TENNIS ROUNDUP : A Rested Sabatini Easily Defeats Po at La Costa

Before Tuesday night, eight weeks had passed since Argentina’s Gabriela Sabatini played a tournament match.

But the top-seeded Sabatini needed only 45 minutes to beat Kimberly Po of Rolling Hills, 6-0, 6-0, in her opening match of the Mazda Tennis Classic before 4,294 at the La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad.

“I was very excited to play after a few weeks off,” said Sabatini, last seen in a lopsided loss to Monica Seles in the semifinals at Wimbledon. “I was very happy with the match tonight. I thought I played very well.”

It was the fourth time this year that Sabatini has shut out an opponent.

Po, who will return to UCLA this fall but is ineligible because she turned pro this year, said the experience wasn’t totally frustrating.

“There wasn’t much I could do,” she said. “There wasn’t much use in getting really angry. You don’t get the chance to play Sabatini much.”