Tennis Roundup : Savchenko Loses, Says She Will Retire After U.S. Open

Tennis isn’t fun for Larisa Savchenko anymore and it shows.

The 23-year-old Soviet lost, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, to unseeded American teen-ager Donna Faber Monday in the first round of the Player’s Ltd. Challenge at Toronto.

She then announced that she would retire after next week’s U.S. Open, saying she made the decision last week.

“I will think about it again,” Savchenko said. “But it’s not possible to play tennis like (I am) now. It’s not tennis.

“I just am not enjoying the game and I don’t think it’s fun,” said the 16th-seeded Savchenko, who seemed to be going through the motions in the final two sets of her loss to Faber.

In other first-round action, Robin White defeated Leila Meskhi of the Soviet Union, 6-2, 6-1; Gigi Fernandez beat Louise Field of Australia, 6-3, 6-4; Anne Minter of Australia eliminated Rene Simpson of Canada, 6-0, 6-3, and Ann Grossman beat Maureen Drake of Canada, 6-4, 6-2.

The top four seeded players, Martina Navratilova, Gabriela Sabatini, Chris Evert and Arantxa Sanchez, each had first-round byes.

Spain’s Jose Luis Aparisi defeated eighth-seeded Thomas Haldin of Sweden, 7-5, 6-2, in the opening round of a clay-court tournament in the tiny European independent republic of San Marino.

In other first-round action, Claudio Mezzadri of Switzerland defeated Pablo Arraya of Peru, 6-3, 6-0; Pablo Azar of Argentina eliminated Austrian Oliver Fuchs 7-5, 6-2; and another Austrian, Stefan Lochbihler, overcame Andres Vysand of the Soviet Union, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.