Graf Defeats Davenport to Move Into Final

Steffi Graf closed to within one victory of her fifth Lipton Championships title by beating Lindsay Davenport 6-4, 6-4 in Thursday’s semifinals.

Graf’s opponent in the final Saturday will be the winner of a late match between Chanda Rubin and Karina Habsudova.

The top-seeded Graf, who beat Davenport in three sets two weeks ago in the semifinals in the Evert Cup at Indian Wells, needed only 66 minutes this time. Graf converted all five of her break-point chances and finished with a 103-mph ace.

Davenport, seeded eighth, was doomed by 32 unforced errors.

“If you have to deal with these things, you realize what a great life you have on the tour,” said Graf, referring to her injuries and her father’s tax problems. “You realize how great it is just to focus on tennis, to do something that you really love. That’s something that I’ve not treasured as much as I do now.”

The 26-year-old Graf plays--and wins--despite chronic back spasms and other ailments caused by the pounding her body has taken during 14 years on the WTA Tour. She returned this month from foot surgery in December.

Graf’s refuge is tennis, and her record this year is 10-0. The closest call was the 2-hour, 44-minute match against Davenport at Indian Wells.

“A totally different match,” Graf said. “I was moving better around the court. During that [earlier] match I had back problems and didn’t really step into my backhand as well as I did at times today.”

At 20, Rubin has staged stunning comebacks and won marathon matches. She reached the semifinals of this year’s Australian Open, and her No. 9 computer ranking is a career best.

But the Lafayette, La., native has yet to win a tournament, which lends extra weight to her match tonight against Habsudova.

“It would be great to win a big one like this,” Rubin said.

In men’s play, No. 2-seeded Pete Sampras defeated Vince Spadea, 6-3, 6-4, and will meet Goran Ivanisevic in a serving showdown in today’s semifinals. Ivanisevic routed No. 4 Michael Chang, 6-4, 6-4.

In a match featuring the hottest players on the men’s tour, Ivanisevic hit 12 aces and had too much firepower for Chang. The Croat delivered a 129-mph ace on his first serve, a 130-mph ace to end the first set, a 127-mph ace on his first serve of the second set, and a 121-mph ace to close the match.

The Ivanisevic-Sampras duel will be a rematch of last year’s Wimbledon semifinal. Sampras won that one in five sets and leads the rivalry, 7-5.

“I think I have a chance,” said Ivanisevic, seeking his fifth tournament title this year. “I think he’s not playing the best tennis.”

No. 3 Andre Agassi will play No. 15 Arnaud Boetsch of France in the other semifinal.