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Top seeds in topsyturvy

From Tawfiq Aziz Khan
MELBOURNE. Jan 19: Little Miss Tennis' of South Africa. Amanda Coetzer upset the — ■ - — applecart of world number one Steffi Graf in staight sets 6-2. 7-5 .In 88 minutes on the Centre Court this afternoon. The tiny righthander from Hoopstad. only five-feet two Inches in her socks, set her game plan right from the start as she electea to receive instead of serving after winning the toss. The tall Garman never thought that she would lose her service game.
When asked by The Daily Star in the post-match interview whether it was one of her memorable matches, the 25-year-old beaming Coetzer replied. ''Yes. I consider so." She set the tone of the match by a dazzling display of scorching ground strokes that forced the seed number one to commit a number of unforced errors. Her strong forehand shots, which steal the slip from many of her opponents, was. today, the cause for her downfall. And If Amanda can continue in this lashion 1 won't be surprised to find her in the final here.
AP adds: The heat, an infected toe and relentless Coetzer ended Grafs 45-match winning streak at Grand Slam tournaments. and the Australian Open went into the quarterfinals with all three of trie top women's seeds out.
Slipping to an early 2-5 deficit for the third consecutive match. Graf this time was unable to save the first set. She charged to a 4-0 lead in the second and reached 5-2 by holding serve in a 17-minute game with 10 deuces.
But then the world No. 1 slumped again in the 38-degree (1 OOF) heat, managing only nine points In the next five games.
It was only the second time in 12 years she had failed to reach the quarterfinals of one of tennis big four tournaments. She had won the last six she entered.
"I tried everything I could. I tried as hard as I could. I Just didn't have the energy with the heat. But give her credit, she handled the conditions really well.'' Graf said in a statement relayed by the Women's Tennis Association. The WTA said a doctor had sent Graf back to her hotel to rest from heat illness, which had aggravated her toe infection.
Meanwhile. No. 3 seed Conchita Martinez, also a victim of heat exhaustion, fell 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 in 2 hours. 21 minutes to No. 16 Sabine Appelmans of Belgium. who saved two match points at 5-3 in the second set. No. 2 Aranxta Sanchez Vicario lost Saturday.
This was the first time since the Open era began in 1968 that none of the top three seeds reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament.
Losses by No. 5 Anke Huber, last year's runner-up, and No. 7 Lindsay Davenport, the 1996 Olympic champion, left only No. 4 Martina Hingis of Switzerland surviving among the top seven.
If the 16-year-old Hingis wins the title, she will be the youngest women's Grand Slam singles winner since Lottie Dod won Wimbledon in 1887 at age 15 years. 10 months.
Huber lost 6-2. 6-3 to 1995 Australian champion Mary Pierce.
Davenport, who like Graf was hobbled by an infected toe and also had one marathon game, lost 7-6 (15-13). 6-4 to Kimberly Po.
There was only one mild upset in Sunday's men's matches.
No. 9 Marcelo Rios of Chile was unable to cash in on two match points in the third set. but finally beat No. 7 Thomas En-qvist of Sweden 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4). 6-7 (5-7). 6-3.
Two Spaniards advanced to a quarterfinal match against each other. No. 14 Felix Mantilla beat Mallvai Washington 7-5. 6-2. 6-1. and Carlos Moya outlasted Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman 6-3, 1-6. 3-6. 6-2. 6-4.
Rios will meet No. 2 seed
Michael Chang, a 4-6. 6-2. 6-2. 6-1 winner over Andrei Medvedev of Ukraine.
Coetzer. a semifinalist at the Australian Open last year, said she felt pretty good despite the heat, and set out to work hard on each point. She retrieved shot after shot and often was rewarded with eventual misses by Graf, who had 53 unforced errors to 28 for Coetzer.
It was her second victory over Graf in 11 tries.
"It's always great to beat somebody like that for the first time. But to do it twice really makes me feel good, it gives me a lot of confidence." said the No. 12 seed.
With the top three seeds gone. Coetzer said. "1 think it's good that some of the other players can come up and beat some of the top players. I think it will make it a little bit more exciting in the long run."
It was Grafs first loss in a m^or since the final of the 1994 US Open. Coetzer last beat her at the 1995 Canadian Open. Her only other loss before the quarterfinals of a major since 1985 came at Wimbledon in 1994. when she fell to Lori McNeil in the first round.
On the morning of the match. Graf abruptly stopped practice after Just 25 minutes because of an infected right big toe, on which the nail had been removed, and a groin injury.
She also has been bothered In recent days by a stiff back, and has been worried about her father's tax evasion trial.
She now Is able to return to Germany for the verdict later this week.
The heat left both Appelmans and Martinez lying on the court receiving help from trainers at one point late In their match.
"In the end. I was feeling very tired, but I didn't want to show
it because I saw she had problems with the heat as well, so I just wanted to pretend I was feeling great, but actually I wasn't." Appelmans said.
She received an IV drip treatment later to replace lost fluids.
"After the match. I showered and suddenly everything went — I got cramps all over my body." she said.
Martinez, who also was treated after the match, said. T started feeling more tired and more tired and .... suddenly you can't move and your power goes away 1 guess it could be dangerous. 1 don't know."
Po's advance to the quarterfinals was the first time she had gone past the third round of a Grand Salm tournament. She had to come back from 4-1 in the first set and 3-0 in the second.
"I knew she was tired, so I was just trying — even if it was just barely going over the net — I just wanted to make her hit one more ball, and a lot of times I won the point that way. on just sitters for her." said the 25-year-old Po.
Davenport said her problem wasn't the heat. Like Graf, she also was suffering from an infected toe.
"It was the toe that made it difficult for me to run. and the fact that she played really well." she added.