The Shine Hasn’t Worn Off Capriati as She Rolls to Victory Over Wiesner : Tennis: Martinez, Tauziat pick up wins at La Costa.

No tarnish on this Golden Girl.

Jennifer Capriati, introduced as the woman who “brought the gold home to America,” played her first match since Barcelona on Wednesday night in the Mazda Tennis Classic at the La Costa Resort & Spa.

Second-ranked Capriati, of Saddlebrook, Fla., wasn’t sporting the familiar tennis skirt with matching American flags on the pockets, but the crowd of 4,032 still recognized her by the game.

Tough.

Against Austria’s Judith Wiesner, Capriati, who had a bye in the first round, powered her way to a 6-4, 6-1 victory in 1 hour, 16 minutes.

Early in the match, Capriati picked up where she left off: she gave up only three points as she jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first set.

“I felt good. I was moving well, I was hitting the ball solid,” Capriati said. “The only thing I wasn’t happy with was my serve.”

With Capriati up 5-2, Wiesner started to hand her opponent a multitude of shots with different speeds, angles and spins. Wiesner held serve and broke Capriati to close to 5-4--and held off two set points--before Capriati broke back to win the set.

“There were certain points she played well in the first set,” Capriati said of Wiesner, 26. “She can change it up a lot and she hits hard.”

In the second set, Wiesner had a harder time staying in the match. She forced nine of the match’s 17 games to deuce, but Capriati came through when she needed to.

“I just played extra tough on those points,” Capriati said. “I could have been in trouble if I didn’t close it out.”

This match was just what Capriati needed as the countdown to the U.S. Open continues. As the week progresses, she welcomes the stiffer competition.

“I would like tougher matches as I go along,” she said. “I’d like to be challenged. I’d like to move around and sweat.”

Capriati said the significance of her gold medal, which is safe at home, still hasn’t hit her.

But she had at least one Olympic memory, a hair ribbon made out of American flag material, with her and she wore it Wednesday.

“Before one of my matches, one of the American swimmers exchanged it with me for a red one I had, “ she explained. “But I won with it, so I kept it.”

Capriati should keep a look out for fourth-seeded Anke Huber of Germany. In another second-round match, Huber took 50 minutes to turn back Fountain Valley’s Debbie Graham, 6-0, 6-2.

Should the seedings hold to form, Huber and Capriati could vie in the semifinals, a rematch of their Olympic quarterfinal match that the American won, 6-3, 7-6.

“Sure I want to play against her,” Huber said. “We had a very good game in the Olympics. We will see.”

The last of the top four seeds, Spain’s Conchita Martinez, defeated France’s Isabelle Demongeot, 6-4, 7-5 in 1 hour, 45 minutes. Demongeot fell behind, 5-1 in the second, but fought off three match points and eventually evened it at 5-5 before eighth-ranked Martinez broke serve and held her own to advance.

Seventh-seeded Nathalie Tauziat of France got a scare from Oceanside’s Stephanie Rehe, No. 78 in the world. After they split sets, Rehe led 3-2 in the third, but Tauziat won the next four games for the 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 victory.

Rehe had 19 double faults, but saw humor in it. It was an improvement over the 29 she had in her first match.

“At least I’m going in the right direction,” she said with a laugh.

Had Rehe reduced her service errors or not been passed so many times, she had a good shot of beating No. 12 Tauziat.

“I’m disappointed that I lost, but I’m glad that some good will come out of it,” Rehe said. “I’m looking in the long term. I’m working on some things. I hope to get better and better.”

Rehe seemed to as the match progressed, until it unraveled in the third.

“There were some points I missed in the third set that were more crucial (to win) than the first set,” she said. “There are some things I need to work on.”

Just give her some time. Although she’s regained her strength and her form, Rehe can never get back the year she lost healing from back injuries she sustained in a 1988 automobile accident.

Rehe, 23, is mostly pain-free, but there are days when “it comes and goes,” she said. “Obviously, I can’t have that in my mind when I’m out there . . . There are some things I want to do in tennis. If I quit, I want it to be because I want to quit, not because I have to.”

Tennis Notes

For the second consecutive day, a pair of San Diegans tested the waters of the pro tour’s major leagues and found out just how cold they can be. San Dieguito High graduate Heidi Djanogly and Bishop’s High graduate Jackie Geller played Jana Novotna and Lari Savchenko-Neiland, the top- and fourth-ranked doubles players in the world, in a second-round match Wednesday. Djanogly, who won the San Diego Section doubles championship in 1988 with her sister, Kim, turned pro just for the occasion. When she and Geller found out Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. that they had a spot in the draw, Djanogly gave up her amateur status at 4:01. “I decided you’re only young once, so I may as well give myself a chance,” she said. Geller has played regularly on satellite tours, but this was her biggest challenge by far. “Our goal was just to get in the draw and win one round,” Geller said. That done, they lost 6-1, 6-1 in 46 minutes . . . Coronado’s Angelica Gavaldon is entered in the qualifying draw for the U.S. Open, which began Wednesday.

Mazda Highlights

Center court, noon: Ann Grossman vs. No. 5 Jana Novotna; followed by No. 7 Zina Garrison vs. Monique Javer; followed by Isabelle Demngeot-Nathalie Tauziat vs. No. 2 Conchita Martinez-Mercedes Paz.

Center court, 7 p.m.: No. 1 Gabriela Sabatini vs. Leila Meskhi; followed by Sabine Appelmans-Judith Wiesner vs. No. 3 Jill Hetherington-Kathy Rinaldi or Debbie Graham-Kimberly Po.

Site: La Costa Resort & Spa.

Tickets: For information, call 438-5683. Tickets available for morning and evening sessions. Prices range from $12 to $28.