BRIEFLY : SANCHEZ VICARIO SUCCEEDS AT LAST.

After a decade of trying, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario finally won the Family Circle Cup, beating surprise finalist Barbara Paulus 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 Sunday to earn the $200,000 first prize in the year's opening clay-court tournament, at Sea Pines Racquet Club in Hilton Head, S.C.

``I was coming every year, hoping to do a little better than the year before,'' she said. ``Finally, the 10th time has been the one.''

Paulus made the final by topping two-time defending champion and No. 1-seed Conchita Martinez 7-6 (7-2), 6-4. Sanchez Vicario defeated No. 6 Jana Novotna in the semifinals, held Sunday because rain washed them out a day earlier.

Sanchez Vicario started playing Hilton Head as a 15-year-old in 1987. But even after becoming known as an elite clay-court player, she always seemed to run into someone hotter at the Family Circle.

Sanchez Vicario lost to eventual champion Steffi Graf in 1989 and 1993, eventual 1991 winner Gabriela Sabatini, and in 1990, as a No. 2 seed, lost Jennifer Capriati in the American's debut tournament.

It looked like 1995 would be Sanchez Vicario's tournament as she came in ranked No. 1 in the world. But a haphazard stumble in the quarterfinals severely sprained her right ankle and forced her first withdrawal froma pro tournament.

``I was playing some pretty good tennis then,'' she said, ``but you can't worry about that. It gave me the strength to come back here and try to win it.''

BASKETBALL

Dallas Comegys, a former NBA player now with a Turkish team, vowed to play again after recovering from a gunshot wound that left him in critical condition. ``I'll be back with my club, soon,'' Comegys said by phone from the intensive care unit of Uludag University Medical School Hospital in Bursa, Turkey.

HOCKEY

The Ice Dogs, playing their fourth road game in five nights, were beaten 6-5 in a shootout by the Cleveland Lumberjacks.

The Ice Dogs took a 2-0 lead in the shootout on goals by Todd Gillingham and Dan Lambert, but went scoreless on their next three opportunities. The Lumerjacks were successful on their past three shootout attempts to get the win.

The Ice Dogs, who never trailed until the shootout was over, gave up two third period goals, with Jock Callander scoring the game-tying goal with 6:49 remaining.

Patrik Augusta, Dan Lambert and Dave Smith each had one goal and one assist for the Ice Dogs.

OLYMPICS

In Atlanta, Glen Dubis and Rob Harbison shot their way onto the U.S. Olympic 3x40 rifle team. Dubis, of Bethel Park, Pa., finished the three day match with an overall score of 3692.2 points out of a possible 3818, and Harbison of Fallston, Md., was a second overall with 3679.1.

SOCCER

Grenada advanced to the second round of qualifying for the 1998 World Cup, routing Guyana 6-0 to win their home-and-home series on 8-1 aggregate in St. George's, Grenada.

BOXING

World champion Alexei Lezin, rested after winning his semifinal on a walkover, captured the super heavyweight title at the European Amateur Boxing Championships by winning a decision over Ukraine's Vladimir Klitchko in Vejle, Denmark. Russia dominated the tournament by winning three of the 12 finals.

Floyd Mayweather, the son of a former welterweight contender, won a losers' bracket bout in the U.S. Boxing Trials in Oakland to stay in the chase for an Olympic berth. He will join 11 other challengers in Augusta, Ga., April 18-20 who must defeat the finals champions twice to represent the United States in Atlanta.

MOTOR SPORTS

Tommi Makinen survived a flat tire and a flash flood to win Kenya's three-day Safari Rally, the world tour's roughest and fastest rally. Makinen traded leads three times with Kenneth Eriksson, who struggled with mechanical problems, on the last leg of the 1,743-mile race.

SOURCE: Daily News Staff and Wire Services

CAPTION(S):

Photo

PHOTO Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of Spain reacts with a grin a fter winning the Family Circle Cup tournament.

Associated Press