PARIS, June 5: Battling back like a champion, Steffi shook off a slow start to end the upset streak

of Mary Joe Fernandez and win her third French Open title Saturday, reports AP.

Fernandez seemed on her way to erasing her reputation as a talented also-ran by win ning her first Grand Slam championship. But Graf hung on until Fernandez tired, cut down on her errors and prevailed 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the two hour, 30 minute final.

It was Graf’s 12th Grand Slam championship, and her first here since winning back-to-back titles in 1987-88.

Fernandez, the No. 5 seed, had upset third-seeded Gabriela Sabatini and No 2 seed Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario to reach the final. She started out strongly against the topseeded Graf, making fewer mistakes, and mixing her ground-strokes effectively with drop shots.

A key phase came In the sixth game of the second set, with Fernandez serving to even the score at 3-3. She saved six break points, and thrje times had game points of her own, but Graf finally won a seventh break to teke a decisive 4-2 edge in the set after a game that stretched for 19 minutes and 22 points.

"It took a lot out of me physically," Fernandez said. "It was a long game and we both fought very hard... Maybe if I’d won it, I would have gotten my second wind back right away."

Though clearly tired by the third set, Fernandez jumped back into the lead, 2-0. But Graf saved two break points, one with an ace, to hold serve, then broke back to level the set at 2-2.

“It was close — a couple of points here and there," Fernandez said when asked the deciding factor In the match. “Maybe experience — she hung in there on the big points. She knows how to play them very well."

In the men’s final Sunday, Jim Courier goes for his third straight crown against 10th-

seeded Sergi Bruguera of Spain.

Since winning here in 1988, Graf has reached the finals three other times, losing once in two sets and twice In three sets. Monica Seles, absent this year while recovering from a stabbing incident April 30, beat her last year, 6-2, 3-6,10-8 In one of the best French Open finals ever.

"This time I turned it around," Graf said. "I’m very happy.”

Throughout the match, many of the key points were decided by errors, rather than outright winning shots. Graf made more mistakes in the first set. 19 to 14, but by the end Fernandez had 52 unforced errors to 48 for Graf.

Fernandez's tough route through the field appeared to take its toll. Her first six matches had averaged one hour, 55 minutes, compared to

one hour, seven minutes for Graf.

Fernandez expressed satisfaction at her breakthrough here and said she would try to build up her strength and endurance to play even better.

It was Grafs 73rd pro title, compared to only three for Fernandez. Her 12 Grand Slam singles titles tie with Billie Jean King for fifth on the all-time Grand Slam singles list.

Graf went into the final with a lifetime record of 10-0 against Fernandez, who had not taken a set off of the German, until two weeks ago in Berlin. Graf won that match 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Fernandez was playing in her third Grand Slam final. She lost twice In the Australian Open final, to Graf in 1990 and Monica Seles in 1992.

Fernandez had revamped her game over the past few months and has been playing the best tennis of her career. Her quarterfinal victory over Sabatini, rallying from a 1-67, 1-5 deficit, was perhaps the most memorable match of the tournament.

Grafs semifinal victory over Anke Huber allowed her to reclaim the No. 1 ranking from Seles, sidelined indefinitely after being stabbed by an obsessive Graf fan in Hamburg, Germany.

Courier, winner of four Grand Slams, has 4-0 record against Bruguera, including three victories on clay and straight-set victory at this year’s Australian Open. But Bruguera has the best record in the French Open this year, losing only one set In six matches.

Bruguera, 22, Is the first Spaniard in the men’s final here since Manuel Orantes in 1974, and would be the first to win since Andres Gimcno in 1972.