Arantxa Sanchez Vicario

The rains came, hot and steamy, washed away the morning's schedule and caused a hectic compression of court time throughout the rest of the day. At the Australian Open, such moments are welcome in a nation wracked by drought. The sun never did come out, but the stars did. Andre Agassi made his debut in this tournament today and was greeted with squeals and great curiosity. Agassi, seeded No. 2 but No.

In a week of contrasts and of triumph, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario began by answering the threat of the future and finished by responding to the challenge of the past. After eliminating 14-year-old Venus Williams in her first professional tennis match Wednesday, Sanchez Vicario overcame her own indifferent play and a partisan crowd to defeat 38-year-old Martina Navratilova, 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-3), Sunday in the final of the Bank of the West Classic.

Arantxa Sanchez Vicario hurried left and hurried right and scurried her way to the U.S. Open women's singles championship here Saturday, tarnishing in the process Steffi Graf's image of invincibility. Sanchez Vicario became the first woman from Spain to win this title in its 108-year history. She did it with a 1-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 victory over No.

Second-seeded Arantxa Sanchez Vicario withstood four rain delays and four match points Sunday to defeat top-seeded Steffi Graf, 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (7-4), and win the Matinee International women's tennis tournament at Montreal. The victory was worth $150,000 to Sanchez Vicaro. Graf, who has seven tournament victories in 11 appearances, earned $60,000. It was Graf's first loss on hardcourts this season after 32 consecutive victories.

Slump? What slump? Even though Steffi Graf had reached the final of the $400,000 Toshiba Tennis Classic, her subpar play had been the talk of the tournament. She hadn't been at the top of her game since winning the German Open in her homeland three months ago. But that was before Graf took the court Sunday at La Costa Resort & Spa for the championship match against Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of Spain.

After losing the first set in straight games, second-ranked Arantxa Sanchez Vicario rebounded to beat Marianne Werdel, 0-6, 6-4, 6-4, Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the Toshiba Tennis Classic. Werdel, ranked 49th, survived one match point on her serve to cut her deficit to 5-4 in the third set and then another in the next game before Sanchez Vicario closed the match on her serve.

About the only mistake Spain's Arantxa Sanchez Vicario made Sunday at Roland Garros Stadium was an innocent one. After winning the French Open women's title by turning hard-hitting Mary Pierce into merely another error-prone player, Sanchez Vicario, speaking in English, thanked the Queen of Spain. She meant King Juan Carlos I, as Queen Sofia was not among the 17,000 at Center Court who witnessed Sanchez Vicario's 6-4, 6-4 anticlimactic victory on a wind-swept day in Paris.

Each has played six matches and has yet to drop a set. So something will have to give today when No. 2-ranked Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of Spain plays No. 12 Mary Pierce of France and Bradenton, Fla., in the women's final of the French Open. Although they have rolled into the title match, Sanchez Vicario and Pierce offer a contrast in styles and personalities, and how they approach the game says a lot about how they approach life.

Arantxa Sanchez Vicario ended Steffi Graf's 36-match winning streak with a 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (8-6) victory to win the Citizen Cup Sunday at Hamburg, Germany. It was Graf's first loss this year, and was a repeat of the final last year in which Sanchez Vicario defeated Graf in straight sets. In the battle of the world's two top-ranked players, Graf fought off three match points before Sanchez Vicario's overhead ended the match after 3 hours 3 minutes.

Upsets eliminated Steffi Graf's three foremost challengers Tuesday at the Lipton Championships. Two-time defending champion Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Gabriela Sabatini and Jana Novotna--seeded second, third and fourth--all departed in the space of less than three hours. The quarterfinal results left only longshots to face Graf, a 6-1, 6-1 winner over fifth-seeded Kimiko Date. Graf has won 30 consecutive matches and 53 sets in a row.