WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7. 2005
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SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 3B
CYCLING
with
Armstrong thinks about making race comeback
Tour de France winner retired in July 2005
BY JIM VERTUNO
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN, Texas — Retired life is nice, but Lance Armstrong says he is thinking about making a comeback.
Recently engaged to rocker girlfriend Sheryl Crow, the seventime Tour de France champion issued a statement yesterday confirming that he's contemplating a return to competitive cycling.
"While I'm absolutely enjoying my time as a retired athlete with Sheryl and the kids, the recent smear campaign out of France has awoken my competitive side," Armstrong said. "I'm not willing to put a percentage on the chances but I will no lon-
ith
ger rule it out."
Armstrong, who will turn 34 this month, retired in July after winning his seventh consecutive Tour and declared "I'm finished."
He said he wanted to spend a few days "with a beer, having a blast" with time dedicated to playing with his three children.
Armstrong first hinted of a comeback in an interview Monday with the Austin American-Statesman. An Armstrong spokesman yesterday said the comments were a joke, but within hours, the cyclist confirmed it was possible.
"I'm thinking it's the best way," to anger the French, he told the newspaper. "I'm exercising every day."
But he's also spent the last two weeks angrily denying reports by the French newspaper LEquipe that said tests showed he used a performance-enhancing blood booster in the 1999 tour.
NFL
Coroner rules 49er had heart disease
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — San Francisco 49ers offensive lineman Thomas Herrion had heart disease and evidence of previous heart trouble when he collapsed and died after a preseason game last month, an official in the Denver County coroner's office said yesterday
The coroner's findings confirmed the beliefs of Herrion's family and friends, who were certain drugs played no role in Herrion's death Aug. 20.
Herrion's heart condition was caused by factors that are often nearly undetectable, though fairly rare in a 23-year-old athlete in good physical condition.
"It really squashes all the speculation regarding his death," said Frederick Lyles, Herrion's agent. "They appear to be very thorough in their analysis. Hopefully, now people really get off the idea that these guys are overweight, or that drugs or steroids were involved."
Herrion had ischemic heart disease, with significant blockage in his right coronary artery that caused the death of heart muscle, according to Amy Martin, a forensic pathologist and deputy coroner in Denver. Herrion's heart was slightly enlarged, a condition that could be related to anything from heart disease and high blood pressure to heredity.
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The Associated Press
TENNIS
Roger Federer, of Switzerland, returns to Nicolas Keifer, of Germany, at the US Open tennis tournament in New York yesterday.
Federer stumbles, wins in first Open set
2001 champion drops first set before advancing to quarterfinals
BY NANCY ARMOUR
AP NATIONAL WRITER
Lleyton Hewitt scored one for the fashion police in making the
NEW YORK — Roger Federer finally got a scare in the U.S. Open.
Federer will play 11th-seeded David Nalbandian or Davide Sanguinetti.
"Nalbandian, because I have a bad record against him," Federer said when asked if he had a preference.
Looking more mortal than the guy who has dominated tennis the past two years, Federer dropped his first set in the Open before putting Nicolas Kiefer of Germany away 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-4 yesterday to earn a spot in the quarterfinals.
"So far in this tournament, I haven't lost set before," Federer said. "When it happens, you're not ready for it."
quarterfinals for the sixth straight year. He won 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 over No. 15 Dominik Hrbaty, who drew more attention for his pink peekaboo shirt than his play.
The 2001 champion and runner-up last year now plays Jarkko Niemien, who became the first Finnish man to reach the quarters in a Grand Slam event with a 6-2, 7-6(6), 6-3 victory over Spain's Fernando Verdasco.
"I wouldn't wear it. But it made it a lot easier for me to beat him today." Hewitt said. "I just couldn't lose to a bloke wearing a shirt like that."
It was ladies night at Arthur Ashe Stadium, with No. 1 Maria Sharapova taking on fellow Russian and ninth-seeded Nadia Petrova, and fourth-seeded Kim Clijsters facing No. 10 Venus Williams.
Federer has hardly been tested in the Open — or this year, for that matter. He's 68-3, unbeaten since the French oneminials,
and has won 32 straight matches on hard courts — moving him ahead of Ivan Lendl and behind only Pete Sampras in the Open era. Federer can break Sampras' record if he wins the tournament.
But Federer looked vulnerable early against Kiefer, whom he'd already beaten three times this year. Federer's timing was off as he repeatedly hit shots a touch too long or dumped them into the net, and his game lacked its usual flair. He even tossed his racket once, a rare show of emotion on the court.
Federer finally returned to form in the third set. With the set tied 3-3, Kiefer reached double break point when Federer netted a forehand. But Federer rallied, drilling a 120-mph winner, then yelling "Come on!" after hitting a crosscourt pass to get the score back to deuce. Kiefer made two unforced errors as Federer closed out the game.
Federer broke Kiefer the next game, then served out the set as Kiefer slipped awkwardly racing for a shot in the corner on set point. Though Kiefer made him work for
the final set, Federer seemed more like himself with dazzling shots no one else can make.
Maybe it's the proximity to the Garment District, but the Open seems to be the spot for fashion statements. Three years ago, Tommy Haas was ordered to change after he showed up in a sleeveless muscle shirt. Now, of course, all the kids are wearing them.
Serena Williams showed up in a zip-down, stop-at-the-thighs black Lycra outfit a few years back, and sported knee-high black boots, a pleated denim miniskirt and a studded black tank top last year.
This year, it was Hrbaty's shirt causing the stir. The black-and-pink shirt looks ordinary from the front. On the back, though, there are oval-shaped cutouts — "fly-holes." Hewitt called them — below each shoulder that look like a peekaboo bra. Or as if the shirt had gotten caught on his head
"I don't really know what the design means," Hrbaty said. "The shirt itself is actually nice. You don't sweat as much. Also, you don't feel the heat that much."
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