Sabatini’s Grand Slam Jinx Continues : French Open: She loses to Novotna, 6-4, 7-5, in the fourth round. Argentine has failed to win a title in 20 major tournaments.

Only a few weeks past her 15th birthday, she reached the semifinals of the 1985 French Open. And although she lost to Chris Evert on that day, Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina had become the new darling of women’s tennis, whose Grand Slam titles would surely arrive swiftly and easily.

But Grand Slam tennis has been cruel to Sabatini. She lost Monday to Czechoslovakia’s Jana Novotna in the fourth round of the French Open, 6-4, 7-5, a defeat that kept Sabatini without a title in her 20th Grand Slam tournament.

“It was a bad day today,” Sabatini said.

It was the wrong time for Sabatini to go into a slump. She was ranked No. 4 in the world, but had failed to get past the third round in the Australian Open.

Novotna, ranked No. 15, suffered a twisted ankle in the second set but still led, 5-1, before wasting two match points. Novotna fell to 5-5 before Sabatini short-armed a backhand into the net on the third match point. Novotna choked back tears as she looked at Coach Betty Stove and friend Hana Mandlikova in the stands.

Said Novotna: “I think I have played best match of the year.”

Monica Seles, who has played enough good matches to win five consecutive tournaments, once again struggled, if only temporarily.

Seles, seeded second, trailed Laura Gildemeister of Peru, 1-4, 0-30, before winning, 6-4, 6-0.

“I’ve really given so much in my other tournaments, I may have only a little left for this tournament, physically and mentally,” Seles said. “Who knows? Maybe tomorrow my game will come back.”

For Sabatini, there was only disappointment. When she answered questions after the match, her voice was barely more than a whisper. More than once, she turned her head so no one could see her tears.

“I don’t think I should lose against her,” Sabatini said. “It’s a very big upset because I think I was going to do very well in this tournament.”

Only once has Sabatini reached a Grand Slam final. Steffi Graf beat her, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, in the 1988 U.S. Open.

A year ago, Sabatini lost in the fourth round of the French Open and in the second round of Wimbledon. Despite those losses, she moved to No. 3 in the rankings in February, the position now held by the 16-year-old Seles.

Although she is without a Grand Slam title, Sabatini has won 13 tournaments since being ranked in October of 1984, when she was the top junior in the world.

Novotna said she still felt she would beat Sabatini even after wasting the first two match points.

“I felt the whole match, the most important points I could play better than she did,” Novotna said.

Sabatini said she was playing without confidence, even after coming back from 1-5 to 5-5. She blamed losing the next two games--and the match--on “bad luck.”

Actually, it appeared to be more than that. With the competition getting even stronger, maybe Sabatini isn’t capable of winning a Grand Slam event. Graf is also 20. Seles is four years younger, Jennifer Capriati is 14 and both have reached the quarterfinals.

Explaining her defeat, Sabatini spread the blame around. She said she was hitting the ball too late. She said she wasn’t moving her legs. But she didn’t say she will never win a Grand Slam event.

“I think I have everything, all the strokes,” she said. “And mentally, I’m feeling much better. I just have to have more confidence in myself.

“I am disappointed, of course,” she said. “I think I feel pretty happy because I improve a lot, mostly mental. But I still have many things to prove to myself.

“I still have lots of time. I will have many wins.”

French Open Notes

Steffi Graf is the only player left in the women’s draw who has won a Grand Slam event. Mary Joe Fernandez is the only other player who has appeared in a Grand Slam final. Fernandez lost to Graf in the Australian Open final in January. The quarterfinal matchups and records against opponent: Graf (1-0) vs Conchita Martinez of Spain; Fernandez (0-0) vs. Jennifer Capriati; Katarinia Maleeva (2-0) vs. Jana Novotna; Monica Seles (5-0) vs. Manuela Maleeva.

Today’s schedule is Graf vs. Martinez, Andre Agassi vs. Michael Chang, Henri Leconte vs. Jonas Svenson and Capriati vs. Fernandez. . . . Travel tip: Elise Burgin went to visit the palace at Versailles. It was closed. Travel tip II: Burgin went to the airport to catch a flight home to Baltimore. She had to pay an extra baggage fee because she had packed pieces of the Berlin Wall while playing in a tournament there.