Steffi Graf avenged her French Open loss today, beating Arantxa Sanchez on Centre Court grass for a semifinal spot at Wimbledon.
Graf, the defending women's champion, overcame a shaky run in the middle of the first set and rolled over the 17-year-old Spaniard 7-5, 6-1.It was the first loss in 12 matches for Sanchez, who beat Graf for the French Open title in Paris last month.
In Thursday's semifinals, Graf will play the winner of the last quarterfinal match between three-time winner Chris Evert and unseeded Italian Laura Golarsa.
The other semi will pit Martina Navratilova, aiming for a record ninth Wimbledon singles crown, against Catarina Lindqvist of Sweden. This is Navratilova's 12th consecutive Wimbledon semifinal but the first for the unseeded Lindqvist.
Navratilova beat American Gretchen Magers 6-1, 6-2, while Lindqvist downed Rosalyn Fairbank of South Africa 7-5, 7-5.
In Paris, Graf's run of Grand Slam tournament victories ended at five as Sanchez became the youngest French Open women's winner with a pounding baseline game and an infectious enthusiasm.
At Wimbledon, the enthusiasm has been there, and Sanchez adapted her baseline game to the faster surface - until Tuesday. That's when Graf caught up with the Spaniard.
In the early part of the match, another upset looked possible. Sanchez moved up 5-4 as Graf struggled with the timing on her normally penetrating forehand.
At the changeover, a buzz went around Centre Court as Sanchez prepared to serve for the set. But Graf broke at love as Sanchez double-faulted on game point.
That started Graf on a seven-game streak, during which she won 20 of 23 points to take a 4-0 lead in the second set. Her forehand was pounding out winners and Sanchez could no longer retrieve the ball, stretching and lunging at thin air.
The teen-ager also made error after error, a marked change from her steady play in Paris.
Sanchez ended Graf's run with a break for 4-1, but there was to be no comeback.
Graf broke for 5-1 and served out the match when Sanchez hit a backhand volley wide.
Navratilova had dropped only six games in two previous meetings with Magers and continued that domination on Wimbledon's grass despite a troublesome start.
The left-hander had problems with her serve early against Magers, a 25-year-old from San Diego, who upset eighth-seeded Pam Shriver in the third round. But Magers never was able to capitalize and let Navratilova get rolling.
Down 2-0, Magers was within a point of breaking back in the third game when Navratilova saved it with a running forehand down the line and held for 3-0.
After holding serve for 3-1, Magers had four break points in the fifth game, as Navratilova had problems with her first serve. But each time, Navratilova got the right shot at the right time - a spinning second-serve winner, a forehand crosscourt volley, a Magers backhand error and a open-court volley behind a wide-swinging serve to Magers' backhand.
Magers never reached break point again.
In a match between unseeded players, Lindqvist got the only service break she needed in the first set in the 11th game.
John McEnroe reached the men's quarterfinals in a raucous match that his opponent said showed the American star's true colors.
"A leopard doesn't change his spots," Fitzgerald said after a tennis war with McEnroe. "Once like that, always like that."
The Australian was on the end of one of McEnroe's temper tantrums Monday during a 6-3, 0-6, 6-4, 6-4 defeat that gave the American a spot in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.
He said it was time McEnroe, who was warned for wasting time just as the Australian was getting back in the first set, was penalized more heavily.
"Maybe they should bring in much tougher measures for a guy like that," the normally mild-mannered Fitzgerald said. "He says he's been unfairly treated but that's rubbish. He's got away with it all through his career. He's exactly the same as he ever was."
In the men's quarterfinals, scheduled for Wednesday, McEnroe was joined by three other Americans, the most since 1984.
Tim Mayotte advanced for the fifth time as he ended the challenge of Michael Chang, the 17-year-old who became the youngest winner of a Grand Slam title when he took the French Open men's championship.
Chang surprised even himself by adapting to Wimbledon's grass to reach the fourth round. He finally was exposed by Mayotte's power game and lost 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 in a clash of styles.