Graf back in the groove

Steffi Graf, who has struggled to find her world-beating game since undergoing knee surgery last year, got her Grand Slam groove back at the U.S. Open yesterday.

After needing three sets to get through her first-round match, the owner of a staggering 21 Grand Slam singles titles raced into the third round with a swift 6-0, 6-1 drubbing of 18-year-old German qualifier Marlene Weingartner under overcast skies at the National Tennis Centre.

If Weingartner, a former U.S. Open junior finalist, paid for a one-hour tennis lesson, she was seriously short-changed by her legendary compatriot. Graf, who missed last year's Open, spent just 41 minutes on court, never faced a break point and barely worked up a sweat in extending her U.S. Open winning string to 16 matches.

It was the kind of win the five-time Open champion used to routinely post in the first week of Grand Slams before an assortment of physical ailments began to take its toll and a sure sign that she was back on track.

Graf set the early second-round tone for women's seeds on the third day of the year's final Grand Slam, a theme picked up by 11th seed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland and 14th seed Dominique van Roost of Belgium.

Schnyder, who quietly moved into the world's top 10 this year, defeated 18-year-old American Brie Rippner 6-1 6-2, while van Roost crushed Magdalena Grzybowska of Poland 6-0 6-0, handing her what they call in New York `a double bagel'.

But 16th seed Ai Sugiyama of Japan retired with an ankle injury just five games into her second-round match with Spaniard Gala Leon Garcia, becoming the first women's seed to go out of the 1998 U.S. Open.

For her second-round romp, Graf revisited the site where she collected her five titles, the scaled down, newly-refurbished Louis Armstrong Stadium, now going by the catchy name: Stadium 2.

Gone is the upper half of the old ode to concrete and steel, along with the bottom-numbing metal stands, topped by the press box with the airliner's eye view of the court. The old stadium, which now seats less than half its original 20,000 capacity, was refaced with a retro red brick look to match the new Arthur Ashe Stadium now seeing its second year of U.S. Open action.

Meanwhile, Mary Pierce's controversial father, Jim, made a return to The U.S. Open after a five-year ban, imposed by the WTA in 1993, was lifted last November. Pierce was at the tournament in his role as adviser to first-round loser Vince Spadea of America. Mary Pierce is now coached by Michael DeJongh.

The elder Pierce did not watch his daughter's first-round victory here Tuesday and said watching Mary play is difficult for him because she is, in his mind, not in top shape.

"I don't want to watch anyone who is not giving 100 per cent. A lot of times it's questionable Mary is giving 100 per cent."

Mary, who dropped her father as coach and pushed his ban, has struggled all season with injuries and suffered a groin strain in winning her opener here. She claims she is dealing with her father's return.

"It's something I have come to terms with," she said. "He's here doing his job and I'm doing mine."