French Open : Graf, Sabatini, Wilander Coast; Mecir Upset

What is a Grand Slam tournament without Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert? For the next two weeks, it’s the French Open, where the women’s singles show went on without them, even in spirit.

Steffi Graf set the tone as she raised the curtain Monday on opening day. She said goodby to Camille Benjamin of Bakersfield in 53 minutes, then seemed kind of irritated when asked about not having to say hello to Navratilova and Evert.

“They are not here,” Graf said. “That’s all. That’s the way it is.”

Fair enough. Actually, Benjamin wasn’t here for long, either. Graf put her away, 6-1, 6-1, which looked like a pretty big rout until Gabriela Sabatini walked on the court.

She pitched a shutout. It took Sabatini 59 minutes to overwhelm 115th-ranked Japanese Akemi Nishiya, 6-0, 6-0. Sabatini felt strong. She felt confident. But she did not feel pity.

“You never feel that,” Sabatini said. “If you can win, 6-0, 6-0, you try to do that.”

What Czech Martin Strelba, 22, tried to do was wear down Jimmy Connors, 36, in the bright sunshine, but he failed. Connors outlasted his younger opponent to score a difficult and draining 6-2, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory.

When the 3-hour 7-minute match was over, Connors leaned wearily on the net. The verdict?

“I’m still walking,” Connors said. “There have been no knockdowns yet.”

It was not a good day for upsets. Only one of note occurred, that involving Miloslav Mecir. The eighth-seeded Czech, who is feeling the effects of a bad back, was defeated by Thierry Tulasne of France, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-3.

Everything else went according to form. Stefan Edberg, Mats Wilander, Jakob Hlasek, and Tim Mayotte won, although Hlasek’s victory was anything but routine.

Jorge Arrese of Spain held five match points on Hlasek’s serve in the 10th game of the fifth set, but Hlasek saved them all. The sixth-seeded Swiss won, 6-4, 1-6, 2-6, 6-4, 9-7 in a match that was decidedly uphill.

“I was lucky,” Hlasek said.

So it was a philosophical Hlasek who critiqued his performance.

“A first round is a first round,” he said. “Roland Garros is Roland Garros.”

And a rose is a rose, except possibly on center court, where brightly colored chrysanthemums are the flowers on display.

This is also where Wilander’s hopes bloomed. The fourth-seeded Swede eliminated qualifier Tomas Carbonell of Spain, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, in a match that was so easily won Wilander found time to tinker with his serve, thinking ahead to Wimbledon.

Wilander’s well-chronicled plunge from No. 1 to No. 4 in the rankings has been marked by his inability to motivate himself, but all that may change quickly.

If Wilander plays reasonably well, he could go a long way here. Wilander’s second-round match is against another qualifier, Diego Perez of Uruguay. In any event, Wilander is just glad to be here.

“It’s very much a relief,” he said. “I’ve been looking forward to this for two months. In the Grand Slam tournaments, I feel I only play for myself. I don’t feel too much pressure.

“But this is tournament I have to do well in,” Wilander said. “I have to prove something.”

Edberg, seeded third, defeated Marian Vajda of Czechoslovakia, 6-2, 6-0, 1-6, 6-3, and said afterward that he thinks he’s playing well enough to win here.

“Someone is going to have to play very well to beat me,” Edberg said.

Australian Mark Kratzmann couldn’t play well enough to beat the seventh-seeded Mayotte, who swiftly won the first-round match, 6-1, 6-2, 6-3.

Because of the speed with which she dispatched Benjamin, Graf probably spent more time doing post-match interviews than she did playing. Graf said there was no reason to think her task was made easier when Navratilova and Evert declined to play.

“No, because there are so many clay-court players here,” she said. “You can never say it is easy. I will take it the same way. For sure, with all the best players here, it would be different.”

Sabatini said she can think of a reason for wanting Navratilova and Evert in the field.

“If they were playing, it would be more motivating for everyone, but Steffi is playing,” Sabatini said. “I don’t know that if they were here they would get to the semifinals. There are so many younger players now that can be difficult.

“The Spanish--like (Arantxa) Sanchez and (Conchita) Martinez--or (Natalia) Zvereva and also (Mary Joe) Fernandez and (Monica) Seles--they are all good players,” she said.

Maybe one of them has a chance. But until that time, this tournament belongs to Graf.

“This one is different,” she said. “It is the first (Grand Slam event) I won and I like it very much.”

Tennis Notes

Tenth-seeded Swede Kent Carlsson withdrew because of tendinitis in his knees and his place was taken by Danilo Marcelino of Brazil. Also, 12th-seeded Emilio Sanchez of Spain is being bothered by a pulled muscle and he is expected to withdraw today. . . . Stefan Edberg on playing on the Roland Garros clay: “You have to be physically and mentally strong on this stuff. It’s very hard work. Every point you have to work hard for.”