Tennis Roundup : Jaeger Returns to Singles Play With Victory Over Gerken at San Diego

Andrea Jaeger, playing in her first singles tournament in almost a year, defeated Barbara Gerken Tuesday in an first-round match of the $75,000 Virginia Slims of San Diego women’s tournament. Jaeger needed only 65 minutes to oust Gerken, 6-2, 6-3.

The win, fashioned in the familiar Jaeger style of strong baseline play with many lobs, earned the 19-year-old a spot in the round of 16 where she will face 15-year-old Melissa Gurney Thursday.

In other first-round action Tuesday, top-seeded Wendy Turnbull of Australia overcame an erratic second set to oust Heather Ludloff, 6-4, 1-6, 6-2; Barbara Jordan defeated second-seeded Gigi Fernandez of Puerto Rico, 6-0; 7-5; seventh-seeded Robin White downed France’s Sophie Amiach, 6-0, 6-1, and sixth-seeded Roz Fairbank of South Africa downed Stephanie Rehe, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.

Jaeger, ranked No. 3 in the world in 1982-83 and the youngest player ever to be seeded at Wimbledon, was forced out of action last by a rash of injuries that included strained rotator cuff, a pinched nerve in her neck and bouts with arthritis and back spasms.

The injuries forced her out of the French Open in May, then the Olympic Tennis matches in August.

“I was just run down, my body couldn’t take it,” Jaeger said of her injuries. “I thought I was tough, that I could take it forever, but I found out I couldn’t.”

Hard-serving John Sadri pulled off the first upset of the $375,000 WCT-Atlanta tennis tournament, upsetting fourth-seeded Tomas Smid, 6-3, 6-4, in first-round play.

Fifth-seeded Scott Davis, ranked No. 13 in the world, had a scare from veteran Wojtek Fibak of Poland before winning, 6-2, 3-6, 7-5.

At Marbella, Spain, Top-seeded Francesco Cancellotti of Italy overwhelmed Fernando Luna, 6-2, 6-1, in the opening match of a $100,000 Grand Prix tournament.