
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, March 12, 1990                   TAG: 9003123148
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B6   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: From Associated Press reports
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

SABATINI ENDS RUN BY CAPRIATI

Jennifer Capriati's whirlwind run through the Virginia Slims of Florida in her professional tennis debut came to an end Sunday when top-seeded Gabriela Sabatini stopped her 6-4, 7-5 in the tournament final in Boca Raton, Fla.

Sabatini, from Argentina, earned her first tournament title of the year and $70,000.

Capriati, 13, of Saddlebrook, Fla., is the youngest player since the open era began in 1968 to reach the final of a major professional tournament. She earned $28,000.

"I thought this week was one of the greatest weeks in my life," Capriati said. "My first pro tournament and I got to the finals. I'm just so excited that I got this far."

En route to the final, Capriati beat four players ranked in the top 40 in the world, including 10th-ranked Helena Sukova.

In other tennis:

The inaugural Grand Slam Cup will be held in Munich, West Germany from Dec. 11-16, the International Tennis Federation said today.

The tournament, a contoversial year-end event offering a $2 million first prize, will consist of 16 players who qualify by scoring points in the four Grand Slam events - Wimbledon and the U.S., Australian and French opens.

Several top players, including John McEnroe and Boris Becker, have said they might boycott the $6 million tournament and have criticized the prize money as too high.

by CNB