Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 30, 1993 TAG: 9301300279
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA LENGTH: Medium
SELES' SOUPED-UP SERVE BREAKS GRAF
Silent no longer and stronger than ever, Monica Seles unleashed seven aces today to sweep past Steffi Graf and capture a third straight Australian Open tennis championship.Seles, who restrained her grunts and got psyched out in losing to Graf at Wimbledon, let herself go to the ultimate as she solidified her No. 1 ranking with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory.
Seles' fastest serve, a 102-mph screamer, came on her final ace and wiped out a break point against her that would have put the third set back on serve in the seventh game. Instead, it let Seles get back to deuce, and she held on two errors by the demoralized Graf.
The triumph, worth nearly $280,000, gave Seles her eighth Grand Slam title and victories in seven of the past eight Grand Slam finals she's played.
"She really deserved to win today," said No. 2 Graf, who won three straight Australian Opens before Seles started her streak.
Seles' souped-up serve, one of the key parts of her game she's been developing, let her down in the first set when she started out with a double-fault. Seles double-faulted again in the last game of the set, when she was broken for the second time.
"I told myself to concentrate," Seles said. "Don't look at the score, just play point by point."
Grunting as loud as ever, desperate to chase down Graf's punishing forehands, Seles took a 2-1 lead in the second set when she broke Graf with the help of a double-fault by the German at 15-40.
From that moment, Seles never relented. She aced Graf to open the next game, and smacked two service winners, including one at 101 mph, to make it 3-1.
Graf, who had only one ace, was unable to attack the net against Seles' deep groundstrokes and couldn't cash in on a break point in the eighth game of the second set. Seles got back to deuce with a desperate lob long by Graf, then took the advantage with one of the most pivotal points of the match.
In the third set, Seles served three aces in her first two service games, then broke Graf to 4-2 after three deuces and three break points. The winning point came on a forehand by Graf that floated wide.
It's rare in women's tennis for any player to serve more than a few aces in a match, especially against someone of Graf's caliber. Graf managed to get a break point at 30-40 in the seventh game before that sizzling seventh ace by Seles.
On the men's side, Stefan Edberg may be pulling off the greatest hustle in Grand Slam history.
The most urbane and gentlemanly Swede is in the final of the Australian Open today against Jim Courier, one week after saying his back was "stiff as a board," so bad he couldn't roll off the trainer's table without the most severe pain.
Edberg's back is wrapped in an elastic brace and he ambles onto the court with just enough stiffness to make everyone think he's an easy mark.
"His back has been a little stiff," Pete Sampras said, "but when it comes to a big match like this I think that goes out the window."
And so, too, did Sampras' chances of winning.
Bad back and all, Edberg beat Sampras 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) to set up a rematch of last year's final against Courier, a straight-sets winner over Michael Stich.
Courier may not fall for the trick, though. His best friend on the tour is Sampras, and the advice from his buddy probably will be: "Watch out for the hustler."