Fountain Valley’s Graham Pulls Off the Perfect Upset

All the elements were there for a one-sided tennis match. A 17-year-old amateur, Debbie Graham, was playing in her first significant professional event. Her opponent, Elly Hakami, was the third-seeded player in the tournament and had given up only four games the last time she played Graham.

Well, it couldn’t have been more one-sided on Wednesday.

The winner didn’t lose a game. But this time--surprise--Graham was the one who was smiling when they shook hands at the net.

Graham, who lives in Fountain Valley, defeated Hakami in the second round of the $100,000 Virginia Slims of San Diego at the San Diego Tennis and Racquet Club.

Scores of 6-0, 6-0--fondly referred to as double bagels--are about as rare on the tour as Chris Evert serving and volleying. Even after Graham won the first set, she expected a much tougher fight in the second.

Hakami, though, didn’t even put up a token struggle.

“I’m still kind of shocked it was 6-0, 6-0,” said Graham, who will be a freshman at Stanford this fall. “In the first set, I thought she was trying to get it over with. I thought she’d start trying harder or playing better in the second set.”

Hakami, who reached the quarterfinals here last year and had a No. 40 ranking by the end of 1987, has been having a severe case of the second-year blues on the tour. Her ranking has fallen to No. 52 and obviously won’t be helped by losing to the No. 315 Graham.

Hakami had several reasons ready to explain the surprising result, none of which had much to do with Graham’s strong and consistent baseline play.

“First of all, my feet were killing me on the court,” she said. “I’ve had shin splints. My legs were taped, and I couldn’t stay in the points that long. Also, on my serve I couldn’t come down on my leg the way I usually do . . . “

You get the idea.

So, in an hour and six minutes, which is how long the match lasted, Graham turned her summer around. The victory was, to be sure, the biggest Graham had recorded against a professional. Until her win Wednesday, Graham’s most significant accomplishments were in smaller satellite tournaments earlier in the summer. She reached the semifinals in a $25,000 event and did it again in a $10,000 tournament.

But those were on a vastly different scale from this tournament. If Graham wasn’t an amateur, she would have made $2,125 by reaching the quarterfinals. She’ll play the winner of today’s match between Lisa Bonder-Kreis and Anna Ivan in the quarterfinals on Friday.

The only problem Graham had against Hakami occurred in the final game, as she couldn’t convert on her first five match points.

“I was just thinking about losing that game after being up 40-0,” Graham said. “I even double-faulted twice.”

No matter. All it took was a service winner on her sixth match point, and Graham was through with Hakami, and through . . . to the quarterfinals.