Just call her the Comeback Kid. Jennifer Capriati did it again today, losing the first set before advancing to a quarterfinal match against Steffi Graf at the Australian Open.
But Capriati wasn't the only player who had to dig deep for something extra.No. 2 Stefan Edberg, a two-time winner here, had back spasms so bad he had to withdraw from the doubles Sunday and was uncertain for his match against France's Arnaud Boetsch until he was cleared after a morning workout.
The stoic Swede, wearing a wrap for support, refused to drop out of the tournament that has been something of a jinx for him since it was moved from the grass of nearby Kooyong. Injuries have forced him to pull out twice.
Edberg beat Boetsch 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 to set up a quarterfinal meeting with Swede Christian Bergstrom, who knocked off his second seeded player, No. 10 Wayne Ferreira of South Africa, 6-4, 7-5, 2-6, 6-4. Ferreira was a semifinalist last year.
No. 3 Pete Sampras ousted fellow American MaliVai Washington 6-3, 6-4, 6-5 and next will meet the winner of the night match between a pair of unseeded players, Brett Steven of New Zealand and Australia's Richard Fromberg.
No. 1 Jim Courier, one of the few players to finish a match on Sunday's rain-plagued schedule, will play No. 7 Petr Korda of the Czech Republic, who finished off unseeded American Chris Garner in the completion of a suspended match.
No. 11 Guy Forget of France ended American qualifier Kelly Jones' run with a straight-set victory and will take on No. 14 Michael Stich of Germany in the other quarterfinal Wednesday.
No. 1 Monica Seles won the last eight games to rout No. 16 Nathalie Tauziat of France and reach the women's quarterfinals Wednesday, when she will play unseeded Julie Halard of France, who conquered No. 6 Conchita Martinez in straight sets.
No. 5 Mary Joe Fernandez ousted No. 9 Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere. She's matched against No. 4 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, who won Sunday, as did No. 3 Gabriela Sabatini and No. 10 Mary Pierce.
Capriati's gutsy comebacks while ill have won her plenty of fans here. Last Thursday, the No. 7 seed trailed by a set and two breaks. She was down by a service break in both sets Saturday.
Against Maleeva, she was playing without pain or a fever for the first time in three matches.
"It's all gone," she said.
Still, the 16-year-old Capriati started slow. Maleeva wasted three set points while serving before taking the first-set tiebreaker by winning the last six points.
"In the first set, I thought that she played great," Capriati said. "I started moving her around more and not letting her take the advantage on the shots. I just got better in the second and third (sets)."
Maleeva, increasingly bothered by a pulled left thigh muscle suffered in her last match, slowed the rest of the way in losing 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 6-1.
"In the middle of the second set, it got worse," she said. "I really couldn't step on my foot. There was a point I knew I didn't have a chance to win."
While Capriati felt she played well, Maleeva "wasn't too impressed."
"She was making mistakes," Maleeva said. "She was kind of slow. I was expecting more, I guess."
Capriati beat the second-seeded Graf for the gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics last year, but the German won their last meeting while losing only one game and holds a 5-1 edge in head-to-head meetings.
Edberg reported he was "stiff as a board" two days ago, but felt no pain while downing Boetsch, who was clearly outmatched.
"Right from the beginning I felt good," Edberg said. "I didn't try anything fancy. I kept it simple and it worked. It was like a dream. It couldn't have gone any better. Straight sets and only 11/2 hours was ideal. The last thing I wanted was a long match."
Edberg's serve was slower than usual, but there was nothing wrong with his trademark volleys. He charged the net 91 times and won 59 of the points, keeping constant pressure on the Frenchman.
"He ate me up," Boetsch said. "I felt like a little boy."
Sampras had to seek treatment during his match against Washington for a toenail that was cutting into another toe. It only briefly slowed him as he extended his winning streak to nine matches, including five at a warmup tournament.