He Drops Game, Set and Pants

Sergi Bruguera and Boris Becker dropped their matches to low-ranked players Wednesday at the Seiko Super tournament at Tokyo, but Jeff Tarango of Manhattan Beach went one better. He dropped his pants.

Bruguera, seeded second, squandered a 5-1 lead in the final set and was upset by 145th-ranked Tommy Ho, 6-7 (7-4), 6-2, 7-6 (7-1).

Becker, seeded fifth, lost to 110th-ranked Brett Steven of New Zealand, 6-3, 6-4.

But most fans went home talking about Tarango dropping his pants after losing the eighth game of the second set to Michael Chang and waddling off the court with his shorts around his ankles.

“I felt that I let the match slip away a little bit, and I wanted to make light of it,” said Tarango, who retired from the match during the third set because of an arm injury. “I had exposed my weakness to Michael.”

He later apologized.

Tour supervisor Gayle Bradshaw said he would consider the matter overnight, then assess a fine within the range the tour allows, from $750 to $10,000.

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Martina Navratilova, playing the final European tournament of her career, came alive in the third set to defeat Ann Grossman, 6-4, 3-6, 6-0, in the first round of the Porsche Grand Prix at Filderstadt, Germany.

Jurisprudence

The trial of USC receiver Keyshawn Johnson was continued to Tuesday because prosecutors were not ready to present their case in Van Nuys Municipal Court. Johnson has pleaded not guilty to 1991 charges in connection with the theft of a $900 portable telephone and a $400 pager from an electronics store.

An attorney for former Alabama football player Gene Jelks waived arraignment on cocaine charges in a court hearing at Gadsden, Ala.

Tim Sabo, a Cincinnati Red employee whose lawsuit led to disclosures of racial remarks by Marge Schott, won a ruling in the Ohio Supreme Court allowing his $2.5-million case against the Cincinnati owner to proceed.

Sabo’s lawsuit alleges that he was fired in retaliation for damaging testimony against Schott in a separate lawsuit against her filed by the team’s limited partners.

Miscellany

Frenchman Didier Auriol put on a sensational comeback in the final stage and won the San Remo Rally at San Remo, Italy, to move closer to the world driver’s championship. . . . Atlanta’s Olympic organizers said they still must find at least $100 million to meet the budget of $1.6 billion needed to stage the 1996 Summer Games. . . . The Chicago Bulls signed first-round draft pick Dickey Simpkins to a multiyear contract. . . . Speedskater Bonnie Blair, gymnast Shannon Miller, UCLA softball player Lisa Fernandez and North Carolina soccer player Mia Hamm are the finalists for the 1994 Babe Zaharias Female Amateur Athlete Award.

Major League Soccer, which plans to start play in April, said it will hold two-day tryouts in 14 communities over the next two months. A tryout was scheduled for Los Angeles Dec. 17-18. . . . Hugh Hindman, the Ohio State athletic director who fired football coach Woody Hayes for slugging a player, died of complications from pneumonia. He was 67. . . . Dick Steinbaugh, a member of the Southern California Bowling Hall of Fame, died of cancer Tuesday in Las Vegas. He was 65.

University of Washington basketball players Michael McClain and Darren Mitchell have been suspended for three games after returning basketball shoes supplied by the school to a store in exchange for money. . . . Chris Sabo of the Baltimore Orioles became a free agent rather than accept an assignment to triple-A Rochester. . . . Left-handed reliever Dave Righetti, 35, was released by the Toronto Blue Jays. Righetti, 35, was 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA in 13 games with Toronto this season. Righetti is 79-77 lifetime with 252 saves and a 3.40 ERA.

A 10th athlete, an Iranian, has been reported missing from the Asian Games in Hiroshima, Japan. Police already were searching for four Sri Lankans, three Nepalese and two Pakistanis whose disappearance was reported earlier. None of the missing athletes has been identified and officials have refused to speculate on reasons for their disappearance, although the opportunity to find better-paying jobs in Japan has been mentioned.