TENNIS / AUSTRALIAN OPEN : Graf Too Tough for Davenport in Quarterfinals

Top-seeded Steffi Graf won a duel between two of the hardest hitters in women’s tennis, defeating Lindsay Davenport, 6-3, 6-2, Tuesday to reach the semifinals of the Australian Open.

Graf, who has not lost a set in the tournament, used a booming forehand and repeatedly sent passing shots beyond the reach of the 17-year-old from California.

Davenport, 6 feet 2 and 165 pounds, was seeded No. 16 and playing in her first Grand Slam quarterfinal. She often froze Graf with blistering forehands and sharply angled two-handed backhands, but she was too slow to give Graf much trouble.

Davenport got an early service break to go up 3-1 in the first set. But the German won the next five games to win the set and was in command throughout the second set.

Graf’s next opponent will be No. 10 Kimiko Date, who became the second Japanese woman to advance to a Grand Slam semifinal.

Cheered by fans with red and white Japanese flags painted on their faces, Date turned back a third-set rally by third-seeded Conchita Martinez to reach the semifinals. Date won, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, taking advantage of repeated backhand errors by Martinez.

Date took a 4-0 lead in the final set, then lost three straight games. But Martinez lost her touch again, missing several easy shots while dropping the last two games.

Date was backed by supporters holding signs in Japanese and one in English saying, “You Can Do It!” Some fans bowed to her after the victory.

Arantxa Sanchez Vicario also won, reaching the semifinals of this event for the fourth consecutive year.

Sanchez Vicario ended the Grand Slam career of Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 victory. Maleeva-Fragniere is retiring next month after a 13-year pro career.

The second-seeded Sanchez Vicario played erratically, losing her last two service games, but No. 8 Maleeva-Fragniere made even more mistakes--hitting several easy overheads into the net.

Sanchez Vicario will face No. 4 Gabriela Sabatini or No. 5 Jana Novotna in the semifinals. Sabatini woke up feeling ill and it was unclear whether she would be able to face Novotna.

The men finished their fourth-round matches Monday. Ninth-seeded Todd Martin kept cool in the 102-degree afternoon heat, and Mal Washington warmed up in the cool evening air.

Martin, covering his head and legs with iced towels during changeovers, defeated Xavier Daufresne of Belgium, 6-7 (7-3), 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 6-3, in a match that lasted 3 hours 24 minutes.

Washington reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal by outlasting Mats Wilander in five error-filled sets. He overcame early sloppiness and rallied to win, 6-7 (9-7), 6-2, 6-7 (7-3), 6-4, 6-1.

When the four-hour match ended, the temperature had dropped to 66 degrees.

“If we were out there in the heat, there’s no way we could have gone five sets. Someone would have keeled over,” Washington said. “If it was in the heat, one of us would have died in the third or fourth set.”