3rd Seed Sabatini Wins Round, U.S.S.R. Suffers 2nd Tokyo Upset

Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina, struggling at first, beat an unheralded Japanese player today, but Natalia Zvereva became the Soviet Union’s second upset victim in the Pan Pacific Open tennis tournament.

Sabatini, seeded third and ranked fourth among the world’s women players, beat 172nd-ranked Akemi Nishiya 6-3, 6-2 in 81 minutes.

In another second-round match, American qualifier Molly Van Nostrand, ranked 239th, upset Zvereva, ranked eighth, 6-2, 7-5. Soviet player Larisa Savchenko, ranked 17th, fell victim Tuesday to Japan’s Nana Miyagi, 7-5, 5-7, 4-6.

Sabatini, 18, an Australian Open semifinalist, told reporters, “At first, it was not an easy game. I never saw her (Nishiya’s) game before. She ran well and had nice back- and forehands shots.”