TENNIS AUSTRALIAN OPEN : Special Practice Nearly Makes Graf Too Strong

Steffi Graf, benefiting from a rapid-fire practice with fellow West German Boris Becker, easily advanced today (Wednesday) to the third round in the Australian Open.

Graf beat 17-year-old American Erika DeLone, 6-1, 6-2, in the quest for her third consecutive Australian title.

Becker, who won his first-round match in overpowering fashion, said his 20-minute hitting session with Graf shortly before the tournament was “quite intense.”

“It was like playing with some guys for an hour,” he said. “Thank God, I have the serve.”

Graf said the only bad thing about playing against Becker is that when she faces women, she sometimes has trouble concentrating on their less powerful games.

Such was the case for a few moments against DeLone, of Lincoln, Mass., who is ranked 298th in the world.

Graf double-faulted three times in the second set and was broken twice.

“Those two games, I should never have lost them,” she said.

Helena Sukova of Czechoslovakia, who lost to Graf in the final here last year, also reached the third round with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Natalia Medvedeva of the Soviet Union.

Becker beat Paul Haarhuis, 6-1, 6-2, 6-1, Tuesday night, only a few hours after the Dutchman arrived from New Zealand after visa difficulties. Haarhuis upset John McEnroe in the second round of the U.S. Open last fall.

“It was one of the best first-round Grand Slam matches ever for me,” said Becker, who was fully aware of Haarhuis’ upset of McEnroe.

“It’s the reason why I played very hard in the first round, which is not normal for me,” he said.