No. 1 on Their Minds : Women’s Semifinals Could Determine World’s Top Ranking

In the women’s singles semifinals, they’re looking out for No. 1. Three of the four players left in the French Open have a shot at the top ranking, besides winning a Grand Slam title, when they take the court today.

Monica Seles, top-seeded and No. 1-ranked, will play third-seeded Gabriela Sabatini in one semifinal, and second-seeded and No. 2-ranked Steffi Graf will face Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the other semifinal.

Here are the possibilities for No. 1, depending on who wins in the semifinals:

--Seles/Graf final: Winner is No. 1.

--Sabatini/Graf final: Graf No. 1, win or lose.

--Seles/Sanchez Vicario final: Seles No. 1, win or lose.

--Sabatini/Sanchez Vicario final: Sabatini No. 1, win or lose.

Seles is 3-2 against Sabatini, but Sabatini won their last meeting, 6-3, 6-2, in the Italian Open final, which is also their only previous encounter on clay.

Graf is 10-1 against Sanchez Vicario, but the exception was a big one--the 1989 French Open final when, as a 17-year-old, Sanchez Vicario scored a 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 7-5 upset.

If Sanchez Vicario requires another source of inspiration, she need look no further than their last match, the final of the Lufthansa Cup in Berlin last month, when Graf escaped with a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (8-6) decision.

In any event, Sanchez Vicario expects Graf to be equally as prepared.

“It is going to be a different tournament,” Sanchez Vicario said. “I have nothing to lose. I shall just go out and play my game. I hope to play like I did in Berlin.”

Actually, she must play better than that.

But no one has played any better than Sabatini this year. She is 40-3, including 21-1 on clay. The fact that she was placed in Seles’ half of the draw was regarded as a huge advantage for Graf, who thus did not have to face Sabatini in the semifinals.