TENNIS ROUNDUP : Graf Routs Sanchez Vicario in Final
Steffi Graf avenged her defeat in last year’s French Open by beating Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, 6-1, 6-2, Sunday for her 52nd consecutive victory to win the Pan-Pacific Open at Tokyo.
Graf, the world’s top-ranked player, had nine aces on the artificial surface.
“I think this surface maybe isn’t her favorite, since she is a clay-court player,” said Graf, who opened the match with consecutive aces. “This surface fits me. I played all the tournament very well and had a good feeling and lots of confidence.”
Graf took control at the outset. She broke Sanchez’s serve in the second game of the opening set, won the third game at love and broke Sanchez again in the first game of the second set.
Sanchez, 18, beat Graf, 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 7-5, in last year’s French Open final.
“She had very good first serves and forehands,” Sanchez said. “She made less mistakes.”
Graf is 22 short of Martina Navratilova’s record for consecutive victories.
Leila Meskhi of the Soviet Union beat Sabine Appelmans of Belgium, 6-1, 6-0, in 53 minutes to win a women’s tournament at Auckland, New Zealand.
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