TENNIS

TENNIS

Michael Stich has threatened to leave Germany's Davis Cup team after renewing his feud with the German federation and Boris Becker. In a letter to the federation, the DTB, Stich's manager accused the DTB of not sticking to the terms of its contract with Stich and that the player "had no more reason to hold his word''. Becker signed a contract with the DTB reportedly paying him 2.6m marks (£1.2m) annually to play in the Davis Cup. Stich's contract is worth 1.5m marks and Sport-Bild, a German newspaper, says that Stich wants to be paid the same amount as Becker.

Richard Krajicek, who injured his knee at the weekend, will play for the Netherlands in their Davis Cup world group quarter-final against Germany at the end of the month. Krajicek, 23, ranked 10th in the world, hurt his right knee as he won the indoor tournament in Rotterdam.

COPENHAGEN TOURNAMENT First round: J Hlasek (Swit) bt C Caratti (It) 6-4 7-6; J-P Fleurian (Fr) bt D Sapsford (GB) 6-3 6-4; A Olhovsky (Rus) bt L Rehmann (Ger) 7-6 6-2; J Bates (GB) bt J Renzenbrink (Ger) 7-6 6- 2; J Siemerink (Neth) bt D Prinosil (Ger) 6-4, 6-4; A Jarryd (Swe) bt C-U Steeb (Ger) 6-4 6-2.

CHAMPIONS CUP (Indian Wells, Calif) First round: A Costa (Sp) bt C Costa (Sp) 6-3 6-3; D Wheaton (US) bt C Pioline (Fr) 6-3 6-1; A Gaudenzi (It) bt R Fromberg (Aus) 2-6 6-2 7-6; A Boetsch (Fr) bt A Peterson (US) 6-1 6-2;H Skoff (Aus) bt A Chesnokov (Rus) 7-5 6-3; J Bjorkman (Swe) bt K Novacek (Cz Rep) 7-5 6-2.

EVERT CUP (Indian Wells, Calif): Singles final: M J Fernandez (US) bt N Zvereva (Bela) 6-4 6-3. Doubles final: L Davenport and L Raymond (US) bt A Sanchez Vicario (Sp) and L Neiland (Ukr) 2-6 6-4 6-3.

WOMEN'S DELRAY BEACH WINTER CHAMPIONSHIPS (Florida) Singles, first round: N Bradtke (Aus) bt Shi-Ting Wang (Tai) 7-6 6-2; N Tauziat (Fr) bt R Grande (It) 7-6 6-2; A Gavaldon (Mex) bt T Ignatieva (Bela) 6-4 6-2; S Rottier (Neth) bt K Studenikova (Slovak) 7-6 6-3; M Sanchez Lorenzo (Sp) bt P Hy-Boulais (Can)1-6 7-5 6-1; J Lee (US) bt B Schett (Aut) 7-6 6-3; R Bobkova (Cz Rep) bt R Zrubakova (Slovak) 6-3 6-3; M Vento (Ven) bt N Baudone (It) 6-2 6-0; C Singer (Ger) bt N Louarsabishvili (Geor) 5-76-4 6-3; J Nejedly (Can) bt S Testud (Fr) 6-16-4; C Cristea (Rom) bt C Valero (Sp) 4-66-1 7-6; K Radford (Aus) bt C Vis (Neth) 5-7 6-4 6-1; R McQuillan (Aus) bt M Tu (US) 7-5 6-1.