OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Wednesday 9.30am.
STEFFI Graf was in blistering form as she blasted South Africa’s Amanda Coetzer 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) in the opening match of the Spar Challenge tennis tournament at Westridge Park on Tuesday evening.
Graf was given a standing ovation as she walked out onto the court, and the spectators even helped to dry the courts during a 20 minute rain break.
With the court damp and no equipment available to dry the surface, some 400 spectators pulled off shirts, vests and shorts, and wiped the court dry.
Tuesday night saw the Westridge stadium packed with a crowd estimated at more than 6000 strong, possibly the biggest crowd to attend a match there in 40 years.
Graf made a number of early errors in her first match since August, but Coetzer could not take advantage of her opponent’s faults.
Both players double-faulted many times, and in the fourth game Coetzer twice gave her opponent the only break in the set.
Coetzer took the early lead in the second set when she broke Graf in the fourth game, the German losing her serve on a double fault.
Graf, however, took the next three games for a 4-3 lead when rain forced a break of some 20 minutes.
After the break, Coetzer levelled to 4-4 and the pair went on 6-6 to take the set into a tie-breaker.
A double fault from the South African put Graf into a 5-3 lead and she set up a match point with a forehand which Coetzer could not master.
Graf took the match a point later when Coetzer netted the return.