Three of the first four games went to deuce but, at 2-2, the German turned on the power, breaking serve twice to take the next four games and the set.At the start of the second set, however, Hingis started showing the talent which made her the youngest-ever quarter-finalist at the Australian Open in January.Mixing her game by coming up to the net and surprising her opponent with neat drop shots, Hingis broke Graf's service three times to level at one set each. A flow of unforced forehand errors was largely to blame for her defeat by Hingis."I've got to get physically in shape for Paris," Graf said, adding that she would not be ask for a wild-card entry for next week's Berlin Open. "I'll take some days off, try to relax a bit," she said.In the first set Graf appeared to have ironed out the problems she had shown in earlier rounds. "It feels great."For Graf, unbeaten in tournaments this year and winner of three of last year's four grand slams, it was the first defeat on clay since she lost to Mary Pierce in the French Open semi-finals two years ago.The 26-year-old German, playing her first tournament of the season on clay, has struggled all week to adapt her game to the slow Foro Italico surface. Stevenage have issued writs against the Football League and the Third Division's bottom club, Torquay, in an attempt to win promotion - despite failing to meet stadium criteria by the 31 December deadline..

Tennis Martina Hingis gave the world No 1, Steffi Graf, her first defeat on clay in almost two years yesterday when she beat the German in the quarter- finals of the Italian Open in Rome. The 15-year-old Swiss sixth seed demonstrated why she is tipped as a future champion, recovering from the loss of the first set to win 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 for the best victory of her short career."I've just beaten the world No 1," an ecstatic Hingis, ranked 20 in the world, said. "I offered to sign a fresh contract, which had been put to me some time ago, but was told the board had now decided to look elsewhere," Ward added.Graham Rix has been drafted in to coach the England Under-21 squad for the Toulon tournament from 24 May to 3 June. He is joined on the board by Alan Hedges, who is appointed managing director.The future of the GM Vauxhall Conference champions, Stevenage Borough, will be clearer on Thursday when the Conference and the Football League have management committee meetings. Dave Sexton, the Under- 21 manager, chose the Chelsea coach because Ray Wilkins, the Queen's Park Rangers player-manager, is unavailable.Clive Berlin has taken over as chairman at relegated QPR following Paul Thompson's decision to put the club up for sale. Berlin, the club's football administration manager, is in his second spell at the club after previously being general manager. Birmingham fit the bill perfectly." Sullivan indicated that Francis would be given at least pounds 2m to spend on new players.Bristol Rovers are not renewing the contract of their manager, John Ward.

"I was sacked at a six-minute meeting with the vice-chairman, Geoff Dunford," said Ward, whose contract was due to run out at the end of next month. It was a unanimous decision by the board of directors to appoint him and I hope he brings back the fans who watched him 20 years ago." Francis, who started his career at St Andrew's, said: "I always felt I'd like to be a boss again, as long as it was with an ambitious club, who matched my desire to achieve things. He played for West Bromwich Albion in the 1967 and 1970 League Cup finals and, in between in 1968, became the first man to be substituted in an FA Cup final.A tough defender who also played at Wembley for the Football League representative side, Kaye's first club was Scunthorpe United, where one of his colleagues was Ralph Clayton, Brigg's manager.Apart from a five-year break, Clayton has been with Brigg since the 1960s, and he brought Kaye with him when he returned to the club six years ago. "They're a couple of characters," Taylor said of Clayton and Kaye "Kaye does the tactics, Clayton is the motivator They've seen it all. They treat our lads like their kids."Brigg, of the Northern Counties East League, have two experienced former Football League players in their side: the striker Andy Flounders, once of Hull City, and the former Blackburn defender, David Mail. Clitheroe, their opponents from the North West Counties League, can field several players who were with Colne Dynamoes when they won the Vase in 1988..

Trevor Francis has been confirmed as the new manager at Birmingham City. The former Queen's Park Rangers and Sheffield Wednesday manager has signed a three-year contract with the First Division club. David Sullivan, the club's owner, said: "The boy wonder is back at Birmingham - someone with a passion and feeling for the club and an affinity with the city and supporters. "He's at the club every day, he looks after the office but does so much more. Right now [Thursday evening] he's running the bingo."Williams will be watching his team play at Wembley for the first time. A trip to the national stadium is no novelty, however, for Brigg's assistant manager, John Kaye.