BRIEFLY : BECKER KOS SAMPRAS BEFORE A VOCAL HOME CROWD.

In a match both players likened to a heavyweight fight, Boris Becker rode the support of a roaring home crowd in Hamburg, Germany to beat Pete Sampras 7-6 (12-10), 7-6 (7-4) on Thursday for a spot in the semifinals of the ATP Tour World Championship.

``I had goose bumps, I was about to take off and fly into Nirvana,'' Becker said. ``I was so emotional, my heart was pumping so hard. It was the most amazing feeling I have ever had walking on a tennis court.''

Before a capacity crowd of 15,000 screaming, stomping fans at Europe Hall, Becker produced a stirring performance, defeating Sampras for the second time within a month in Germany.

A thunderous cheer greeted both players as they came down the ramp onto the court, while the ``Rocky'' tune blared from speakers.

``Walking out was like two heavyweights going at it,'' Sampras said. ``The electricity and the atmosphere was awesome.''

Earlier, Michael Chang rallied past Goran Ivanisevic 6-7 (10-8), 7-6 (7-5), 6-1.

SKIING

Emerging from the shadows of her more illustrious teammates, the small but powerful Sabina Panzanini of Italy pulled off her second World Cup career victory by winning the Cafe de Colombia giant slalom event in Park City, Utah.

Her combined time after two runs was 2 minutes 38.50 seconds. In second place, .62 behind Panzanini, was Anita Wachter of Austria; third, was Katja Seizinger of Germany, .81 behind the winner.

None of the six U.S. skiers among the 75 women competing performed well enough to make the top 30 cut for the second giant slalom run.

GOLF

Japan's Mayumi Hirase, a rookie pro golfer, took a one-shot lead with a 5-under 67 at the inaugural LPGA Tour Championship at the Desert Inn golf course in Las Vegas.

Tiger Woods struggled to a windblown 79 in the first round of the Australian Open to fall 12 strokes behind leader Greg Norman, who shot a 67.

BASEBALL

Looking to add speed and eventually replace Rickey Henderson in the leadoff spot, the San Diego Padres acquired Quilvio Veras from the Florida Marlins for reliever Dustin Hermanson.

Veras led the major leagues with 56 stolen bases as a rookie in 1995. A hamstring injury cost him nearly 1-1/2 months on the disabled list last year, and he eventually was demoted to Triple-A.

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Jose Rijo, still hoping to salvage his baseball career, had his third elbow operation in 15 months and is expected to miss the 1997 season. He had a ruptured flexor tendon in his right elbow. Rijo, the Reds' Most Valuable Player in their 1990 World Series sweep of Oakland, never fully recovered from reconstructive surgery in August 1995.