Tennis

John Newcombe, the former Wimbledon champion, has been told his job as Australia's Davis Cup captain is safe, two weeks after the country was knocked out of the World Group. Tennis Australia, the sport's national ruling body also retained Tony Roche as Davis Cup coach.

The WTA Tour's two-year search for a sponsor came to an end when they signed a deal with Canadian-based computer graphics software maker Corel. The contract will begin with the WTA Tour Championships in New York in November and will incorporates the software maker's name into the circuit, which will be known as the Corel WTA Tour. Kraft Foods ended their sponsorship with the WTA at the end of the 1993 season.

Russia have been fined approximately pounds 16,000 by the International Tennis Federation for watering the court before last month's Davis Cup semi-final victory against Germany in Moscow.

Steffi Graf, the Wimbledon champion, is still hoping to compete in next week's Brighton tournament - despite widespread reports that she has withdrawn because of back trouble. Graf, who shares the world No 1 ranking with Monica Seles, has been nursing a chronic back complaint for several months, and has not played since winning the US Open early last month.