BRIEFLY.

Mauresmo reaches semis, can be No. 1

The No. 1 ranking may be beyond Amelie Mauresmo's reach at the Nasdaq-100 Open. She'll settle for winning the tournament.

The top-seeded Frenchwoman advanced to the semifinals by beating 17-year-old Ana Ivanovic 6-1, 6-4 Wednesday in Key Biscayne, Fla.

Mauresmo, who spent five weeks at No. 1 last year, will regain the top ranking if she wins the tournament and beats a top-five player in the final. That means she needs No. 3 Maria Sharapova to beat No. 9 Venus Williams in today's other semifinal.

Lindsay Davenport, who skipped the tournament to protect her troublesome knees, has been No. 1 since October.

``Of course I would love to get it back,'' Mauresmo said. ``But having had it once, it's pretty different. My goals are somewhere else. Doing well in these big events is today more important to me.''

Mauresmo plays unseeded Kim Clijsters, who beat No. 5 Elena Dementieva 6-2, 6-1 in a quarterfinal Wednesday. Unseeded David Ferrer and No. 29 Rafael Nadal advanced to an all-Spanish semifinal Friday. Ferrer swept No. 26 Dominik Hrbaty 6-2, 6-3, and Nadal beat No. 25 Thomas Johansson 6-2, 6-4.

HOCKEY: The NHL and players' association will hold the next round of labor talks early next week, with the union having little time remaining to make a deal that doesn't link league revenues to player costs.

HORSE RACING: Favorite High Fly will break from gate No. 4 in Saturday's Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park, one of the premier tuneups for the Kentucky Derby.

High Fly, to be ridden by Jerry Bailey, was installed as an 8-5 favorite in the $1 million race.

--Siphon Honey, ridden by Patrick Valenzuela, scored a two-length victory in the $50,064 feature race at Santa Anita.

MOTOR SPORTS: For the first time in nearly a decade, Richie Hearn and Sam Schmidt will have time to prepare for the Indianapolis 500.

Hearn and Schmidt announced this week they will have a Chevrolet-powered entry in the 89th running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 29. Hearn hasn't had a secure seat at Indy since 1996, his rookie year.

``Yeah, it's pretty much a surprise. I'm so used to having to arrive in Indy in May and walk around until something happens,'' said Hearn, a Pasadena High graduate and veteran of five Indy 500s. ``But I have to thank Meijer and Coca-Cola for coming ahead this early and having the faith in Sam and I to run their program this year.

- Tim Haddock

--The four-race suspension Kevin Harvick's crew chief got for rigging his gas tank was upheld by an appeals committee.

Todd Berrier admitted making the tank appear full when it actually wasn't during a qualifying run earlier this month at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. NASCAR implemented a rule this season requiring all cars to qualify with full tanks.

In addition to the suspension, Berrier was fined $25,000. Harvick was docked 25 points, as was car owner Richard Childress. Seimone Augustus of LSU, Duke's Monique Currie, Ohio State's Jessica Davenport, Janel McCarville of Minnesota and Kendra Wecker of Kansas State were named finalists for the women's John R. Wooden Award as college basketball's player of the year.

- Daily News Staff and Wire Services