TENNIS ROUNDUP : Graf Starts Slowly but Wins Easily

Top-seeded Steffi Graf of West Germany fell behind early against Leila Meskhi of the Soviet Union, then won nine consecutive games and advanced to the semifinals of the German Open women’s tennis tournament in West Berlin Friday.

Graf, whose serve was broken in the third game, trailed by 2-1 and by 4-2 before emerging with a 6-4, 6-1 victory.

Graf’s semifinal opponent will be another Soviet, No. 8-seeded Natalia Zvereva, who beat No. 9 Judith Wiesner of Austria, 6-7 (7-4), 6-0, 6-4.

In other quarterfinal matches, second-seeded Monica Seles of Yugoslavia beat sixth-seeded Conchita Martinez of Spain, 6-0, 6-3, and 16th-seeded Sandra Cecchini of Italy upset No. 10 Nathalie Tauziat of France, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3.

“I tried to rush too much at the start,” Graf said after her 60-minute victory. “I needed to be more patient and then everything was OK.”

Zvereva, who started the year by winning two tournaments in Australia, will be playing in her third consecutive semifinal. Last month, at Amelia Island, Fla., Graf beat Zvereva in the semifinals, 7-6, 6-7, 6-1.

The 32nd-ranked Cecchini, who upset Gabriela Sabatini in the third round, will be competing in her first semifinal of the year.

Graf’s victory stretched her winning streak to 65 matches, leaving her nine short of the record held by Martina Navratilova since 1984. Victory at this event and the French Open, which begins May 28, would enable Graf to tie the record.

Andres Gomez of Ecuador, Emilio Sanchez of Spain, Thomas Muster of Austria and Andrei Chesnokov of the Soviet Union moved into the semifinals of the Italian Open in Rome.

Gomez, the No. 3-seeded player, needed less than an hour to beat unseeded Omar Camporese of Italy, 6-1, 6-2. Sanchez, seeded No. 4, defeated Guillermo Perez-Roldan of Argentina, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2. Muster, seeded No. 10, beat unseeded Guy Forget of France, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. Chesnokov, seeded eighth, showed his mastery of the slow red clay at the Foro Italico by eliminating defending champion Alberto Mancini of Argentina, 7-6 (7-3), 6-0.

Gomez became the favorite after the top two seeded players, Americans Brad Gilbert and Aaron Krickstein, were eliminated in the third round Thursday.

Winner of the Italian Open in 1982 and 1984, Gomez has a clay court record of 15-3 this year. He has won tournaments in Barcelona and Madrid.

“At my age it’s nice to have a day like this,” said Gomez, 30.

“To win a match in less than an hour is a godsend. He (Camporese) didn’t have a good day and I didn’t make it easier for him.”