TENNIS ROUNDUP : Sanchez Vicario Defeats Graf

Arantxa Sanchez Vicario ended Steffi Graf’s 36-match winning streak with a 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (8-6) victory to win the Citizen Cup Sunday at Hamburg, Germany.

It was Graf’s first loss this year, and was a repeat of the final last year in which Sanchez Vicario defeated Graf in straight sets.

In the battle of the world’s two top-ranked players, Graf fought off three match points before Sanchez Vicario’s overhead ended the match after 3 hours 3 minutes.

“This is my biggest win since the French Open five years ago,” Sanchez Vicario said. “It’s even better because Steffi had so many chances. I’m not going to give up on any point.”

Sanchez Vicario’s victory at the 1989 French Open also came at the expense of Graf in the final.

Graf, ranked No. 1 in the world, had been 32-0 in 1994 and had dropped only two sets before Sunday. She had won 36 consecutive matches since being beaten by Conchita Martinez in November at Philadelphia.

“I’m disappointed beyond measure at the way I lost the match,” Graf said, fighting back tears. “I just can’t allow myself to give away a match like that.”

Sanchez Vicario fought off a match point at 5-2 in the second set, then ran off three consecutive games to climb back into the match as the German made several errors with her usually reliable forehand.

Graf, 24, also battled back, coming back from 1-5 and 3-6 deficits in the third-set tiebreaker.

But at 6-6, Sanchez Vicario set up the final match point when her shot nicked the baseline and led Graf to hit a weak forehand that sailed long.

For Sanchez Vicario, it was her first victory this year against the World No. 1 after two losses, including a rout at the Australian Open. Graf had won the Citizen Cup six consecutive times before she lost last year’s final to Sanchez Vicario, 6-3, 6-3.

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Top-seeded Michael Chang came back after losing the first set to defeat No. 2 Todd Martin, 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-4), 6-0, and win the AT&T; Challenge at Duluth, Ga.

It was Chang’s fourth title this year, but his first championship on clay since winning the French Open in 1989, when he became the youngest Grand Slam champion at the age of 17 years 3 months.

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Michael Stich became the first German to win the BMW Open in 14 years, edging Petr Korda of the Czech Republic, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, in the final at Munich.

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Austria’s Thomas Muster, again showing his prowess on clay, defeated Sergi Bruguera of Spain, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, in the final of the Madrid Open. The victory gives Muster 16 titles on clay since the beginning of the ATP Tour in 1990.