AUSTRALIAN OPEN : Sanchez Vicario Upsets Sabatini in Straight Sets

On a day of upsets at the Australian Open tennis tournament, U.S. Open champion Gabriela Sabatini fell to Spain’s Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the quarterfinals today, 6-1, 6-3.

Sabatini, seeded No. 4, was beaten at her own game, a blend of groundstrokes and volleys, by Sanchez Vicario, the 1989 French Open champion who supposedly couldn’t win on these hard courts.

The upset occurred on a day when top seed Steffi Graf, defending a title she had won for the last three years, fell 5-7, 6-4, 8-6 to Czechoslovak 10th seed Jana Novotna in a thrilling 2 1/2-hour clash. (Story, C2.)

Sanchez Vicario, smaller and stockier than Sabatini, beat the Argentine to the net, moved around the court more quickly and played with more enthusiasm. There was no suspense in this match, only a certainty that Sabatini could not win if she could not hold service.

Sanchez Vicario broke all four of Sabatini’s service games in the first set and three of four in the second set. The first three games of the match took only nine minutes, with Sabatini broken twice and winning only two points.

“I think I started a little nervous,” Sabatini said. “I started playing too short. I was playing too far behind the baseline.”

In contrast, Sanchez Vicario bubbled about her victory.

“I was concentrating on all the points,” she said. “I didn’t want to miss this opportunity. I fought all the time and didn’t give her any chance to hit back volleys. My passing shots were great.”