No. 7 Fernandez Shows No. 4 Sabatini the Door : U.S. Open: Going to the net more often, she upsets the Argentine, 6-2, 1-6, 6-4. Top-seeded Seles sweeps past Hy in 55 minutes.

In the end, it turned out there was nothing wrong with Mary Joe Fernandez’s memory.

In the 1990 U.S. Open, Fernandez played a three-set match against Gabriela Sabatini and lost in the semifinals--a match she had trouble forgetting.

Two years to the week later, Fernandez got another chance Tuesday against Sabatini and didn’t miss it. She scored a key service break in the third set and moved on to the Open semifinals with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 decision.

“(1990) was a big match, that stood with me for a very long time, so during the match today I thought about it a few times and I didn’t want that to happen again.

“I think everybody expected her to win,” she said. “I knew I had a chance, and I was confident going into it, but I think it was an upset.”

Ranked No. 7 to Sabatini’s No. 4, Fernandez has quietly built a reputation as a big-time Grand Slam player. She has reached the quarterfinals or better in nine of her last 11 Grand Slam events.

But Sabatini usually held the advantage against her, winning seven of their last eight meetings, including victories at the 1989 French Open and 1990 U.S. Open. Before Tuesday, Fernandez’s only victory over Sabatini in a Grand Slam event was this year’s Australian Open, when she won in the semifinals.

“I felt confident (because of that match),” Fernandez said. “I knew that I had to play aggressively.”

She was more aggressive than Sabatini, coming to the net 50 times to 32 by Sabatini. Fernandez won 30 points at the net, which might have been the difference.

“I think that is the reason why she is beating me sometimes,” Sabatini said. “She has been playing like that, trying to come to the net.”

For Sabatini, it was a disappointing end to her Grand Slam season, one in which she expected to be playing Monica Seles in Friday’s semifinals. But Sabatini was never quite on her game, possibly because she played only one match between Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

“Probably next time I will try to play one more tournament or something, but . . . I am not regretting anything,” she said.

Seles raced through Patricia Hy, 6-1, 6-2, in 55 minutes to get to the semifinals of her eighth consecutive Grand Slam event.

The only thing that affected Seles was a sore throat, brought on by a cold she thinks she picked up in the air-conditioned players’ locker room--”It’s about 60 degrees and you freeze in there.”