Against Zvereva, Graf Plays Just Like She’s 17 Going on 18

No one beats Natasha Zvereva 17 consecutive times.

Unless it is Steffi Graf.

The Graf of old always dispatched Zvereva with ease, the prime example being the 1988 French Open final when Graf did not lose a game.

The new Graf had nearly as easy a time Tuesday in the quarterfinals at the State Farm Evert Cup, winning, 6-3, 6-0, in 55 minutes. Zvereva, the 15th-seeded player from Belarus, lost the final nine games.

A visibly pleased Graf stood on the court and answered a few questions afterward, saying, “I came here to have one or two matches. . . . I thought I would need a few matches to be at the level I’m playing these matches.”

Graf, seeded third here and ranked 45th in the world, has surpassed her own high standards here at Grand Champions Resort. In her three matches, she has lost eight games and won three sets at love.

She even joked about her long hiatus when asked what she did during the layoff to let her recover from knee surgery.

“I basically started being a couch potato,” Graf said, laughing.

In the semifinals, Graf will play either American Sandra Cacic or American Lindsay Davenport, who is seeded and ranked No. 2.

Davenport, who beat No. 13 Ruxandra Dragomir of Romania, 6-2, 6-2, in a third-round match, was curious about Graf’s progress and watched Graf play Ai Sugiyama on Monday.

“I saw her play last night and I thought it was the old Steffi Graf,” Davenport said. “She looked unbelievable last night. That’s the Graf I remember. She looks so good when she’s playing well, moves so well, hitting her forehands and backhands close to the lines.”

Davenport said Graf would not be here if she didn’t feel confident about her chances.

“When I heard she was . . . pulling out at a couple of tournaments and delaying her comeback, I thought, ‘This is a girl who has won 21 Grand Slam titles--loves to win, hates to lose,’ ” Davenport said. “ ‘She’s not going to come back until she can win a tournament, until she knows she can play at the level she wants to play at.’ I think all the players know she’s only going to play a tournament if she can win it.”

Graf disagreed.

“She doesn’t know me very well, I guess,” Graf said. “That’s way off, actually. That’s very way off. I never thought or never started thinking that I can get to that point. Not even now.”

In the biggest upset among the women, unseeded Joannette Kruger of South Africa beat her countrywoman and fourth-seeded Amanda Coetzer, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. Kruger has played well recently, losing to Venus Williams at the final of Oklahoma City earlier this month.

In men’s play, four more seeded players lost in the Newsweek Champions Cup. Thomas Muster of Austria beat No. 15 Cedric Pioline of France, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Wild card Jan-Michael Gambill defeated No. 12 Mark Philippoussis of Australia, 7-6 (9-7), 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), completing the upset when Philippoussis double-faulted on match point. No. 16 Alberto Berasategui of Spain retired in the second set against Slava Dosedel of the Czech Republic because of hand blisters. And unseeded Bohdan Ulihrach of the Czech Republic beat No. 4 Yevgeny Kafelnikov, 6-3, 6-3.

Despite a tough second-round match, top-seeded Pete Sampras advanced with relative ease, beating American Todd Martin, 6-1, 7-5, in 64 minutes.

Gambill, ranked 126th, has reached the quarterfinals in two tournaments in the last month, losing both times to eventual champion Andre Agassi, in San Jose and Scottsdale, Ariz.

The 20-year-old hits his forehand and backhand with both hands on the racket, was born and raised in the non-tennis hotbed of Spokane, Wash., and is named after actor Jan-Michael Vincent.

Agassi’s coach, Brad Gilbert, said in Scottsdale that it might be worth a shot trying Gambill at singles next month in Davis Cup against Russia. At the very least, Gambill will be there as a hitting partner.

“Last year, something like that [losing the second set] would have defeated me in my own mind,” said Gambill, who had 21 aces. “I would have thought, ‘I’m playing Mark Philippoussis, I’m not going to be able to break him back. Maybe I’ll just try to hold serve and make it look good.’ Now I’m thinking, ‘Make him play. Make him hit a shot.’ ”

*

Michael Chang, Newsweek champion three times, including the last two years, pulled out of this year’s event late Tuesday night. He had injured his left knee practicing here Thursday.

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Today’s Featured Matches

* STADIUM COURT (10 a.m.)

* Lindsay Davenport vs. Sandra Cacic.

* Sergi Bruguera, Spain, vs. Andre Agassi (not before noon).

* Jonas Bjorkman, Sweden, vs. Jim Courier.

* STADIUM COURT (6:30 p.m.)

* Martina Hingis, Switzerland, vs. Conchita Martinez, Spain.

* Scott Draper, Australia, vs. Petr Korda, Czech Republic.

* CLUBHOUSE (10 a.m.)

* Wayne Black, Zimbabwe, vs. Nicolas Lapentti, Ecuador.

* Marcelo Rios, Chile, vs. Hendrik Dreekmann, Germany.

Times Sports Editor Bill Dwyre contributed to this story.