TENNIS U.S. WOMEN’S HARDCOURT : Seles, Graf Win With No Trouble

Monica Seles and Steffi Graf breezed past first-round opponents Tuesday to advance toward a possible weekend showdown between the world’s top female tennis players at the U.S. Women’s Hardcourt Championships.

Seles, ranked No. 1, beat unseeded Florencia Labat of Argentina, 6-0, 6-1. Graf defeated Audra Keller, 6-2, 6-1.

This is the first tournament in 3 1/2 years in which Graf played and was not the top-seeded player.

In other first-round action, Pam Shriver made a big move in her comeback with a 6-3, 6-3 upset of fourth-seeded Rafaella Reggi of Italy.

The only other seeded player to lose was No. 8 Gretchen Magers, who lost to Radka Zrubakova of Czechoslovakia, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (8-6).

Graf won this tournament in 1988 and 1989 but missed the 1990 event because of an injury. Seles won last year in a string of victories that led to her first Grand Slam trophy at the French Open.

Seles said she is eager to play Graf and other top players before this year’s French Open “just to see how they are doing.”

Should the 17-year-old Seles and 21-year-old Graf meet in the final, Seles said, “I think it will be a great match.”

Seles said being the top-seeded player doesn’t add pressure to her. But she admitted “it was a little strange” at last week’s Players International Championships in Florida to have been seeded second behind Graf, even after ascending to the top ranking March 11.