BRIEFLY : KOURNIKOVA WILL NOT EMPOWER DAVENPORT.

Byline: Daily News Wire Services

Lindsay Davenport, saying aggression was the major element in her play, powered her way by Anna Kournikova in the quarterfinals Friday of the Bausch & Lomb Championships in Amelia Island, Fla.

Davenport, using hard, deep ground strokes - many of which clipped the lines - beat the outspoken 16-year-old Russian sensation 7-5, 6-3.

``Today I wanted to really be aggressive, whether I lost it by making a ton of errors or won it by controlling the points,'' Davenport said. ``I wanted to dictate play through my power game and my aggressiveness.''

But 16th-ranked Kournikova, who beat Davenport in a three-set match last month at the Lipton, downplayed Davenport's game.

``No, she doesn't hit the ball that hard,'' said Kournikova, adding that 16-year-old Croatian Mirjana Lucic ``hits it harder than Davenport does.''

Davenport, who at 6-foot-2-1/2, 175 pounds, uses her power to put away many of her opponents, was surprised by the comments.

``She can say what she wants,'' Davenport said. ``She's still young. I think she'll mature in a little bit and stop worrying so much what people think about her and her image.''

Byron Black of Zimbabwe, a former USC star, upset seventh-seed Gianluca Pozzi 6-4, 6-0 to advance to the semifinals of the Salem Open in Hong Kong. Also advancing was third-seed Thomas Johansson of Sweden, who struggled to a 7-6 (8-6), 7-5 victory over Sandon Stolle of Australia.

U.S. Open champion and top-seeded Pat Rafter of Australia and defending champion Mikael Tillstrom of Sweden won three-set matches and advanced to the semifinals of the Gold Flake Open in Madras, India. Rafter beat Lars Bugsmuller of Germany 7-6 (7-3), 0-6, 7-5, after Tillstrom beat Mark Woodforde of Australia 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (7-3).

FOOTBALL: Dallas Cowboys cornerback Deion Sanders donated $1 million to Project 200, a Dallas youth project sponsored by The Potter's House Church, which he credits with his salvation. Sanders wrote the million-dollar check at the Dallas Convention Center in front of about 10,000 cheering worshippers at a Bible conference.

The Jacksonville Jaguars re-signed Pro Bowl wide receiver Jimmy Smith to a five-year contract extension that will reportedly pay him $19 million over the next six seasons.

MOTOR SPORTS: Mary Fendrich Hulman, whose frail voice delivered the most famous phrase in auto racing - ``Gentlemen, start your engines!'' - for almost two decades at the Indianapolis 500, died at 93. She was the widow of Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony Hulman.

McLaren's David Coulthard overcame a slick and messy track to post the fastest time in the free practice session for the Argentine Grand Prix in Buenos Aires.

The Scot clocked the fastest lap of 1 minute, 28.130 seconds, around the 2.650-mile circuit at an average speed of 108.126 mph.

Robert Pressley, beset by poor finishes this year in the Busch Grand National series, won the first pole of his career in qualifying for the Galaxy Foods 300 in Hickory, N.C.

BOXING: John Tate, whose tormented life went uphill during a five-month reign as a world heavyweight champion and then downhill again, was killed early Thursday morning in a one-truck accident in Knoxville, Tenn., where he lived. He was 43.

BASKETBALL: Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs and Tim Hardaway of the Miami Heat were chosen for the final two spots on the U.S. men's World Championship team, The Associated Press learned.

The other 10 men were chosen last summer: Vin Baker and Gary Payton of Seattle, Terrell Brandon of Milwaukee, Kevin Garnett and Tom Gugliotta of Minnesota, Grant Hill of Detroit, Allan Houston of New York, Christian Laettner of Atlanta, Glen Rice of Charlotte and Chris Webber of Washington.

Gugliotta was selected after Shaquille O'Neal turned down an invitation.