No. 1 Ranking Is on the Line in Women’s Semifinal Matches

The hunt for No. 1 continues today in the U.S. Open women’s semifinals:

--If Monica Seles reaches the final, win or lose, she will become No. 1.

--Steffi Graf will remain No. 1 if she wins the tournament over any other opponent besides Seles.

An old rivalry and a new one dominate today’s women’s matches, where Graf and Martina Navratilova cross rackets for the 14th time and teen-agers Seles and Jennifer Capriati meet for the fourth time.

The top-seeded Graf, 7-7 against Navratilova, is looking for her 500th singles victory in her 20th Grand Slam singles semifinal and seventh U.S. Open singles semifinal.

Navratilova last defeated Graf in the 1987 U.S. Open final and is 0-4 in their series since then.

Seles, 17, seeded second, is playing in her first U.S. Open semifinal, but so is Capriati, who at 15 is the youngest Open semifinalist since Andrea Jaeger in 1980. Jaeger was three months younger.

Seles is 2-1 against Capriati but lost their last meeting in a tournament at La Costa last month.

Seles has lost only 18 games in five matches here, fewer than any of the other semifinalists.

Capriati has already clinched No. 6 in the rankings but could move up to No. 5 if she beats Seles and Graf.