One Point From Win, Gavaldon Still Loses : Tennis: Coronado teen-ager falls to Fairbank-Nideffer in San Diego tournament.

Ros Fairbank-Nideffer might have been favored to win Wednesday, but she was not the crowd favorite.

That role was left to Angelica Gavaldon, a teen-ager from Coronado who was serving with a match point at 5-3 of the second set, but ended up losing, 4-6, 7-5, 6-0, during the second round of the Great American Bank tennis tournament.

“It was funny walking out onto the court,” Fairbank-Nideffer said. “Everyone was shouting, ‘Angelica, Angelica! Get her autograph.’ And I’m thinking, ‘No one evens knows me here.’ It’s a strange position to be in, because I’m not an underdog, I’m expected to win. But a lot of the crowd feels like she’s the big player in San Diego.”

Fairbank-Nideffer, a South Africa native, is no newcomer to the San Diego area. She lives in Escondido, but that did not do much to sway the crowd of 2,910 at the San Diego Tennis & Racquet Club.

Two years ago here, she lost to Ann Grossman, then 17, in a weak draw, and last year Gavaldon, now 16, upset her in the first round.

Fairbank-Nideffer said she lost her concentration on those occasions. And when she was down a set and trailed, 5-2, in the second set, another early round loss seemed likely.

Instead, she won the next 11 games.

“I kept thinking, ‘What am I going to say to these press people?’ ” she said. “It’s just a matter of a couple of points. I just reminded myself that it was that close.”

Fairbank-Nideffer started rushing the net, forcing Gavaldon into errors from the backcourt.

“That put more pressure on her,” Fairbank-Nideffer said. “I believed I could come back. I never thought I wouldn’t win.”

In other matches, third-seeded Zina Garrison defeated Gigi Fernandez, 6-2, 6-2, and top-seeded Steffi Graf beat Kathy Rinaldi, 6-3, 6-4.

Garrison, weakened from flu, had little to eat all week and said she almost had to withdraw, but officials delayed her first singles match, giving her adequate time to recuperate.

Martina Navratilova withdrew Tuesday because of an ankle injury, and Garrison’s appearance ensured that the tournament had not also lost the world’s fifth-ranked player.

“I was close to pulling out,” she said. “But I was able to get a late start. Maybe it was meant for me to get some rest.”

Meanwhile, Graf was unhappy with her performance.

“I was just terrible,” Graf said. “I really didn’t play well at all. I was angry with myself.”

Rinaldi was not as impressed as usual.

“She’s not dominant like she was before,” Rinaldi said. “I’m not trying to take anything away from her, she’s still incredible, she’s still a phenomenal athlete, but people are starting to catch on.”

For Gavaldon, who turned professional after reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open earlier in the year, it was another reminder that although she has come a long way since winning high school championships on these courts, she still has a lot to learn.

“One of my problems is I never play exactly the way I should play. I always let a few games slip by,” Gavaldon said. “I can’t afford to give games away, especially with a player who has so much experience.”