Graf Bridges Generation Gap, Beating Capriati in First Round at New York

Steffi Graf faced the future Tuesday night and survived--barely.

The No. 1-seeded player, Graf outlasted 14-year-old Jennifer Capriati, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3, to begin defense of her Virginia Slims Championships title. It wasn’t as easy as the score would indicate.

It took Graf, the world’s top-ranked player, six minutes short of two hours to overcome tennis’ newest phenom. And Graf knew way before she walked off the court that this challenge was only the beginning--that Capriati was for real. The press clippings were as much on target as Graf’s forehand.

Capriati also walked off a winner as far as the Madison Square Garden crowd of 13,719 was concerned.

In other first-round matches, Conchita Martinez of Spain upset seventh-seeded Zina Garrison, 6-3, 6-0, and No. 6 Katerina Maleeva of Bulgaria ousted Czechoslovakia’s Helena Sukova, 6-3, 6-3.

The night’s final singles match also decided the first quarterfinal pairing. Graf next faces Maleeva, the younger of two sisters to post first-round victories in this season-ending, $3-million tournament.