Graf Gets Mad, Then Even With Hingis

Most people in tennis know by now not to irritate Steffi Graf. Her opponents prefer the No. 1 woman player to be calm, happy and otherwise occupied--the better to beat her, or at least to try, which is all most players can hope for against Graf.

The defending Wimbledon champion is said to have been in a particularly foul mood the last week, in part because Martina Hingis and Martina Navratilova ticked her off.

Hingis’ offense was to hand Graf her only loss on the tour this year, at the Italian Open. Her payback was to be beaten by Graf in the fourth round at Wimbledon on Monday. Graf won, 6-1, 6-4, and offered the 15-year-old a non-subtle reminder about dues-paying in professional tennis.

In other ways, the tournament stayed true in that another seeded player lost. Third-seeded Conchita Martinez, who won here in 1994, lost to 12th-seeded Kimiko Date, 5-7, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.

Martinez’s big game, so full of topspin and slice, fueled by a big serve, fell apart against Date, whose steady baselining negated the Spaniard’s power.

Date said that despite the victory, she still lacks confidence on grass.

“It’s true that I am getting used to this grass court, but I can’t say that I am enjoying it,” Date said.

Date beat Graf in a Fed Cup match earlier this year--her only loss, aside from the Hingis defeat. That should offer testimony to Date’s ability. But Monday’s match was less about Date’s game and more about Martinez’s emotions.

It was a blustery, rainy and cold day at Wimbledon, where play was suspended for hours and many matches were postponed, including one between Pete Sampras and Cedric Pioline of France. The patient but wet crowds were rewarded by the play of young Tim Henman, who said he wants to put British tennis back on the map. He’s getting there. Henman, 21, beat Magnus Gustaffson, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), to become the first British player in the Wimbledon quarterfinals since 1973.

Graf’s contretemps with Navratilova stretches back to this tournament last year, when Graf angered Navratilova by reneging on an agreement to play doubles. Navratilova didn’t fully accept Graf’s explanation that her back was bothering her.

Graf’s not complaining about her back this year, and she’s again the top-seeded woman. It’s her left knee that’s the problem, but Navratilova took one look at Graf during her opening-round match last week and, in her role as television commentator, suggested that Graf really wasn’t injured.

On Monday Graf responded to Navratilova’s remarks.

“She’s lucky she doesn’t have to live with them,” Graf said of her various injuries. “I think she should know better than to say these things. We saw each other in the locker room two days ago and she said she was sorry the way it was put, and she didn’t really mean how she said it. So that’s all I can say to that.”

For Hingis, the lessons keep coming, many at the hands of Graf. The Swiss teenager made her professional Wimbledon debut (she won the junior title) under difficult circumstances last year: The first round, against Graf, on Centre Court. She got bombed and learned a lesson in jitters.

She doesn’t seem to have those nerves anymore. Hingis’ victory over Graf on clay rattled the German, who hates losing and despises playing badly. The minute Graf said she was “disgusted” by the way she played against Hingis at Rome, Hingis should have known Graf would be coming after her.

“I was on top of her right from the beginning because I lost the match against her,” Graf said. “I didn’t want to give her the chance to get into the match. I wanted to go for my shots right from the beginning, and that’s exactly what I was doing.”

Graf lost only four points in the first four games of the match. Even when Hingis probed the elusive Graf backhand, Graf struck back, winning points emphatically.