Sports briefs 10/20/04

Miscellaneous

• Southwest Missouri State University faces a second complaint that it does not offer equal athletic opportunities for female students.

Joyce Mahoney, a Springfield women's rights advocate, filed the complaint with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights.

She filed a similar complaint against the university in 2001, alleging the school didn't offer equal athletic opportunities for women. The complaint is still under consideration by the civil rights office in Kansas City.

Tennis

• Andre Agassi got past big-serving Max Mirnyi 7-6 (5), 6-3 Tuesday to reach the third round at the Madrid Masters. The second-seeded Agassi, the tournament's 2002 champion, was given a first-round bye. He owns a record 17 Masters titles.

Agassi's next match is against No. 14-seeded Vince Spadea or Spanish teen Rafael Nadal, a 6-2, 6-1 winner against Davide Sanguinetti. Tommy Haas and Taylor Dent advanced to the second round with easy wins. Haas beat Xavier Malisse 6-4, 6-1, while Dent defeated Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-2. Also, Ivan Ljubicic eliminated Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-4, and Fernando Verdasco breezed past Jonas Bjorkman 6-1, 6-2.

Venus Williams reached the second round of the Swisscom Challenge with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Karolina Sprem, who upset her in the second round at Wimbledon.

In other action, eighth-seeded Nadia Petrova downed Lisa Raymond 6-4, 6-3, No. 9 Ai Sugiyama defeated Shinobu Asgoe 6-2, 6-3, and No. 10 Patty Schnyder overcame Magdalena Maleeva 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 in a matchup between past champions in Zurich.

Also, Paola Suarez beat Jelena Kostanic 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, and Flavia Pennetta ousted Marie Gayanay Mikaelian 6-2, 6-1.

-- From wire reports