TENNIS / WOMEN AT SAN DIEGO : Weekend Comes Early Once More for Rinaldi

She rarely makes it to the end of the week anymore.

Mondays and Tuesdays are when Kathy Rinaldi plays her tennis matches. By the weekend, the tournaments have moved to the final rounds, and Rinaldi has usually been left behind to work on her game.

This week is no different. Rinaldi opened--and closed--Monday at La Costa in the first round of the Mazda Tennis Classic, taking sixth-seeded Nathalie Tauziat of France to three sets before losing, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

Rinaldi was a child prodigy and became the No. 7-ranked women’s tennis player in the world by the time she was 19.

Rinaldi, 24, has fallen to 70th.

Still, Rinaldi remains upbeat.

“I’m really very happy with my career,” she said. “I feel very fortunate.”

Monica Seles and Jennifer Capriati, the top two seeded players this week, have yet to play their first matches. Seles will play Pam Shriver, who defeated England’s Jo Durie, 6-3, 6-4, tonight at 7. Capriati will not play until Wednesday.

Rinaldi? She has a doubles match this morning. And at 6 tonight, she will be co-host of a clinic for underprivileged children from Chula Vista.

Rinaldi’s problems started shortly after she peaked in the Women’s Tennis Assn. rankings at No. 7 in January of 1987. On June 10, 1987, she fell down a flight of stairs in a Monte Carlo hotel and suffered a broken right thumb.

She didn’t play again for 1 1/2 years. When she resumed, she got into a few tournaments as a wild-card entry. She slowly began to piece things back together.

Against Tauziat, she dropped the first set but won 12 of the first 13 points to open the second.

Then, tied at one set apiece, she hung with Tauziat through the first eight games of the third set. She broke Tauziat’s serve to make it 4-4.

And when Rinaldi went ahead in the next game, 30-love, there were fleeting thoughts that she may steal her first victory against Tauziat in five attempts.

But Tauziat rallied to advance the second round Wednesday against Alysia May, who defeated Nathalie Herreman, 6-3, 6-1.

Tournament Notes

Miami lawyer Ellis Rubin was at the tournament and said he plans to file suit today in San Diego Superior Court against Peter Graf, father of Steffi, and his son, Michael, on behalf of Jim Levee, 52, and his companion, Jill Genson, 39, both of Boca Raton, Fla. The purpose of the suit, according to Rubin, is to obtain a restraining order against the Grafs on behalf of Levee, heir to the Annenberg Fortune, and Genson. Levee, who was also at the tournament, claims Peter Graf was abusive and punched him on the top of the head in the player’s lounge at the French Open, and claims Michael Graf was abusive to him at Wimbledon. Steffi Graf is not playing at La Costa.

The biggest upset of the day was unseeded Anne Minter defeating No. 8 Laura Gildemeister, 6-3, 6-4.