There’s No Question of Her Game

With Steffi Graf, at least in the early rounds of a tournament, forget tennis. Talk about shoes and television shows and anything else, because in the early rounds, the story is redundant.

Whipped. . . .

Routed. . . .

Defeated. . . .

Tuesday at the Acura Classic in Manhattan Beach, Katrina Adams was at the end of the sentence, losing, 6-4, 6-2, in a match that lasted 1 hour 10 minutes and about one hour too long.

Graf walked off the court after the second-round victory and into a room full of reporters who, like the crowd at the Manhattan Country Club, hadn’t seen much of anything during the match.

The questions:

Which late-night television host do you prefer? (Graf was a guest of Jay Leno on Monday night).

“You can’t compare the two because they are so different. Dave [Letterman] is so intense, you have to be on your toes. But Jay is more down to earth, easier to talk to.”

Are those new shoes?

“Yes, they are about a week old. I had a blister about a week ago, but I can live with it. But I am used to them, they feel fine.”

Questions and answers pertaining to the match made Adams out to be a mere annoyance, which, like most of Graf’s opponents, is exactly what she was.

A big serve made for some interesting moments, but Adams’ volley-at-all-costs approach killed any chance for thrilling rallies.

“She is the type of player who doesn’t let you get into any rhythm,” Graf said. “Usually you come into a match and try to find the lines, but today that wasn’t possible because we didn’t have any rallies. All you can do is concentrate on your serve and return.”

The world’s co-ranked No. 1 player concentrated and let Adams, ranked 94th, make the mistakes. Adams’ first error came on serve, 2-2, in the first set when consecutive double faults cost her the game and ended up being the difference in the set.

Graf, in her first match since winning Wimbledon, broke Adams in the first game of the second set, but then Adams broke back, stirring a quiet crowd. Graf methodically broke Adams twice more and held her own serve for the victory.

Adams became another early-round victim but can take pride in knowing that this season, Graf’s opponents win an average of only five games. Adams won six.

Graf was asked one pertinent question, and only because teenager Venus Williams defeated 13th-seeded Linda Wild, and will play Graf tonight at 7.

What do you think of teenagers playing on the tour?

“It was fine for me, but it is different for everybody,” Graf said. “With Williams, she is physically so far ahead [of players her age], why shouldn’t she be on the tour?

“I have not seen many of her matches, the only time was at Indian Wells in March. She has a good serve and physically overpowers the ball, so it is just a matter of being patient.”

Acura Classic Notes

Fourth-seeded Lindsay Davenport, in her first match since winning her Olympic gold medal in Atlanta, defeated Italy’s Francesca Lubiani, 7-5, 6-2, in the featured evening match. “I think I was nervous to play here in front of my friends,” said Davenport, who was born in Palos Verdes, “and I think people are expecting more of me.”. . . Third-seeded Kimiko Date of Japan advanced with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 victory over Gala Leon Garcia of Spain.