Muster Draws a Crowd, Graf a Victory

Thomas Muster’s practice session generated as much electricity as anything else at the combined Newsweek Champions Cup/State Farm Evert Cup men’s and women’s tennis event Monday but Steffi Graf kept plugging along impressively.

The No. 1 player on the women’s tour, back after sitting out four months because of foot surgery, got a jolt or two along the way before beating veteran Julie Halard-Decugis of France, 6-3, 7-5.

After barely breaking a sweat Saturday against newcomer Katrina Triska, a 16-year-old clearly in awe of her superstar opponent, Graf needed a sharper prod in her next match. And Halard-Decugis, who has already won two tournaments this year, provided that.

She had Graf in trouble in the first set, going to love-40 in Graf’s second service game. But Graf battled back to hold there, and to run out the first set at 6-3.

Then Halard-Decugis, who serves big and hits big off the baseline, ran off to a 4-1 lead in the second set, providing Graf with just the kind of early test she needed. Graf, as usual, passed the test, just as she has so many others in a career that has produced 18 titles in Grand Slam events, among them all but the Australian Open last year in a season in which she struggled with injuries and personal problems.

Graf broke service for 3-4, after giving Halard-Decugis an extra chance to hold by failing to put away a short overhead. Graf held at 4-5, taking advantage of Halard-Decugis’ shank of a short lob and getting the break on a drop shot that Halard-Decugis netted. Then Graf put herself in position to serve for the match by crushing a backhand passing shot down the line on break point for 6-5, eventually winning on the third match point with a nonreturnable serve to Halard-Decugis’ backhand.

Halard-Decugis, who has played Graf eight times since 1987 and has lost each time, was again impressed.

“She is a tough player,” Halard-Decugis said. “She [displays] a lot of intensity when she is playing, and that is maybe the difference.”

The perfectionist in Graf was less impressed.

“I’ll try to be diplomatic here,” she said. “I wish I had played better, but it is good for me to come back from 1-4, and to play two real good games at 5-5 of the second set.”

Graf might have to continue to step it up. Chanda Rubin, Amanda Coetzer and Jennifer Capriati are all on her side of the bracket. Rubin is one of the hottest players on the tour, Coetzer has frequently played Graf tough, and Capriati won her Olympic gold medal in Barcelona by beating Graf in the final.

In a night match, defending champion and eighth-seeded Mary Joe Fernandez was unable to solve No. 13 Nathalie Tauziat’s serve and lost, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4. Fernandez, who had been troubled by the heat in her second-round match, was bedeviled by the wind.

“It was a weird match,” she said. “I was having trouble getting my rhythm. She was serving particularly well and I was having trouble picking up her serve. I was getting a little frustrated. It’s always disappointing--you always want to come back and defend your title.”

The men’s Champions Cup got under way with two veterans exiting and new No. 1 Muster creating a traffic jam around some of the outside courts as a crowd gathered to watch him grunt his way through a high-spirited practice session. Because he didn’t regain the No. 1 spot from Pete Sampras until his victory in Mexico City on Sunday, Muster is seeded No. 2 here and will begin play Wednesday.

The veterans losing were 31-year-olds, Guy Forget and Mats Wilander.

Forget, once ranked as high as No. 4 in the world, got into this tournament with a wild-card invitation and left after a 6-3, 6-4 defeat at the hands of Jonas Bjorkman. Bjorkman, a hard-charging Swede, got through a nervous final game in which he double-faulted twice and caught two tosses at 30-40 before closing Forget out with a 124-mph serve and a crisp volley.

Wilander, once No. 1 and winner of seven Grand Slam tournaments, although none since 1988, was taken out by Romanian newcomer Adrian Voinea, 6-3, 7-6 (11-9).

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Tennis Notes

Two seeded women players advanced easily, No. 4 Kimiko Date beating Larisa Neiland, 6-4, 6-0, and No. 9 Amanda Coetzer beating No. 14 Irina Spirlea, 6-2, 6-1. . . . In the Champions Cup, No. 13 Alberto Costa beat Cecil Mamiit, the No. 1 player from USC, 6-2, 6-4, Michael Joyce defeated No. 16 Gilbert Schaller, 6-3, 6-4, and Jordi Burillo defeated No. 11 Andrei Medvedev, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.

Todd Martin and Jonathan Stark, who committed to play together frequently this season after Davis Cup Captain Tom Gullikson put them together for the semifinal against Sweden in September in Las Vegas, have followed through on that commitment, despite losing that Davis Cup match to Sweden’s Stefan Edberg and Jonas Bjorkman. They got past a good team in Arnaud Boetsch and Marc Rosset, 6-4, 5-7, 7-8 (8-6).

Joannette Kruger, who collapsed on court with heat stroke last Friday, was released from Eisenhower Medical Center after neurological testing. Tournament physician Sam Reber said Kruger was suffering from an unspecified seizure disorder, a previously undiagnosed condition that might have been brought on by physical stress. Reber said Kruger was placed on anti-seizure medication and advised to consult a neurologist.

Monday day-session attendance was within 100 or so of the 11,500 that officials here have designated as a sellout. Tournament coordinator Dee Dee Felich said that, once the 11,500 marked is passed, grounds pass tickets, good for access to all matches outside the stadium court, will be made available at the box office at a reduced price.