TENNIS / FRENCH OPEN : Graf Is Queen of Paris Again, but There’s Something Missing

With Monica Seles away on her forced leave of absence, the French Open title was claimed once again by a 23-year-old power-hitting German who proved she still is a big shot on clay.

Steffi Graf won her third French Open singles title Saturday at Roland Garros Stadium, where her appearances in the final have grown so commonplace she could list it as a temporary residence.

Graf’s sixth visit to the French Open final ended with her hoisting the Suzanne Lenglen Cup. She won a battle of attrition with 21-year-old Mary Joe Fernandez in a duel on red clay which evolved into a 2-hour 30-minute test of resolve, wits and endurance.

Graf secured the 12th Grand Slam singles title in her 11-year career with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory, her first French Open title since 1988 in the pre-Seles era.

Seles, who had won the last three French titles, two of them by defeating Graf in the final, missed her first Grand Slam event since being stabbed in the back by a fan of Graf during a match in Hamburg, Germany, nearly five weeks ago.

Either Graf or Seles or both have been in 24 of the last 25 Grand Slam finals, the only exception being the 1990 Wimbledon final between Martina Navratilova and Zina Garrison.

Graf made no mention of Seles when she spoke during the trophy presentation, but in her post-match interview session, she said she wished she had at least passed along a get-well-soon greeting.

As for winning a Grand Slam tournament without Seles, Graf offered no apology.

“I mean, obviously you want to have everybody in the field and then you want to win it,” Graf said. “But I won it the way I did and I mean, there is nothing else I can do about it.”

Graf, who officially will replace Seles as the No. 1-ranked player when the new computer rankings come out Monday, said winning came as a great relief even though she had never lost to Fernandez in 10 previous matches.

“I had a few chances in the last few years, and I am always the one who had to play the better player,” Graf said. “So I was thankful it was the other way around today.”

After two come-from-behind victories and an upset of Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the semifinals, Fernandez seemed to have left her best tennis on the court.

The No. 5-seeded player, Fernandez committed 52 unforced errors. Nevertheless, she still had a good chance to pull off another upset if she had been able to topple Graf when the opportunities presented themselves.

Graf’s key to take the second set after dropping the first one was to break Fernandez for 4-2 in a game that lasted 22 points, went to deuce eight times and had Fernandez save six break points.

But on the seventh, Graf rocketed a forehand cross-court for the break and the edge she needed to take the set.

“I think I got a little tired,” said Fernandez, who asked a trainer to give her aspirin during a break. “It was like a marathon game.”

At the same time, Graf never actually took control. Her usually reliable forehand was a balky ally. Graf made 48 unforced errors and saw herself down a break at 0-2 early in the third set.

Fernandez held two break points for 3-0. It was the most important juncture of the match, and it was where Graf scored with the two biggest weapons in her arsenal of shots.

Graf saved the first break point with a forehand that hit the line. She saved the second break point with an ace in the corner of the box.

When Fernandez replayed those two points in her head afterward, she was philosophical: “There is nothing you can really do about that.”

Graf broke Fernandez for 2-2 and seemed finally in control. That feeling lasted until Fernandez broke back for a 4-3 lead as Graf double-faulted.

Even so, Graf was convinced she was in a groove.

“I still felt really good because I didn’t think about, you know, losing the third set,” she said. “That is why I think it turned around, in a way, because I wasn’t afraid of anything.”

So when Fernandez gave the break back as Graf scorched a backhand down the line at break point, Graf had climbed back to 4-4. She held for 5-4, despite a double-fault, then quickly found herself with three match points.

She converted on the third when Fernandez popped a forehand into the net.

At last, Graf allowed a smile to creep across her face.

“I have no idea how much longer I will be around, but what I see, I mean I obviously didn’t play great tennis, but I won it because at the end I was tactically playing it better.”

French Open Notes

Martina Hingis, 12, a Swiss born in the former Czechoslovakia, is in the junior girls final. Hingis defeated 14-year-old Amanda Basica of Lomita in three sets. . . . Steffi Graf won approximately $509,433, depending on the exchange rate. Mary Joe Fernandez, who earned about $254,717, will move from No. 7 to No. 6 in the new rankings.