Graf Turns Tables on Austin : Women’s tennis: The world’s top player rolls to 6-0, 6-0 victory in 43 minutes in Evert Cup, recalls loss almost 11 1/2 years ago.

Steffi Graf spent another 43 minutes on the stadium court in the Evert Cup at Hyatt Grand Champions Wednesday, long enough to overpower Tracy Austin, 6-0, 6-0, and avenge her earliest professional defeat.

Graf, 24, was barely a teen-ager when she lost to Austin at Filderstadt, Germany, in her pro debut almost 11 1/2 years ago.

“When I played Steffi the first time, she was a little kid--13, just starting out--and I was at the top,” said Austin, comparing the only two matches between the current and former champions. “Now, I’m an old lady at the end of my career and she’s at the top.”

Austin, 31, is 12 months into her comeback, but is not ready to challenge the top-ranked player on the WTA Tour.

“It must be an awful feeling to be on the other side and to realize that nothing is really working for you,” said Graf, asked to put herself in Austin’s shoes. “It’s not a nice spot to be in.”

Not that she would know.

Graf has dominated women’s tennis in the absence of Monica Seles, who has not played since last April 30 when she was stabbed by a spectator at a tournament in Hamburg, Germany.

Graf has won 62 of her last 64 matches and four consecutive Grand Slam tournaments. She is 14-0 this year and has yet to lose a set.

And it probably didn’t help Austin that Graf was stung by a comment allegedly made by Austin after their long-ago meeting.

Austin, Graf said Tuesday, had told reporters that “there were hundreds of players like me in America.”

Graf, though, said she found no inspiration in the perceived slight--”There was really nothing behind it,” she said of her performance--and that she regretted bringing it up before the second-round match.

“The minute I said it, I said, ‘Why did I say it?’ ” she said.

Joked Austin, who said Graf had taken her comments out of context: “Maybe I should get some of the credit (for her rise to No. 1). Maybe I made her mad and motivated. Maybe she could share her trophies with me.”

Austin, who won only 21 points Wednesday, said she felt no embarrassment in absorbing only the second shutout loss of her pro career.

“She’s one of the greatest tennis players of all time, and I did the best that I could,” Austin said. “I have my head up high.

“You know, Aranxta (Sanchez Vicario) lost (to Graf), 0 and 2, at the Australian Open, and she’s the second-best player in the world. Steffi is . . . I just can’t describe how good she is right now.”

Tennis Notes

Second-seeded Mary Joe Fernandez defeated Angelica Gavaldon, 6-3, 6-3, and third-seeded Lindsay Davenport, a 17-year-old senior at Murrieta Valley High, defeated Natalia Medvedeva, 6-4, 6-1, in first-round matches. . . . Fourth-seeded Natalia Zvereva eliminated Linda Harvey-Wild, 6-3, 6-3, in a second-round match. . . . Among the no-shows this week is the woman for whom the tournament is named, Chris Evert, who bowed out after doctors recommended that she not fly here from her home in Boca Raton, Fla., because of minor complications with her pregnancy. . . . Boris Becker has declined an invitation to accept a wild-card entry into the Newsweek Champions Cup, which starts Monday and runs through March 6 at Grand Champions.