TENNIS ROUNDUP : Graf Dominates Sanchez Vicario

Steffi Graf of West Germany won one of the few women’s tennis titles that had eluded her as the world’s top-ranked player with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Spain’s Arantxa Sanchez Vicario Sunday in a $350,000 tournament at Amelia Island, Fla.

Graf dominated the first meeting between the two on clay since the 1989 French Open final and avenged a loss that cost her a second consecutive Grand Slam.

The victory, worth $70,000, was the 47th of Graf’s career and extended her winning streak to 57 matches. It was her first title at Amelia Island since 1987. The Amelia Island tournament is one of the few that Graf has entered and not won since becoming No. 1. Gabriela Sabatini beat her in the semifinals in 1988 and in the final last year.

Graf, playing her first tournament since breaking her right thumb in a skiing accident in February, struggled to beat Carling Bassett-Seguso and Natalia Zvereva in matches leading up to the final, but had full command of her game against Sanchez Vicario.

She broke Sanchez Vicario for a 3-1 lead in the first set, and won the next nine games to finish the match in 47 minutes. Sanchez Vicario won just eight points in the second set and had few opportunities to attack Graf the way she did Sabatini in the semifinals.

Sanchez Vicario eliminated Sabatini, seeded second, in straight sets with aggressive net play. But Graf forced her to stay on the baseline.

The win improved Graf’s record to 6-1 against Sanchez Vicario, including a 3-0 mark since the French Open. The other victories were on grass and carpet, faster surfaces that favor Graf.

Stefan Edberg of Sweden, rallying from 2-4 deficits in each set, defeated Aaron Krickstein, 6-4, 7-5, to win the men’s title of the $1,150,000 Japan Open at Tokyo.

In the women’s final, top-seeded Catarina Lindqvist of Sweden defeated sixth-seeded Elizabeth Smylie of Australia, 6-3, 6-2.

Edberg broke Krickstein’s serve in the seventh and ninth games of the first set to rebound from a slow start. In the second set, he forced breaks in the seventh and 11th games to improve his record against Krickstein to 2-3. Serving for the title at 6-5, Edberg opened with his fifth ace of the match. At match point, he hit a groundstroke beyond Krickstein’s reach.

Lindqvist and Smylie took turns breaking through the first four games. But Lindqvist began to take control when Smylie’s game became erratic in the ninth game of the first set.

In the second set, Lindqvist broke in the first, third and seventh games and Smylie broke the sixth. Lindqvist led, 40-15, in the eighth game when Smylie netted a forehand to wrap up the 67-minute match.

Edberg won $137,500, while Krickstein earned $72,380. Lindqvist received $27,000 and Smylie $13,500.

The men’s doubles title went to Australians Mark Kratzmann and Wally Masur, who beat Kent Kinnear and Brad Pearce, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Smylie and Kathy Jordan won the women’s doubles, beating Hu Na and Michelle Jaggard, 6-0, 3-6, 6-1.

Andres Gomez of Ecuador won the $350,000 Count of Godo tournament at Barcelona by beating Guillermo Perez-Roldan of Argentina, 6-0, 7-6 (7-1), 3-6, 0-6, 6-2.

Gomez, seeded fourth, defended the title he won last year and earned $70,000. Perez-Roldan, seeded 10th, won $37,000.