TENNIS / WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT AT MANHATTAN BEACH : Sabatini Puts the Bite on Austin’s Hopes

Tracy Austin brought her revived career back to the tennis court Thursday night, ran straight into the jaws of Gabriela Sabatini’s looping top-spin and, oddly enough, made an important dental discovery.

“It was tooth and nail out there,” Austin said. “Winning a game was like pulling teeth.”

In 90 minutes, Sabatini extracted a 6-1, 6-3 victory in the Virginia Slims of Los Angeles, thus ending Austin’s first serious bid for a title since she left the women’s tour full-time in 1982.

Austin missed all eight of the break point chances she had, trying hard to knock balls back that Sabatini had sent bouncing to her side at about ear level.

Still, it was an altogether encouraging experience for the 30-year-old two-time U.S. Open champion, especially since she was playing her fifth tournament in four years.

“I should be happy with the way I played because I’ve come so far,” said Austin, whose career was short-circuited because of injuries at 23.

“Overall, I’m happy, ecstatic about the way I played (but) I’m disappointed I lost.”

The No. 5-ranked Sabatini was generous in her praise of Austin.

“It was very exciting for me to play against her,” said Sabatini, who meets Kimberly Po in the quarterfinals. “It was a special match. I thought she played very good. I can understand very well why she was there before.”

Austin, who said she would like to play in the U.S. Open if the USA Network, for whom she works, would allow it and if she gets a wild card into the main draw.

Sabatini said it is possible for Austin to make an impact at the U.S. Open.

“Right now, I could tell you she could do very well, if she plays more matches,” she said.

Martina Navratilova walked on the court without a loss to Ros Nideffer and left it the same way. Navratilova starred in her own version of 60 minutes, which is how long it took to wrap up a tidy 6-4, 6-1 victory.

Navratilova is 11-0 against Nideffer. Afterward, Navratilova tried to explain her dominance.

“I get into her head too much,” she said.

She also got the ball past her too much, although not especially when serving. Navratilova had no aces and one double fault, but said that was all part of her plan.

“I wasn’t going for aces,” she said. “I was going for placement. It worked pretty well.”

Navratilova’s place now is in the quarterfinals, where she plays Amanda Coetzer. It’s not an unusual position for Navratilova in a tournament. There have been many quarterfinals and beyond in Navratilova.

“I make reservations for Monday morning to leave town (but) I’ve been doing that for 17 years,” she said. “It may be premature, I may get beat tomorrow, but I haven’t had to change them too many times.

Po might have forgotten her serve, but she remembered to bring her family and friends along for her match against Mary Pierce.

Po served seven double faults and made only 39% of her first serves and won anyway, 6-4, 6-4. She credited her cheering section comprised of her parents, John and Harriet Po of Rolling Hills, and a half dozen friends from UCLA.

Greg Po, a dental student at UCLA, was also in his sister’s cheering section at Manhattan Country Club, which surprised her because she thought he was going to be in class.

“I don’t know what he ditched,” she said.

Top-seeded Arantxa Sanchez Vicario needed six match points, served for the match twice in the second set and failed and still got past Julie Halard, 6-4, 6-7 (7-4), 6-0, to move into the quarterfinals against Zina Garrison-Jackson.

The key moment in the match may have occurred when Sanchez Vicario was not on the court. She fled to the locker room at the end of the second set to change her shirt. When she returned, she didn’t lose another game.

Halard blamed a lack of concentration. Sanchez Vicario’s concentration may have been flagging a little, too, because she is traveling without her dog, Roland.

The Yorkshire terrier is recuperating from a sore throat back home in Barcelona. Roland usually accompanies Sanchez Vicario on trips in his private traveling compartment--a Louis Vuitton bag.

“He makes me a lot of good company,” she said. “He is like my little brother.”

Sanchez Vicario said she misses Roland, especially the way he picks up his ears whenever a television camera is pointed at him.

“He is a famous dog,” she said. “He is a smart dog.”