texas and underwent surgery on Monday. He was listed in guarded condition yesterday in the intensive care unit of Our Lady of the Lake Hospital in Baton Rouge, La.

MISCELLANY

Columbia Pictures has asked a federal judge to dismiss a $50 million lawsuit over the rights to a movie about the life of former heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali. The suit alleges that Jabir Herbert Muhammad and Jason Hirschfeld are partners with Ali in Muhammad Ali Productions Inc., which the suit said was formed in Virginia in 1988, when Ali lived near Charlottesville, to "own, develop and commercialize any authorized biographical or autobiographical story of the life and times of Ali." The attorney for the plaintiffs said that Ali did not have the authority to sell the rights to his life story and that Columbia's movie, which is to star Will Smith, should bar Muhammad or Hirschfeld from making their own film.

-- Compiled from wire reports