BRIEFLY : AGASSI IN FINAL OF CLAY TOURNAMENT.

Byline: - Daily News Wire Services

Andre Agassi reached his first clay-court final in three years when he beat Galo Blanco 6-4, 6-4 Saturday in the semifinals of the BMW Open in Munich, Germany.

Agassi's opponent in the final will be seventh-seeded Thomas Enqvist, who beat his fellow Swede Magnus Gustafsson 6-3, 6-4.

In a match delayed five hours by rain, Agassi needed 85 minutes to defeat the Spanish clay-court specialist.

The last time Agassi won a title on European red clay was in 1988 in Stuttgart, Germany.

Top-ranked Martina Hingis cruised into the final of the German Grand Prix in Hauburg and will meet second-seeded Jana Novotna for the clay-court title.

Hingis took just 51 minutes to defeat Barbara Schett 6-2, 6-2 while Novotna rallied to beat Patty Schnyder 2-6, 7-5, 6-3.

In the recent Fed Cup match between Switzerland and the Czech Republic, Hingis beat Novotna in three sets.

Steffi Graf, off the women's tennis tour since March because of a strained hamstring, has pulled out of this week's Italian Open in a further blow to her comeback attempts.

The German Sports Agency, SID, also reported that the world's former top-ranked player will be forced to miss the French Open, which runs from May 25 to June 7, because of the injury.

The Italian Open begins Monday and organizers had expected Graf to play, but they said she is still bothered by the left hamstring injury suffered during a semifinal match against Lindsay Davenport at Indian Wells March 12.

Top see Pete Sampras cruised into the final of the $315,000 AT&T Challenge in Duluth, Ga., with a 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 victory over Alex Calatrava of Spain.

The world's No. 1 player, seeking just his third career title in clay, will meet second seed Jason Stoltenberg of Australia in today's title match. Stoltenberg, a finalist last year, was a 6-2, 6-4 winner over Romania's Andrei Pavel.

Sampras' solid and agressive play contrasted sharply with his matches earlier this week, when he struggled to find rhythm on his serves and groundstrokes in cold, damp conditions.

BOXING: Hacine Cherifi of France withstood a knockdown to take the WBC middleweight title from American Keith Holmes, winning a unanimous decision in Villeurbanne, France.

Two judges scored the 12-round bout 115-112 for Cherifi, and a third had it 115-113. It was Holmes' third defense of his title.

On the same card, Fabrice Tiozzo easily defended his WBA cruiserweight title with a first round knockout over American Terry Ray.

Tiozzo will probably defend his title against Ezequiel Paixao in July before a possible cruiserweight unification fight against IBF champion Imamu Mayfield.

BOWLING: Norm Duke beat week-long leader Eric Forkel 279-256 to win the championship in the PBA's Tucson Open.

Forkel had dominated his hometown tournament until the final match when Duke caught him.

Forkel and Duke came out firing, matching strikes through the first five frames. Duke left a 10-pin in the sixth frame while Forkel's strike streak continued through the seventh.