TENNIS ROUNDUP : On Clay Court, Graf Beats Sanchez Vicario

After missing six weeks with a hand injury, Steffi Graf, the No. 1 player in the world, has vaulted back to the top of the women’s tour points standings. And Sunday, she served notice that she could handle Arantxa Sanchez Vicario on clay, last year’s French Open notwithstanding.

Graf of West Germany lost a 61-minute first set to No. 4-ranked Sanchez Vicario of Spain, but came back to win, 5-7, 6-0, 6-1, in the finals of a $350,000 tournament in Hamburg, West Germany.

In hot weather, Graf was forced to toil on the slow red clay court at the Rothenbaum Club by an inspired Sanchez Vicario before collecting the winner’s prize of $70,000.

At the outset, Graf was unable to cope with Sanchez Vicario’s aggressive play. Graf’s generally strong forehand also was letting her down. In the first set, Graf often went for the big shot but would miss by inches.

After losing her first two service games, Graf was twice a point away from trailing 0-4. But on both occasions, she forced Sanchez Vicario into an error.

Graf rallied to cut the deficit to 2-3, but her game suffered again as Sanchez Vicario won the next two games to lead 5-2.

Sanchez Vicario lost her serve at 5-4 and appeared in trouble. But Graf, still struggling to cope with her failing forehand, dropped her serve in the 11th game.

When Sanchez Vicario held serve to win the first set, she appeared heading for a repeat of her upset victory over Graf in last year’s French Open final.

The match completely changed in the second set as Graf found her range, and Sanchez Vicario found she could no longer chase after every ball. Graf won the set in 34 minutes but was pushed to deuce in five of the six games.

Graf again dropped serve at the start of the final set. However, she immediately broke back and did not lose another game.

It was Graf’s fourth title of the year.

“I didn’t expect Arantxa to play as well as she did,” Graf said. “She didn’t miss a ball in the first three games. But I played more intelligently after the first set and everything went right.”

Sanchez Vicario said she missed many opportunities to win.

“She played so much better in the third set, but I’m happy because I had a good tournament and I played well,” added Sanchez Vicario, who beat No. 2 Martina Navratilova in the semifinals.

Karel Novacek of Czechoslovakia capped a tournament of upsets with yet another, a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Austria’s Thomas Muster in the final of a $277,500 tournament at Munich.

Novacek, ranked 69th in the world, downed 19th-ranked Muster in a surprisingly one-sided match to claim his first title of the year.

All eight seeded players, including the top-seeded Stefan Edberg of Sweden, were beaten before the third round.

“I have had a really great week,” said Novacek, who used his powerful serve to great effect in winning $32,400. “And today was the best match I have ever played. Everything seemed to go well for me.”

Andres Gomez of Ecuador won the $279,000 Madrid Grand Prix tournament by defeating Marc Rosset of Switzerland, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3).

Gomez, 30, earned $40,400 for his victory.