TENNIS ROUNDUP : Capriati Struggles to Beat Tauziat in First Round

Jennifer Capriati didn’t have an easy time in the first round of the Virginia Slims Championships at New York.

Not only did she need 1 hour 53 minutes to defeat Nathalie Tauziat of France, 5-7, 6-0, 7-6 (7-4), Wednesday, but it also took a warning for delay of game before Capriati got her game in gear in the third set.

That was not the case for top-seeded Monica Seles, who beat Julie Halard of France, 6-1, 6-0, in 37 minutes. Jana Novotna defeated Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere of Bulgaria, 6-0, 3-6, 6-3.

In quarterfinals today, fourth-seeded Martina Navratilova will play No. 5 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and No. 2 Steffi Graf will meet No. 8 Novotna. Friday, Seles will face No. 7 Mary Joe Fernandez, and Capriati will take on No. 3 Gabriela Sabatini.

The crispness in Capriati groundstrokes didn’t show until the eighth game of the final set when she received a delay warning after she thought a forehand by Tauziat sailed long. Capriati dropped her racket and stood at the baseline, staring at umpire Jane Tabor, looking for an overrule that wasn’t going to come.

Before that, it wasn’t much better for Capriati, even in the middle set when she won the big points but did not play consistently. Tauziat’s game was just a little more off.

Time and again, the French player would set up a potential winning backhand down the line, only to hit the ball wide. Tauziat would frequently move Capriati around the court, finally get her out of position, then make an unforced error.

David Wheaton injured his hip in the first set of his Forum Tennis Challenge exhibition against Andre Agassi and could not continue.

“I saw the ball behind me and the next thing I knew I was on my back,” said Wheaton, who lost his footing and fell as he backpedaled to chase a shot in the third game of the match.

Laker trainer Gary Vitti examined Wheaton and advised him not to continue.

Wheaton, who walked off the court unaided, could not move his leg for 30 seconds after he fell.

“I just traumatized the hip flexor area,” Wheaton said. “It was just excruciating pain.”

Wheaton does not believe his injury is serious enough to prevent him from playing the Grand Slam Cup next month in Munich.