FRENCH OPEN NOTES : At No. 2, Graf Might Have to Try Harder

Steffi Graf defeated Ines Gorrochategui of Argentina in straight sets Monday, but without great emphasis. Graf’s 6-1, 7-5 victory did little to quell speculation that the back injury that kept her out of the Australian Open in January has never fully healed.

Graf is seeded No. 2 here, which in itself exists as a sign of the power shift in women’s tennis: The last time Graf was seeded No. 2 at a Grand Slam event was at the 1993 Australian Open, behind Monica Seles.

Graf adamantly denied the stress fractures in some of her vertebrae and inflamed disks continue to be a problem, and said her six-week absence from the tour can be attributed to flu.

Graf’s last tournament was at Houston in April, but she said that compared to layoffs she has experienced in her career, this one has barely been noticed. Before Houston, Graf had played one tournament in five months.

“I wish I would have played Berlin or would have been able to play Berlin,” she said of the German Open two weeks ago. “I made the best of it and played with a lot of different players and practiced very hard. If I wouldn’t have had better practices, I would have been more awkward going in.”

Awkward aptly describes Graf’s strangely altered service motion in which she stops short of arching her back during the toss. Another obvious change in her game is court coverage. Graf made no attempt Monday to change directions and go after any ball hit behind her. Odd strategy for a player with excellent speed and footwork. Understandable for a player with a bad back.

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The possible return of Seles is being discussed in earnest here and was a topic at the WTA Players Committee meeting over the weekend.

According to Jean Nachand, the WTA’s director of player relations, the players are considering various scenarios to allow Seles to rejoin the tour, should she choose.

Martina Navratilova, president of the WTA Players Assn. and one of the few people in tennis to whom Seles speaks, is reported to have devised a plan that would allow Seles to return to the tour but not have to be subjected to qualifying or facing seeded players in the early rounds.

Nachand said the Players Assn. looked at an existing rule--the Special Ranking Rule--that allows a player to be absent from the tour for up to two years and retain her ranking plus 30 places. If the rule were to be applied to Seles, for example, she would be given a ranking of No. 31.

Seles, however, has been off the tour for more than two years, so the rule would not appear to apply.

“There’s really no precedent, so it’s difficult,” Nachand said.