TENNIS ROUNDUP : Graf, Stich Sweep Singles for Hopman Cup Victory

Michael Stich says he and Steffi Graf understand each other both on and off the court.

On the court, their message was clear.

Graf beat Aranxta Sanchez Vicario, 6-4, 6-3, then Stich defeated Emilio Sanchez, 7-5, 6-4, Friday to lead Germany over Spain in the Hopman Cup championship at Perth, Australia.

“If you play as well as we did, then you have to enjoy it,” Stich said.

Stich and Graf hugged and kissed to celebrate their victory, for which they shared $105,000. The Sanchezes earned $63,000.

Graf did not appear hampered by a right ankle sprain she suffered during the semifinals.

“The ankle started to hurt me again in the second set of the singles, but I don’t think it is anything serious,” Graf said. “I think it just needs a few days of rest.”

Sweden’s Niklas Kulti and Christian Bergstrom eliminated the last remaining seeded players to advance to the semifinals of the South Australian Open at Adelaide.

Kulti beat third-seeded Alexander Volkov of Russia, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, and Bergstrom beat No. 4 Cedric Pioline of France, 7-5, 7-6 (7-4). Kulti will play Jonathan Stark and Bergstrom will face Richard Fromberg of Australia today.

Top-seeded Stefan Edberg swept Gianluca Pozzi, 6-0, 6-0, in 55 minutes to reach the semifinals of the Qatar Open at Doha.

Edberg next plays No. 3 Boris Becker, who beat No. 6 Javier Sanchez of Spain, 6-4, 6-3.

Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia, seeded second, defeated Germany’s Patrik Kuhnen, 6-2, 7-6 (7-2), and No. 4 Andrei Cherkasov of Russia beat Spain’s Marcos Gorriz, 6-1, 7-5.

Shi-Ting Wang of Taipei, who turned professional 18 months ago, beat Florencia Labat of Argentina, 6-4, 6-3, to advance to the semifinals of the Australian women’s hardcourt championships at Brisbane.