TENNIS

FEDERER PULLS OUT OF WIMBLEDON TUNEUP EVENT

Roger Federer withdrew from his traditional grass-court warmup for Wimbledon yesterday, citing fatigue one day after losing to Rafael Nadal in the French Open final.

In four consecutive years, Federer has won the Gerry Weber Open title and then gone on to win Wimbledon.

“In an attempt to prevent injury after the long final in Paris, I cannot defend my title at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle,” Federer said in a brief statement on his Web site.

BORG BITTEN DURING DOGFIGHT, WITHDRAWS FROM EXHIBITION

Bjorn Borg was severely bitten in the leg by a German shepherd while trying to stop a dogfight and withdrew from his first grasscourt match in 26 years.

The five-time Wimbledon champion was bitten in his right leg when he tried to pull the dog, Wolf, away from his golden retriever, Lipton, at his home in Sweden over the weekend.

He was scheduled to play 1987 Wimbledon champion Pat Cash in an exhibition at the Liverpool International this week, marking his first grass-court singles match since losing to John McEnroe in the 1981 Wimbledon final.

BASEBALL

AUCTION HOUSE WITHDRAWS $1M BOUNTY ON NO. 756

The prospect of a melee in the stands prompted a prominent auction house yesterday to withdraw a $1 million bounty on Barry Bonds’s career-record homer baseball.

Bonds is nine home runs from tying Hank Aaron’s home run record this season, and sports memorabilia experts have speculated that the San Francisco Giants slugger’s 756th homer ball would command six figures at auction. Dallas-based Heritage Auction Galleries upped the ante last month, offering $1 million to purchase the ball.

But after a Heritage auctioneer met with a security official at AT&T Park, the company rescinded the offer.

“We didn’t hear of any way to prevent possible public safety problems, and we don’t want a fan or a child injured or killed,” said Greg Rohan, president of Heritage Auction Galleries, the world’s largest collectibles auction house which last year auctioned Babe Ruth’s 1933 All-Star jersey for $657,250.

BASKETBALL

DUMARS: NO REASON TO REMOVE SAUNDERS AS COACH

The Detroit Pistons have no plans to fire coach Flip Saunders despite disappointing endings the past two seasons.

“Just because we haven’t gotten to the [NBA] Finals, it doesn’t mean Flip has done a bad job,” Joe Dumars, president of basketball operations, said yesterday.

Dumars added that the team doesn’t plan drastic changes this off-season.

“We don’t have a fire sale going on,” Dumars said.

REFUND OFFERED FOR TICKETS BOUGHT AFTER DONOVAN HIRING

The Orlando Magic are offering refunds to fans who bought season tickets just after Billy Donovan’s hiring.

More than 200 packages sold within 24 hours of the announcement that the Magic had lured Donovan away from Florida, where he won two straight NCAA titles. Donovan changed his mind a day after his May 31 introduction, deciding to return to the Gators.

The Magic said they were contacting individual fans who bought tickets within 48 hours of the Donovan announcement. So far some have decided to keep the tickets, the team said without specifying an amount.