Gavaldon Shows True Colors, Wins

Angelica Gavaldon came dressed for success. The color-conscious 16-year-old from Coronado left the neons at home and opted instead for all-white.

But Gavaldon, who has quickly developed a reputation of being one of the more flamboyant dressers on the tour, didn’t break with tradition entirely, as a red pony-tail holder held her long hair in place.

But the color most conspicuously missing was rookie green.

In her opening match of the Great American Bank Tennis Tournament Monday night, Gavaldon played like a seasoned veteran, defeating West Germany’s Claudia Porwik, 7-5, 6-4, in front of 3,514 at the San Diego Tennis & Racquet Club. The victory earned Gavaldon, who turned professional in February, the chance to play the second-ranked player in the world, should Martina Navratilova win her opening match against Rosalyn Fairbank-Nideffer at 6:30 tonight.

Gavaldon, despite being down, 4-1, in the first set and, 4-2, in the second, never flinched. She simply put on her game face and went to work.

“Even though I was down both sets,” she said, “I was very happy to be able to come back.”

Since Friday’s draw, Gavaldon has known Navratilova would be her opponent in the second round, if she could get past Porwik. A big if.

In the tournament that thrust her into the public eye, Gavaldon made it to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in January, then was stopped by Porwik. Payback was sweet, but Gavaldon isn’t wasting time relishing the victory.

“It’s not my best victory,” she said, “but I was happy to get another chance to play her. I could have gotten to the semis at the Australian Open if I had beat her there.”

With her powerful groundstrokes, Gavaldon had Porwik dancing from side to side in the backcourt. But on her first match point, Gavaldon double-faulted. Her first.

Was it nerves or a bad toss perhaps? Neither, she said. She was looking ahead to Navratilova.

“On match point that’s what I was thinking about,” Gavaldon said. “But I’m not nervous about playing her. I have nothing to lose. I’m just glad I have an opportunity to play her.”

Lee Merry, Gavaldon’s coach of six years, said this is an important time in Gavaldon’s career. After a treacherous six-week swing through Europe recently, Gavaldon had the opportunity to play five events, some on grass and clay, giving her a dose of invaluable experience.

“It was an eye-opening thing,” Merry said. “She needs to play all the Grand Slam events and on all surfaces. Now she has that experience. This is an important week for her.”

Gavaldon may still be a new kid on the block, but she still is more of a presence than rookie Alysia May, one of two wild-card players in the tournament. These are the players who can make the veterans squirm. Ask Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere.

May, a former UCLA All-American, turned pro two months ago in Singapore, and gave fourth-seeded Maleeva-Fragniere a scare, before Maleeva-Fragniere took the match, 6-4, 7-6.

“I think she played very well,” said Maleeva-Fragniere, “not knowing who she is and where she’s from. I don’t know if she can play every day like this.”

If, indeed, she can, May’s emergence on the pro tour verifies Maleeva-Fragniere’s view that in today’s tournaments, there is no such thing as an easy match.

“Everyone’s so good now,” she said. “I really think, against the player you haven’t heard of, you can’t afford one mistake, you can’t relax for one point.”

May was down, 4-1, in the second set before winning four consecutive games to take a 5-4 lead. But both players held serve--Maleeva-Fragniere held twice--to force the tiebreaker, which Maleeva-Fragniere won, 7-3.

Still, May said she was encouraged by her play.

“I just wanted to get some games,” she said. “I’ve never played anyone that good. She’s ranked ninth in the world, and that’s a pretty good showing.”

In the day’s opening match on center court, Terry Phelps of Larchmont, N.Y., dropped the first set, but won the next two easily to upset seventh-seeded Gretchen Magers of San Diego, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.

“The first set, she played so well, there was nothing I could do,” Phelps said. “Then I started getting my volleys in, got more aggressive and she made some mistakes. It’s hard when you play so well, to keep up that intensity.”

Phelps said she was able to capitalize on Magers’ mental lapse and unforced errors to take the second and third sets.

“I just tried to take it point by point,” said Phelps, who lost, 7-6, 6-4, to Magers in the finals of a tournament in Schenectady, N.Y., in 1988, the last time they met. “There were some signs she was tight and nervous. She semed a little angry with herself.”

Tennis Notes

South Carolina’s Renata Baranski, the 150th ranked player in the world, eliminated Sweden’s Catarina Lindqvist, a Wimbledon semifinalist in 1989, 0-6, 6-4, 6-1. Sixth-seeded Barbara Paulus of Austria defeated former San Diego State All-American Monique Javer, 6-3, 6-1. . . . Top-ranked Steffi Graf meets wild-card entrant Stephanie Rehe of Oceanside at 11 a.m. today. It is Rehe’s first match since November, 1988, when she was forced to take a year off because of back injuries sustained in a car accident.