TENNIS ROUNDUP : Graf Leads Charge With 6-1, 6-2 Win

Steffi Graf led a seeded charge into the third round of the $500,000 Players Challenge tennis championships Wednesday, with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Monique Javer in Montreal.

Showing no ill effects from recent surgery to correct a chronic sinus problem, the 21-year-old, top-ranked West German defeated Javer in 49 minutes.

Second-seeded Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina, third-seeded Katerina Maleeva of Bulgaria and sixth-seeded Jennifer Capriati advanced on a day that saw the top-10 seeded players reach the third round.

The 13th-ranked Capriati, who along with the top eight seeded players received first-round byes, dazzled fans in her Canadian debut with a 6-4, 6-0 victory over U.S. qualifier Lisa Green.

Sabatini cruised past American baseliner Kathy Rinaldi, 6-0, 6-3 in 69 minutes and Maleeva faced only two break points in her 6-0, 6-2 victory over New Zealand’s Belinda Cordwell.

Fourth-seeded Manuela Maleeva advanced when her opponent, the youngest of the three Maleeva sisters, Magdalena, retired in the first set with a rib injury. It was the first time the two sisters had faced each other in a professional tournament.

Libor Nemecek reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Pro Tennis Championships, by rallying to a 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 victory over Sandon Stolle in Brookline, Mass.

The 21-year-old Czech, who upset eighth-seeded Kevin Curren in the opening round, lost the first set after leading 5-2.

But he came back in the second set to even the match, then battled to 4-4 in the final set, before his deep returns and aggressive forehands ended it for Stolle.

Nemecek was joined in the quarterfinals by fifth-seeded Richard Fromberg, a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 winner over Jaime Yzaga of Peru.

Second-seeded Brad Gilbert was upset by Argentina’s Horacio de la Pena, 6-2, 6-4 in the second round of the Austrian Open, in Kitzbuehel, Austria.

Top-seeded Boris Becker had little problem with Claudio Pistolesi, defeating the Italian, 6-2, 6-1.