Agassi’s Winning Streak Ends

Fourth-seeded Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands ended Andre Agassi’s 14-match winning streak with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 semifinal victory at the du Maurier Open at Toronto on Saturday.

His opponent in today’s championship match will be third-seeded Patrick Rafter, who continued to methodically dispatch the opposition with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Tim Henman of Great Britain.

“I had six break points in the second set,” said the unseeded Agassi, who beat top-seeded Pete Sampras on Friday night. “I was just a sniff from a 6-4, 6-3 match. He weathered my storm.”

Still, Agassi will be ranked No. 9 when the ATP’s new rankings are announced Monday, his first time in the top 10 since January 1997.

Rafter, the world’s fifth-ranked player, has advanced through the tournament with straight-set victories over fellow Australian Mark Philippoussis, fifth-seeded Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden and the seventh-seeded Henman.

“Tim looked a step slow and I wanted to take advantage of that,” Rafter said. “Everything went my way and he was flat--nothing went his way.”

Rafter took just over an hour to beat Henman with near-flawless tennis.

In a bizarre event during a doubles quarterfinal match, Mark Knowles of the Bahamas and Daniel Nestor of Canada advanced when their opponents, Philippoussis and Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia, were forced to retire after colliding while both were playfully trying to head a mis-hit ball soccer-style.

Ivanisevic suffered a cut between his nose and left eyebrow that gushed blood and required six stitches. Philippoussis had a bruised forehead.

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Australia’s Richard Fromberg rallied in the final set to upset top-seeded Slovak Karol Kucera, 6-1, 6-7 (7-4), 6-4, and reach the final of the Grolsch Open clay court tournament at Amsterdam.

Sweden’s Magnus Norman also advanced to the final, defeating Argentine Mariano Zabaleta, 7-5, 6-4, after receiving treatment for heat exhaustion.

Swimming

Canadian swimming authorities will seek to have Michelle Smith stripped of the three gold medals she won at the Atlanta Olympics.

If that happens, Canadians Marianne Limpert and Joanne Malar would move up to first and third in the 200-meter individual medley at the 1996 games.

Smith was suspended for four years by FINA, swimming’s international governing body, for tampering with an out-of-competition drug test urinalysis in January. The Irish swimmer has vowed to fight the sanction and sue the swimming federation for damages.

Swimming Canada Chief Executive Harold Cliff said he will petition FINA later this month at meetings in Lausanne, Switzerland, to pressure the IOC into taking back Smith’s medals.

Kieren Perkins of Australia swam the second-fastest time in the world this year in the men’s 800 meters during a meet in Sydney.

Perkins was timed in 7 minutes, 42.85 seconds, second only to Italy’s Emilanno Brembila at the Sydney World Cup meet in January.

Motor Racing

Dario Franchitti won the pole position for the CART Miller Lite 200 at Lexington, Ohio, as the track record at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course was broken for the second consecutive day.

Franchitti, a second-year driver from Scotland, had a lap of 123.766 mph in his final qualifying try over the 2.25-mile, 13-turn road course.

Terry Cook defeated defending Stevens Beil 200 champion Ron Hornaday at Flemington, N.J., in a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race.

Miscellany

Ato Boldon got revenge against Olympic champion Donovan Bailey in the 100 meters at the Herculis Golden League track and field meet at Monte Carlo, and Michael Johnson won the 400 in 43.96, the second time he has been under 44 seconds this season.

Boldon was timed in 9.92 seconds in defeating Bailey, second at 9.96.

Marion Jones stayed unbeaten in the women’s 100, winning in 10.72, only .01 of a second off her season’s world best.

A $1-million bonus will be shared among the athletes who remain unbeaten through the six Golden League meets and the Grand Prix final at Moscow on Sept. 5. Jones, Haile Gebrselassie, Charity Opara, Bryan Bronson and Hicham El Guerrouj are still alive for the bonus.

Ohio State linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer, last year’s Butkus Award winner, must pass a summer-school class to be eligible this season, Coach John Cooper said.