Maybe Lindsay Davenport's clay-court success at Amelia Island, Fla., will finally carry over to the French Open.
Davenport's powerful serve helped her offset 36 unforced errors and beat Silvia Farina Elia, 7-5, 7-5, yesterday to win the Bausch & Lomb Championships for the second consecutive year.
Lindsay Davenport finishes off Silvia Farina Elia for another Bausch & Lomb title. She hopes to repeat the win on clay at the French Open next month.
(Phil Coale -- AP)
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"This is a huge win for me," Davenport said. "Whenever I can win on clay and in a really tough tournament, it gives me a lot of excitement."
It also could give her more confidence heading into the French Open next month. Davenport hasn't reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros since 1999. The French also is the only Grand Slam that eludes the 28-year-old Californian, who won the U.S. Open in 1998, Wimbledon in 1999 and the Australian Open in 2000. . . .
Mariano Puerta of Argentina beat countryman Juan Monaco, 6-4, 6-1, to win the Casablanca (Morocco) Grand Prix Hassan II.
• BASEBALL: Roberto Clemente's oldest son said he unknowingly took steroids from a trainer in Puerto Rico while rehabbing a knee injury in the minor leagues in the 1980s.
Roberto Clemente Jr. told the Daily News he met Luiz Perez after undergoing a second operation for chronic pain in his right knee in 1987 while with the San Diego Padres organization.
Perez told Clemente Jr. he needed to start taking B-12 injections, along with steroids testosterone and androstendione to help increase his strength.
"He might as well have been speaking Chinese to me," Clemente Jr. told the newspaper. "I didn't know what they were, but he said they would help me and I said, 'Okay, great.' " . . .
A Southern California newspaper apologized to Bo Jackson and retracted part of a story saying the former football and baseball star used steroids.
"Jackson has stated publicly he has never used steroids," the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin said on its Web site. "We retract the quote and the further statement that the speaker personally witnessed this damage to his life."
• HORSE RACING: Rockport Harbor will skip the $1 million Arkansas Derby next weekend and instead aim for the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland on April 23 to qualify for the Kentucky Derby.
Trainer John Servis made the decision following a lackluster workout yesterday at Oaklawn Park.
"This isn't what we wanted," Servis said after a post-workout cell phone call to Rockport Harbor owner Rick Porter. "The Arkansas Derby was always the ideal way to go, but we have no choice."
