After Slow Start, Sabatini Beats Magers at New York

Everywhere Gabriela Sabatini goes these days she is asked, not only about her rival Steffi Graf, but also about her own ability to rise to the top of women’s tennis.

Sabatini’s shotmaking and technical versatility are clearly among the world’s best.

But then there’s her mental approach.

“You have to use brains when you are on the tennis court,” Sabatini’s coach, Angel Gimenez, said Monday, shortly before the start of the $1-million Virginia Slims Championships of New York, which Sabatini won last year.

Gimenez was referring to Sabatini’s loss to Zina Garrison two weeks ago at the Virginia Slims of New England. Sabatini had a 5-1, 40-0 lead in the first set before losing in a tiebreaker.

“When you lose a set like that, you almost cannot win the match,” Gimenez said. “When this happens, you lose your brains, not your tennis.”

Monday night, the third-seeded Sabatini was still having a bit of trouble concentrating, even though she walked away with a 6-4, 6-1 first-round victory over 16th-seeded Gretchen Magers, who lives on a houseboat off Harbor Island in San Diego.

In other first-round matches, 15-year-old Monica Seles swept Conchita Martinez of Spain, 6-0, 6-1, in 49 minutes, and French Open champion Arantxa Sanchez Vicario beat Sweden’s Catarina Lindqvist 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.

Meanwhile, the top-seeded Graf said there is a 50-50 chance she will not play because of a sprained ankle she suffered last week in practice.

Graf is scheduled to play Czechoslovakia’s Jana Novotna Wednesday.

Sabatini already has been tested. She and Magers were on serve, 3-3, in the first set before Magers double-faulted to give Sabatini a service break. Then, Sabatini nearly gave the break back in the 10th game, when Magers held two break points but failed to convert either. Sabatini won the set on a backhand topspin lob that was lofted perfectly over Magers’ head. The Argentine then settled down to win the second set in 26 minutes.

“The first set was very tough,” Sabatini said. “I wasn’t concentrating very well. I was hitting the ball with my arm instead of my shoulder.”