TENNIS AUSTRALIAN OPEN : Novotna Ends 3-Year Graf Streak at 25 Matches

MELBOURNE, Australia —  The Steffi Graf era at the Australian Open is over.

Jana Novotna, a Czech who revamped her game to become a force in women’s singles, beat Graf, 5-7, 6-4, 8-6, Tuesday to end the German’s three-year, 25-match reign at this Grand Slam event.

The 10th-seeded Novotna joined No. 3 Mary Joe Fernandez, a 6-3, 6-2 winner over Katerina Maleeva, in the semifinals.

In a match that featured a relentless net attack by Novotna and a desperate fight to survive by Graf, the Czech put the victory away at love in the final game after double-faulting at break point on her previous service.

Graf spotted Novotna leads of 1-4 in the first set and 0-4 in the second before struggling back.

Graf, the three-time defending women’s champion and seeded first, had not lost in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam event since the 1986 French Open. She had not lost in the Australian since the third round in 1984--she skipped the next two tournaments and the Australian wasn’t played in 1986--and had never lost in this stadium’s center court.

Graf, starting her 180th week at No. 1 in the rankings, had beaten Novotna in all nine of their previous matches, including five in Grand Slam tournaments. All were straight-set victories, except for a 1989 match on an artificial surface in Brighton, England.

Graf had changed into a bathing suit and gone to the beach after racing through her last match, and had dropped only 11 games in her first four matches. She had spoken of her desire to reassert herself here after failing to win the French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open during a year of personal problems and injuries in 1990.

But against the aggressive net attack of Novotna, who beat No. 8 Zina Garrison in the fourth round, Graf looked a step slower and mistake-prone, hitting easy groundstrokes into the net while falling behind.

Graf avoided digging herself in a hole in the third set as both players held service to 5-5. But Novotna took her to ad-out with a cross-court backhand passing shot in the 11th game, and put it away with a backhand approach that Graf hit wide.

Novotna blew her first chance at victory when she double-faulted at break point in the next game, but broke back on her fifth break point against Graf in the 13th game.

This time, Novotna didn’t yield, and Graf had nothing left. Novotna won at love when Graf weakly hit a backhand return into the net.

After her victory over Maleeva, Fernandez, ranked No. 4 in the world, said she is stronger and more aggressive than she was last year.

“I think it’s a matter of movement, moving up on the ball and not waiting for the ball to come to you,” she said. “It’s not so much muscling the ball or banging it over. I just have to keep taking the ball early and play close to the baseline to open the angles.

“I’ve tried to get stronger and fitter. I used to play the ball the same way, move my opponent side to side, but it’s easy to play someone like that. I’m trying to take more risks.”

Relying on groundstrokes with occasional ventures to the net, Fernandez won seven consecutive games from 2-3 in the first set to 3-0 in the second. She broke for the match on her first opportunity, drilling an overhead into the fifth-seeded Bulgarian’s forehand corner.

“From the fifth game on I dictated the play much more and kept on doing it,” Fernandez said.

She has dropped only 17 games in her five matches this year and has won 11 of 12 matches here over the past two years.

“I like playing here,” said Fernandez, boosted by the fans and a large American flag in the stands. “It’s one of my favorite places and I always have fun out there.”