BRIEFLY : ON SLOW DAY, RITTNER SCORES OPEN SURPRISE.

Stuck with a day of awful matches, fans at the U.S. Open in New York should have gotten a money-back guarantee, a rain check good despite a sunny afternoon, a free lunch or at least a prize in the $6 French fries.

Most of the 20,685 fans sensibly stayed out of the stadium Wednesday and wandered the back courts to get close-up looks at players, even if they didn't know who they were.

Those few thousand diehards who persevered in the stadium yawned through a sleepy show devoid of drama: Gabriela Sabatini beating Ann Grossman in straight sets, Lindsay Davenport doing the same against Henrietta Nagyova of Slovakia, and Todd Martin going to four boring sets before beating Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco.

Even the late addition of an extra match in the stadium, Barbara Rittner's 6-2, 6-1 upset of No. 13 Brenda Schultz-McCarthy, was as bad as it gets. Schultz-McCarthy sprayed 41 unforced errors. Rittner had only six, mainly because she didn't have to hit many balls thanks to Schultz-McCarthy's wildness.

The grandstand court next door had a bit more excitement when one obscure South African, David Nainkin, upset his volatile countryman, Wayne Ferreira, the No. 9 seed, 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 7-5.

Midway through the day, the night schedule took a hit when Monica Seles' match was canceled. Seles received a walkover to the third round because her opponent, Laurence Courtois of Belgium, came up lame with a left-knee injury.

HOCKEY

Center Saku Koivu's line combined for 10 points as Finland routed Germany 8-3 to clinch at least a second-round berth in the World Cup of Hockey at Helsinki, Finland.

Goaltender J.C. Bergeron, who has spent the past four seasons with Tampa Bay, has agreed to terms of a one-year contract with the Kings.

The Tampa Bay Lightning bolstered its offense by acquiring 500-goal scorer Dino Ciccarelli from the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for a conditional pick in the 1998 NHL draft.

NBA

The Clippers open their 1996-97 exhibition season on Oct. 11 at Detroit, the first of a four-game road trip to begin the eight-game schedule. The Clippers play Atlanta Oct. 13 in University Park, Pa., at Orlando (Oct. 15) and at Atlanta (Oct. 16) in Montgomery, Ala., before returning home Oct. 19 against Sacramento.

The Clippers play once at the Anaheim Pond (Oct. 22) against Philadelphia, travel to Vancouver (Oct. 24) and conclude the preseason at the Sports Arena against Denver. The Clippers open the regular season Nov. 1 at Golden State.

Lakers reserve forward Corie Blount was arressted on a $10,000 traffic warrant during a traffic stop in West Hollywood.

Blount, 27, was taken into custody on the misdemeanor warrant at 2:10 a.m. Wednesday morning, sheriff's spokesman Angie Prewitt said.

Blount posted bond and was released four hours later at the West Hollywood sheriff's station, and was scheduled to appear in Harbor County Municipal Court on Sept. 18, Prewitt said.

CAPTION(S):

Photo

PHOTO Barbara Rittner of Germany reacts after upsetting err or-prone Brenda Schultz-McCarthy, the No. 13 seed.

Associated Press