Graf Has Surgery, Out of Wimbledon and the U.S. Open

Steffi Graf had surgery on her left knee Tuesday and will not be able to defend her Wimbledon and U.S. Open tennis titles.

Graf had the surgery in an undisclosed hospital in Vienna, Austria, and is expected to be out four to six months, according to the Women’s Tennis Assn.

Ranked third in the world, Graf, said in a statement that the injury was revealed in an MRI last Friday.

“During the two-hour surgery, repair of the cartilage as well as the patellar tendon was performed,” Graf said. “I have been assured that the surgery went very well and I feel fine right now.”

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Boris Becker, having little trouble with the slippery surface, beat pupil Alex Radelscu, 6-3, 7-6 (7-1), to reach the second round of the $875,000 Gerry Weber Open at Halle, Germany. Top-seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia and third-seeded Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands also advanced with easy victories. . . . Franco Squillari of Argentina upset fourth-seeded Christian Ruud of Norway, 6-1, 6-4, at the Carisbo International tournament at Bologna, Italy.

Track and Field

Track and field’s world body, the IAAF, said it had notified USA Track & Field that Mary Slaney and Sandra Farmer-Patrick were barred from the national championships, which begin today in Indianapolis, because of alleged drug use.

USATF said it was notified only regarding Slaney and was told she could not compete nationally or internationally. USATF said it would buck the decision by the IAAF and called Slaney an “eligible athlete.”

Farmer-Patrick said she previously had been suspended by USATF, although there has been no official announcement.

Adding to the dispute, the IAAF said it could suspend any athlete who chooses to compete against either runner. Slaney and Farmer-Patrick have proclaimed their innocence and said they want to run this week. Slaney has entered the 1,500 and Farmer-Patrick the 400-meter hurdles.

Pro Basketball

Doug Collins is reportedly expected to sign a new contract today to remain as Detroit Pistons coach and general manager for two more years.

The deal would pay Collins $3 million to $4 million per year. Collins and the Pistons would hold an option on the second year and subsequent years.

Former Portland assistant Rick Carlisle and former Charlotte Coach Dick Harter were hired as assistants by new Indiana Pacers Coach Larry Bird. . . . Former Vancouver Coach Brian Winters will be the top assistant of Denver Nuggets Coach Bill Hanzlik. . . . Efthimios Rentzias, the first-round draft pick of the Nuggets last year, is on the verge of signing a contract to play for S.C. Barcelona in Spain.

Pro Football

Kordell Stewart, expected to win the Pittsburgh Steelers’ starting quarterback job, was given a new contract that pays him $9 million over four years with a $2.65-million signing bonus.

Stewart, a 1995 second-round draft pick from Colorado who has been a backup quarterback-wide receiver-running back for the Steelers, had two years remaining on his original contract, which would have paid him $780,000.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers cleared about $1 million under the salary cap by releasing wide receiver Alvin Harper after two disappointing seasons. . . . The Washington Redskins continued to rebuild their defense by signing San Diego Chargers veteran lineman Chris Mims to a one-year contract worth $300,000. . . . The San Francisco 49ers signed veteran kicker Gary Anderson to a one-year contract worth $275,000. . . . Jon Harris became the first of this year’s first-round draft picks to come to terms as the Philadelphia Eagles announced the defensive end from Virginia signed a five-year contract. Terms of the agreement were not released.

College Basketball

The NCAA accepted Arkansas’ self-imposed sanctions for breaking rules in the men’s basketball program but ordered the school to set up a monitoring program to guard against future violations.

After a 16-month investigation, the NCAA concluded that most of Arkansas’ violations were inadvertent. Arkansas had already announced penalties that included a loss of one scholarship last year and this coming season, and an agreement not to recruit junior college players through the 1999 season.

Last November, the NCAA sent Arkansas a letter outlining seven violations, including a broad accusation that the program had operated without appropriate institutional control.

More than a month after Marcus Camby vowed to set up a scholarship fund at his alma mater, the University of Massachusetts, no money has changed hands.

Massachusetts athletic spokesman Bill Strickland predicted Camby will pay, though he could not say when.

The former Massachusetts center said at a May 8 news conference that he would pay back $151,000 in 1996 tournament revenue that the NCAA ordered the school to return. The NCAA erased the school’s tournament record for that season after ruling that Camby ruined his amateur status by accepting gifts from an agent trying to woo him as a client.

Jurisprudence

Jake Plummer appeared in a Phoenix court to hear felony sex-abuse charges alleging that he pawed four women during a bachelor party at a nightclub in March.

Neither Plummer nor Tom Henze, his lawyer, would comment on the case after the 22-year-old quarterback was fingerprinted in the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.

Judge Gregory Martin of Maricopa County Superior Court will arraign Plummer, a second-round draft choice of the Arizona Cardinals, at a June 27 preliminary hearing and decide if there is sufficient evidence to take the case to trial.

Miscellany

The Buffalo Sabres will reportedly hire former New York Islander assistant general manager Darcy Regier to become the team’s next general manager.

Coaches and officials at Cal State Los Angeles will hold a ceremony on the baseball field Saturday commemorating the creation of a scholarship fund in the name of former baseball coach John Gerard Deutch, who died on May 29 at 80.

A 64th-minute goal by Romario led Brazil to a 1-0 victory over England in the Tournament of France at Paris.

Poulan-Weed Eater, which has sponsored the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La. since 1990, will drop its support following the 1997 game.

Christy Martin will fight for promoter Don King under a three-year contract extension reportedly worth a minimum of $1.5 million. Martin will fight Dora Weber in a six-round lightweight bout on the undercard of the Evander Holyfield-Mike Tyson WBA heavyweight title fight June 28 in the MGM Grand at Las Vegas.