TENNIS ROUNDUP : Seles Forced to Withdraw Because of Injured Shoulder

A recurring shoulder injury forced a tearful Australian Open champion Monica Seles out of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo on Thursday.

“I felt pain in my left shoulder when I started to practice this morning. Nothing was wrong yesterday,” Seles said.

A doctor at a hospital where she went for treatment diagnosed the injury as a rotator cuff strain and recommended a two-week break from tennis.

Seles, 17, said she had a similar injury last January and will visit a doctor when she returns to the United States.

Martina Navratilova, playing her first tournament since knee surgery in October, defeated Jo Durie of Britain, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, in a 92-minute match on the artificial surface of Metropolitan Gym.

“I didn’t remember how to come back,” Navratilova said of her loss in the second set.

Kathy Rinaldi, Seles’ scheduled opponent, beat last-minute substitute Yukie Koizumi of Japan, 7-5, 6-2.

In other second-round matches, fifth-seeded Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina beat Peanut Louie-Harper, 6-4, 6-1; No. 7 Laura Gildemeister of Peru beat Japan’s Mana Endo, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, and Robin White defeated Pam Shriver, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3). Shriver is recovering from a shoulder injury.

Navratilova will play White in the quarterfinals today and Sabatini will play top-seeded Steffi Graf.

Donna Faber used an overnight break to defeat fifth-seeded Wiltrud Probst of Germany, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, in the second round of a $100,000 women’s tournament at Auckland, New Zealand.

Probst, from Germany, led, 2-0, in the final set Wednesday when rain suspended the match. When it resumed, Faber, a 19-year-old from Hilton Head, S.C., won four games in a row to take control and advance to the quarterfinals.

Second-seeded Mercedes Paz of Argentina and No. 7 Sabine Hack of Germany also moved into the round of eight.