WOMEN’S TENNIS / LA COSTA TOURNAMENT : Pierce Tougher Than Expected, but Graf Wins

Mary Pierce’s losing effort against Steffi Graf Friday was a frustrating tale of missed opportunities.

The seventh-seeded Pierce gave the world’s top-ranked women’s player a tougher tussle than suggested by the 6-3, 6-4 score in the quarterfinals of the Mazda tennis tournament at La Costa. But as well as she played, Pierce consistently failed to convert key opportunities, squandering eight break points in the first set.

Up to now, Pierce’s primary source of publicity has been a running feud with her father, Jim, who has made a habit of berating her from the stands. She finally obtained a restraining order to prevent him from attending this tournament.

Through it all, though, the 18-year-old Montreal native and resident of Paris has climbed to 14th place in the world rankings in her fifth year on the tour.

After Friday’s match, her first against Graf, Pierce said: “I have mixed feelings right now. It’s great to play like that against the No. 1 player. It shows I have the game to beat the top players. At the same time, playing so well and not winning is very disappointing.

“In almost every game in the first set, I had a point to win, and I rarely got it. In the second set, I came from 0-2 to 3-2, and I had a point to go 4-2 and missed an easy overhead.”

Said Graf: “I think she has the hardest groundstrokes on the tour. I didn’t play real well, but I made the shots I had to make, and I didn’t make as many mistakes as she did. She had her chances.”

Next for Graf in today’s first semifinal will be third-seeded Conchita Martinez of Spain, ranked sixth, who advanced with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria.

Martinez won with surprising ease against Maleeva, ranked 11th in the world.

“She was trying to hit every lob higher and she made some mistakes,” Martinez said.

Marketa Kochta of Germany emerged as the surprise of the tournament, winning a duel of unseeded players from Yelena Likhovtseva of the Russian republic of Kazakhstan, 6-1, 6-2.

Kochta, 18 and ranked 173rd, is the first pre-tournament qualifier to reach the semifinals in the event’s 10-year history.

Likhovtseva, ranked 244th, had upset two seeded players, but was no match for Kochta.

“I can’t believe it. I’m so lucky,” Kochta said. “I’m playing my best tennis ever.”

Kochta now will meet second-seeded Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of Spain, ranked third, who routed 11th-seeded Ann Grossman of Grove City, Ohio, the last remaining American-born player, 6-0, 6-0.

Sanchez Vicario’s shutout was the first of the tournament, and she said afterward, “Unbelievable. All my shots were great. I’ve never played with fewer errors. Now I want to go to the final and play Graf.”