WOMEN’S TENNIS / LA COSTA TOURNAMENT : Capriati Out With Injured Back

Jennifer Capriati’s hopes of winning the Mazda Tennis Classic for the third year in a row vanished Wednesday night when she dropped out because of a back injury.

After drawing a first-round bye, the 17-year-old from Saddlebrook, Fla., was warming up for her match against Tatiana Ignatieva of Belarus when she felt pain in her back. She made the withdrawal announcement to the crowd of 3,506 at the stadium court.

“I’m sorry I have to talk you to this way,” Capriati told the fans. “I have to break some news. I can’t play tonight. I injured myself during warm-ups. . . . Hope you have a nice evening. See you later. Goodby.”

In a news conference, she said: “It’s a (right) lower back strain. When I hit one of my last serves, I felt it go.

“I’ve played with pain before, but on a scale of one to 10, this pain was a 10. I thought maybe a back brace would help, but it didn’t.

“I may be able to play doubles tomorrow, but I don’t know. Right now, icing is very important; also Nuprin.”

Despite being the two-time defending champion, Capriati was seeded fourth behind Steffi Graf of Germany and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Conchita Martinez of Spain. Capriati has had a disappointing season, winning only her first tournament.

“I feel awful,” she said. “This is really a bummer.”

Better news came from Graf, the world’s top-ranked female player, who was pronounced fit to continue after dizzy spells before and during her second-round singles match Tuesday night. The problem forced Graf to withdraw from the doubles.

Sanchez Vicario showed why she is the principal threat to Graf in the tournament.

Sanchez Vicario, 21, is ranked third in the world, and she talked about even bigger things after reaching the third round with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Tami Whitlinger of Neenah, Wis.

“No. 3 is great,” said Sanchez Vicario. “Many players would like to be there. Now I have to take the next two steps. I’m a much better player than I was two years ago, and I can still improve.”

Between Graf and Sanchez Vicario in the world rankings is Monica Seles, who was No. 1 until she was stabbed in the back April 30 during a match in Hamburg, Germany.

Martinez, No. 6 on the world list, who like Sanchez Vicario has won four tournaments this year, advanced by defeating Christina Papadaki of Greece, 6-3, 6-3.

This is Sanchez Vicario’s first visit to San Diego, and she was asked if she had done any sightseeing.

“I went to a nice restaurant in La Jolla last night, and I’m going to a baseball game tonight,” she said. “The Padres are playing, and I don’t know what the other team is.”

Told that the other team was the first-place San Francisco Giants, she said, “I’ve never been to a baseball game before.”

Tennis Notes

Debbie Graham of Fountain Valley, seeded 12th, was upset by Jennifer Santrock of Plano, Tex., 7-5, 6-1. . . . Unseeded Jolene Watanabe of Arcadia also lost, leaving 16th-seeded Ros Fairbank-Nideffer of San Diego, a native of South Africa, as the only remaining Californian. . . . Watanabe was beaten by ninth-seeded Naoko Sawamatsu of Japan, 6-4, 6-3. Fairbank-Nideffer outlasted Nathalie Herreman of France, 6-1, 2-6, 6-3.