Double-Fault Leads White Through Exit

As quickly as France’s Nathalie Tauziat turned the match over to Robin White of Del Mar on a double fault, it came bouncing back.

Well, not actually bouncing. It was more like flying past her on a double fault on match point that landed beyond the service line.

Sixth-seeded Tauziat went on to win the third-set tie-breaker and defeat White, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (10-8), Friday in the quarterfinals of the Great American Bank tennis tournament at the San Diego Tennis and Racquet Club.

The victory moved Tauziat into the semifinals tonight at 6:30 against No. 2 Zina Garrison of Houston. Garrison eliminated the last San Diego player in the field, Gretchen Magers, 6-4, 7-5, in a quarterfinal Friday night in front of 3,784.

Top-ranked Steffi Graf will play in the afternoon semifinal today at 12:30 against compatriot Bettina Bunge of West Germany. Bunge, coming back from knee and foot surgery in her first singles competition since November 1987, defeated last year’s finalist, Ann Grossman, 2-6, 7-5, 6-4, in an afternoon quarterfinal.

The loss to Tauziat was another frustrating end for White, who has dropped six of her seven three-set matches this year.

“I can’t be disappointed in the way I played, only in the outcome,” White said. “I played the way I wanted to. I went for it, especially at the end. I didn’t play safe by any means.”

That was no truer than on her failed match point.

Tauziat, ranked 26th in the world, gave White the chance to serve for the match when she double-faulted with the decisive tie-breaker tied at 5-5.

White was one point away from the semifinals, but she let it slip away with a hurried double-fault that evened it at 6-6.

“I should have taken 15 extra seconds and really thought about it,” White said. “At that point, you just get your serve in. I don’t care how you get it in, you get your serve in, and I didn’t.”

The mistake gave Tauziat another chance. She forced White to hold off two match points before advancing when White’s return of service carried two inches long to give Tauziat the tie-breaker, 10-8.

“I double-faulted at a very bad moment,” Tauziat said. “But I was really tired at the end of the match. In this tie-breaker, it is 50-50. If you win, you are lucky, and that is it. You need a chance sometimes, and today I had a chance.

“She made a big double-fault, and after that, she was upset about it. You could see after that she was finished.”

White entered the tournament having lost eight of her 11 matches this year, dropping her ranking to No. 76, its lowest since she cracked the top 100 in early 1985 on her way to No. 15 two years later.

The streak, she said, caused her to flirt with idea of retirement at age 25 after five years on the tour. The frustration built to a point that she threatened to tip an umpire out of the chair during a tournament in Newport, R.I., two weeks ago.

White said it took a recent visit to her parent’s home in San Jose to renew her spirits. The result was her first quarterfinal appearance in nine months.

“I am not going to retire; you say those things when things are going bad,” White said. “I had a nice visit with my family. They told me ‘Don’t worry about the past few months. Just go out and play and have fun.’ It was nice to get a little encouragement like that.”

Magers enjoyed a different kind of hometown cheer. Unlike her second-round victory the night before, when she found herself playing the heavy to 15-year-old crowd darling Angelica Gavaldon of Coronado, Magers had much of her adopted hometown behind her in the match against Garrison.

Magers, who moved to San Diego from San Antonio, Tex., last year, did her best to reward them. She battled Garrison, the sixth-ranked player in the world, to the end. But both sets ended with Garrison breaking Magers.

Magers was on the verge of sending the match to a third set when she won three consecutive games to tie the second set at 5-5 and then had Garrison down three break points in the next game. But Garrison served five consecutive points to win the game.

“I was just waiting for her to make a mistake,” Magers said. “I hit all her returns back, but I just hit them low at her feet. I didn’t do anything with the second shot. She came up with some good deep volleys. That just shows her experience, and why she is No. 6, and I am No. (36).”

The final game ended after Magers fought off two match points from love-40 before Garrison forced her to hit a backhand into the net at 30-40.

“Zina just hit a couple of really good shots at perfect times,” Magers said. “The score was good, and it was close, but I was disappointed that I did not take advantage of the opportunities she gave me. Unbelievable opportunities. But I didn’t make the right shot at the right time.”

DAVE DISTEL

Bettina Bunge works hard, wins her matches and what does it get her? Steffi Graf. Page 7A.