Slims Tennis : Graham, 17, Pounds Way to Semifinal

When you’re Deborah Graham, 17 years old and on a roll, you don’t stop to ask questions.

Down love-40, your serve? Miss your first one?

“I have confidence in my second serve,” Graham said. “Why shouldn’t I hit out on it?”

Having trouble keeping the ball in play? Groundstrokes hard to control?

“I know I can make them,” Graham said. “So I have to keep trying them.”

Surprised that you have already won a couple of matches in the $100,000 Virginia Slims of San Diego tennis tournament? Just keep playing like you have no worries.

Lisa Bonder-Kreis of Los Angeles was the latest victim of Graham’s carefree attitude Friday at the San Diego Tennis and Racquet Club.

Graham, of Fountain Valley, hitting out on almost every shot and continuing to pound her serve despite 10 double-faults, rallied for a 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 quarterfinal victory.

For Graham, a former star at La Quinta High in Westminster and headed to Stanford next year, the victory was her third in a row here. And all have been surprises.

After gaining wild-card entry into the tournament, Graham beat Andrea Holikova in straight sets in the first round and followed that up by stunning No. 3-seeded Elly Hakami, 6-0, 6-0, in a second-round match.

“Am I surprised I’m doing this well?” Graham said repeating an often-asked question Friday. “I’m still shocked I got past the first round.”

Graham advanced Friday because of her ability to play all-out on every point no matter what the score.

Bonder-Kreis, who was a top-20 player four years ago when she was 18, has slipped all the way to No. 112 in the rankings. But she’s steady from the baseline, and it takes good shots to beat her.

In the first set, Graham was incapable of executing the shots she needed, and Bonder-Kreis cruised, 6-1.

In the second set, Graham, who is 5-feet 11-inches tall and relies on a big serve, began missing her first serve with regularity. It turned out to be a blessing.

“Her second serve was tougher to return than her first one,” Bonder-Kreis said. “It was spinning and . . . “

Up 5-2, but down 0-40, Graham spun a second serve deep for a service winner. A few moments later, she punched a backhand volley into the corner and evened the match.

“She started making her shots and for some reason, I didn’t change my game,” Bonder-Kreis said. “I guess I was hoping that maybe she would start missing.”

In the third set, that rarely happened. Graham broke Bonder-Kreis in the first game and then won the second game on a second-serve ace at 40-30.

Graham broke again in the ninth game to put away the victory.

Today, she can expect her toughest test from second-seeded Stephanie Rehe, who is only 18 but has been on the pro tour for four years.

Tennis Notes

Today’s schedule will begin at 1:30 p.m. with a doubles match between top-seeded Betsy Nagelsen-Dinky Van Rensburg and Jo Durie-Sharon Walsh-Pete. That will be followed by Rosalyn Fairbank of San Diego against qualifier Ann Grossman of Grove City, Ohio, in the first singles semifinal. Grossman defeated another qualifier, Jennifer Santrock of Plano, Tex., 1-6, 6-3, 6-3, in a quarterfinal. The Stephanie Rehe-Deborah Graham match will follow.