Sports briefs for July 18, 2005

Monday, July 18, 2005 | 9:21 a.m.

Nalbandian leads Argentina into semis

David Nalbandian beat Lleyton Hewitt in straight sets to lead Argentina against Australia in their ill-tempered Davis Cup tie and into the semifinals. Russia won both singles matches Sunday to defeat France.

Nalbandian gave Argentina an insurmountable 3-1 lead with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 victory in a repeat of the Wimbledon final Hewitt captured three years ago. He won his other singles match against big-serving Wayne Arthurs on grass in Sydney and teamed with French Open finalist Mariano Puerta to take the doubles.

"This is incredible, an incredible moment," 10th-ranked Nalbandian told reporters after winning in less than two hours. "The team is very strong."

In September, Argentina visits Slovakia, and Russia travels to Croatia. Argentina, Slovakia and Croatia are seeking a first title in the top team event in men's tennis.

Guillermo Coria said he felt like "killing" Hewitt after a loss in the opener of the best-of-five encounter two days ago, while Hewitt countered by saying his opponent was a "sore loser."

The No. 5 seed from Israel was leading the tiebreaker 3-0 when the unseeded Garbin asked for a break in play and collapsed on a bench.

Grimacing from cramps and nearly fainting, Garbin was treated by the tournament doctor and then carried on a stretcher to the club's infirmary.

Organizers later said that Garbin had recovered from the sunstroke. The temperature at Club La Meridiana was about 95 degrees.

Rookies beat veterans in all-star game

At Los Angeles, Dijon Thompson scored 25 points and Hakim Warrick had 24 to lead the NBA Rookies to a 129-116 win over the NBA Veterans in the 20th annual Midsummer Night's Magic all-star game.

Sunday's game is part of a five-day event organized by Magic Johnson to raise money for college scholarships for inner-city youth.

Johnson said between the third and fourth quarters that this would be his last year as the event's chairman. Boston's Paul Pierce and Golden State's Baron Davis would take over, Johnson said.

Dahntay Jones of the Memphis Grizzlies scored 24 points and Toronto's Chris Bosh had 20 for the NBA Veterans.

Participants in previous games included Johnson, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Charles Barkley, Allen Iverson and Karl Malone.

-- Sun wire services