Graham Says Newspaper’s Story Helps to Relieve the Pressure : Tennis: New York Times claims she’s “over the hill” at 21, but Fountain Valley player is looking to improve game.

Debbie Graham acknowledged Sunday that The New York Times’ assessment of her as being “over the hill” at 21 was “a little brutal, but in a way I guess it’s true.”

The publication profiled the Fountain Valley tennis player in a front-page article Sept. 1. The story concluded that it was too late for Graham to reach the top levels of her sport.

However, Graham, who lost to Stephanie Rehe, 6-4, 6-3, in the women’s final of the $7,500 Jack Kramer Club Holiday Professional Tennis Classic Sunday, puts a positive spin on the story.

“It’s great for me because there’s no pressure on me now,” she said. “If I win, they’re not expecting it and it will be a pleasant surprise for them.”

The story also concluded that as younger players reach the spotlight, corporations would shun Graham in favor of the likes of 10-year-old Venus Williams.

But Graham said her Boston-based agent, Fred Scharf, is in the process of negotiating with Nike to have her wear their apparel and with Wilson to use their racquets. Graham expects a deal to be finalized by the end of the week.

Graham, the 1990 NCAA singles champion who turned professional this summer, recently took a Geology 2 final--a course, she said, that’s nicknamed “Rocks for Jocks”--to complete work on her bachelor’s degree in political science at Stanford.

Now that she is able to concentrate full time on tennis, Graham is confident she can improve her level of play. She also expects her performance to be bolstered by having a traveling coach, Paul Holbach, for the first time as a professional.

Graham, who has played in professional tournaments as an amateur since graduating from Los Amigos High in 1988, is scheduled to leave Tuesday for Australia, where she plans to enter tournaments in Brisbane and Sydney before the Ford Australian Open.

“It’s going to be sad because I’ll miss Christmas, but it’s good for me to get used to the heat and hopefully get some more matches,” said Graham, who is 42nd in the Virginia Slims rankings. “I’m not setting my goals too high.”

The Australian Open, which begins Jan. 13, is the only Grand Slam tournament in the sport Graham has yet to play. This year, she reached the third round of the French Open, the second round of the U.S. Open and lost in Wimbledon’s first round.

The Kramer tournament was Graham’s first since reaching the quarterfinals of the $350,000 Nichirei International Ladies Championships in Tokyo in mid-September. She had been sidelined from practice for the past month because of reoccurring tendinitis in her shoulder.

In Rehe, Graham faced an opponent who had dominated the junior ranks in the early 1980s. Rehe also achieved two milestones on the professional level, becoming the youngest player to compete in a Virginia Slims event (one month past her 13th birthday in 1982) and a month later was the youngest women’s player to be ranked.

But Rehe’s career was derailed because of a Nov. 7, 1988, auto accident in Chicago, where the car in which she was riding was struck broadside by another car.

Rehe required back surgery to removed bone spurs and parts of her lower lumbar disks. She did not play for the next 21 months.

Once ranked has high as 13th, Rehe, 22, is now 120th.

The first set’s only service break Sunday came in the 10th game, when Graham double-faulted twice at deuce, giving Rehe the set, 6-4.

Graham broke Rehe’s serve in the first game of the second set, but lost the next three games. Neither player could hold serve in the next four games, but Rehe held serve in the ninth game to close out the match.

Rehe had defeated Graham, 6-2, 6-2, in the semifinals of the 1988 Virginia Slims of San Diego.

“She’s looks a lot fitter and real strong,” Rehe said of Graham. “She’s got a really nice game. When she serves well, she’s really tough to play.”

Rehe, who has won five official tournaments on the professional circuit, collected $500 for the victory. Graham, who defeated Amber Basica of Palos Verdes Peninsula High, former UCLA standout Kirsten Dreyer and former Stanford teammate Laxmi Poruri to reach the finals, received $200.