TENNIS ROUNDUP : After Short Layoff, Sabatini’s Game Still Impressive

Gabriela Sabatini thinks the best time to play her is early in a tournament.

Erika deLone, an 18-year-old amateur who plans to enter Harvard in fall, might disagree.

DeLone lost to the second-seeded Sabatini, 6-2, 6-2, in the second round of the Virginia Slims of Florida at Boca Raton.

“Right now I have to worry more about first matches than the others, because (later) I start to get confidence and I play better,” said Sabatini, who had an opening-round bye and is 10-1 this year.

In her first match since early February, Sabatini served well and placed her groundstrokes consistently in the corners.

Top-seeded Steffi Graf won by default when her scheduled opponent, Cecilia Dahlman of Sweden, became ill.

Claudia Porwik of Germany pulled off the day’s biggest surprise, beating fifth-seeded Conchita Martinez of Spain, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.

Third-seeded Jakob Hlasek of Switzerland, No. 4 Karel Novacek of Czechoslovakia and No. 5 Ronald Agenor of Haiti needed three sets to win their first-round matches in the Copenhagen Open.

Hlasek beat Marcus Zoecke of Germany, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3; Novacek defeated Thomas Enquist of Sweden 6-2, 3-6, 6-4; and Agenor beat Alex Antonitsch of Austria, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

In another match, top-seeded Jonas Svensson of Sweden beat Martin Strelba of Czechoslovakia, 7-6, 6-2.