BASEBALL

PETTITTE UNDERGOES SUCCESSFUL SURGERY

Andy Pettitte had surgery yesterday to repair a torn flexor tendon in his left elbow, and the Houston Astros said the operation was successful. Pettitte’s elbow will be placed in a temporary splint. The two-time All-Star left-hander is expected to be able to throw off flat ground in early December, and doctors say he likely will be full strength by spring training.

Pettitte, 32, was 6-4 with a 3.90 ERA in 15 starts for Houston this season. He injured the elbow while batting in April during his first game of the season.

BASKETBALL

MAVERICKS COMPLETE DEAL FOR DAMPIER

The Dallas Mavericks completed an eight-player deal yesterday that will bring Erick Dampier from Golden State.

Dallas sent Christian Laettner, Eduardo Najera, two future first-round draft picks, and the draft rights to guards Luis Flores and Mladen Sekularac to the Warriors for Dampier, Dan Dickau, Evan Eschmeyer, and the draft rights to Steve Logan.

The 6-foot-11 Dampier averaged career highs of 12.3 points and 12 rebounds in 74 games last season for the Warriors. The Mavericks said Dampier signed a multiyear deal with Golden State before the trade was completed. Contract details weren’t immediately available.

TENNIS

SERENA GETS FAVORABLE U.S. OPEN SEEDING

Serena Williams got a boost in the U.S. Open seedings yesterday. Her sister Venus did not.

Serena was seeded third behind Justine Henin-Hardenne and Amelie Mauresmo for the year’s last Grand Slam tournament – eight spots above her no. 11 ranking.Venus, ranked 12th in the world, got the no. 11 seed.

Otherwise, the men’s and women’s seedings match the rankings, with no. 1s Henin-Hardenne and Roger Federer leading the way. Defending men’s champion Andy Roddick was seeded no. 2, followed by Carlos Moya, 2001 champ Lleyton Hewitt, Tim Henman, and two-time winner Andre Agassi.

CAPRIATI ADVANCES AT PILTOT PEN

Third-seeded Jennifer Capriati outlasted Tatiana Golovin on long points yesterday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Pilot Pen tennis tournament. Capriati, the defending champion, defeated Golovin 6–3, 6-2 in about an hour.

Also advancing to the quarterfinals was no. 7 Elena Bovina with a 6-3, 6-2 win over qualifier Marta Marrero.

No.4 Maria Sharapova, the reigning Wimbledon champion, was upset by qualifier Mashona Washington, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2.

SOCCER

FOUR TOP TEAMS REACH CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Liverpool, Internazionale of Milan, AS Monaco, and Deportivo de La Coruna advanced last night to the first round of the European Champions League.

Liverpool lost 1-0 at home to Austria’s Grazer AK, which got a goal by Mario Tokic in the 55th minute, but advanced on 2-1 aggregate in the home-and-home series.

At Milan, Inter crusiesd to a 4-1 victory over Switzerland’s FC Basel and a 5-2 aggregate win. AS Monaco, which lost last season’s final to FC Porto, routed Slovenia’s Nova Gorica 6-0 to win the series 9-0. Following a 0-0 tie in Spain two weeks ago, Deportivo won 3-0 at Ireland’s Shelbourne.