Sabatini Spins Out Against Mary Joe Fernandez : Bothered by Nerves, Second-Seeded Player Falls to Floridian for Fourth Straight Time

There will be an empty seat at the Carrollton School graduation exercises Wednesday in Miami. That is where the schoolmates of Mary Joe Fernandez will gather to receive their diplomas, but she won’t be there.

Three years after she turned pro at 14, Fernandez reached the highest point of her part-time career on a blustery Sunday at Roland Garros when she defeated Gabriela Sabatini, 6-4, 6-4.

It was a victory that propelled the 17-year-old Floridian into the French Open quarterfinals while continuing her uncanny dominance over the tournament’s second-seeded player.

Fernandez had won her previous three matches against Sabatini, but those were not played on clay.

Still, the 15th-seeded Fernandez solved Sabatini’s looping topspin, which certainly helped, but then there was something else, too.

“I was just too nervous to play the match,” Sabatini said. “I feel a little pressure to win the match because I lost to her many times.”

Perhaps she felt as nervous as Fernandez did as a 14-year-old when she last made the quarterfinals here only to be swamped by the power of Helena Sukova.

As it was, Fernandez seemed surprised with the ease of her win.

“I thought it would be more difficult since this is her favorite surface,” said Fernandez, who understands how her previous victories may have bothered Sabatini.

“I guess it would get to you mentally if you lose,” Fernandez said. “Obviously, she does go out on the court thinking she could lose against me.”

Fernandez meets Helen Kelesi in the quarterfinals. The Canadian defeated Ann Grossman of Grove City, Ohio, 6-1, 6-2.

Steffi Graf of West Germany, Conchita Martinez of Spain, Monica Seles of Yugoslavia, Manuela Maleeva of Bulgaria, Arantxa Sanchez of Spain and Jana Novotna of Czechoslovakia all won their third-round matches, each in straight sets.

Graf began the day with a 6-2, 6-1, victory over Silvia La Fratta of Italy, who was asked if she had been a little scared.

“I was very scared,” La Fratta said. “My hands were shaking. She is like God.”

However, Graf was not yet ready to be deified. “I think that is a little much,” she said.

Next for Graf is Martinez, a 6-0, 6-1, winner over Katarina Maleeva. Seles defeated Jo-Anne Faull of Australia, 6-3, 6-2, and will play Manuela Maleeva, a 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, winner over Janine Thompson of Australia.

The other quarterfinal pits Sanchez against Novotna. Sanchez defeated Amanda Coetzer of South Africa, 6-3, 6-2, and Novotna defeated Sylvia Hanika of West Germany, 6-1, 6-4.

Fernandez did not play here last year because she tore a ligament in her big toe the week before. A straight-A student, Fernandez will play full-time on the tour as soon as she graduates.

“I’m glad I stayed in high school, the way it’s worked out for me,” she said. “I’ve made friends that will last for a lifetime.”

Sabatini may remember this defeat for a while. It was more than an off day, she said.

“I was not thinking,” she said. “I don’t know what to do very much with the ball. I didn’t hit the ball or do anything.”

And now there may be no one left who can beat Graf, she said.