ON THE SIDELINES : Steffi Graf Won’t Need Surgery

Steffi Graf will not need surgery to repair her broken thumb, the world’s top-ranked woman tennis player learned today when she was also told that she will not be able to resume swinging a racket for about six weeks.

Graf, after speaking with doctors, said she is certain she will be ready to play in the French Open starting May 28 and continue her quest for a second Grand Slam.

Graf splintered a bone in her right thumb when she fell last week while on skis, apparently trying to evade photographers at the Swiss resort of St. Moritz.