"eing informed by one of the men of Trachis that when the Barbarians discharged their arrows they obscured the light of the sun by the multitude of the arrows, so great was the number of their host, [Dienekes] was not dismayed by this, but making small account of the number of the Medes, he said that their guest from Trachis brought them very good news, for if the Medes obscured the light of the sun, the battle against them would be in the shade and not in the sun."
---- Herodotus, The Histories, 7.226
U.S. OPEN '95; Graf's Struggles Continue in First-Round Victory
ROBIN FINN
The New York Times
August 30, 1995
Her father is in a German prison, arrested for allegedly evading taxes on a heaping helping of the estimated $125 million she has earned ever since she went to work on the tennis court.
Her back has been aching since a burr of a bone spur began digging into her two years ago.
And it was a warped and unwanted fan of hers who stabbed comeback queen Monica Seles 28 months ago.
But the little black cloud that seems to follow top-ranked Steffi Graf wherever she goes lifted slightly yesterday at the United States Open, where the unsmiling three-time champion joined an ebullient defending champion, Andre Agassi, and an inspired two-time champion, Pete Sampras, on the winning side of the first round.
Unlike Graf, who put up a struggle to avoid the unprecedented -- being dumped in the opening round of two consecutive events by the same undersized but overachieving opponent, Amanda Coetzer -- Agassi and Sampras were in control from start to finish.
On a joy ride since winning last year's Open despite being unseeded, Agassi has reached the finals of all nine hardcourt events he has played this year and has won a career-high seven of them, including the Australian Open.
"This last year, needless to say, has been the best year of my career; it all started here, so I kind of step on the court with a lot of great feelings," the No. 1-ranked Las Vegan said yesterday after extending his summer winning streak to 21 matches by stepping all over 121st-ranked Bryan Shelton on the sun-baked stadium court, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.
Sampras, who had hobbled away in geriatric form from a five-set, fourth-round loss to Jaime Yzaga at last year's Open, was in far fitter form against another South American, Fernando Meligeni. Like Agassi, Sampras cruised through his match in straight sets, and left the 54th-ranked Brazilian haggard from the heat of defeat after administering him a 6-0, 6-3, 6-4 thrashing.
"U.S. Open time is a time where you just let it all hang out," said Sampras, ranked second. "You can't worry about the humidity, the noise, the airplanes, the smell. You just go out and play the tennis, do whatever it takes to try to win. I feel like I've done it before; there's no reason why I can't do it again."
Easy for him to say.
Meanwhile, the beleaguered Graf, already worried about the fate of her father and the state of her back, had to handle yet another imposing psychological and physical hurdle in the petite but potent form of South Africa's Coetzer.
The hard luck of the draw sent the German out for her Open opener against the only woman to beat her in 1995. Coetzer spoiled Graf's 32-0 record in the opening round at Toronto two weeks ago.
Graf later said she only played that event in order to gain some semblance of normal preparation for this one, where a victory would bring her a 17th Grand Slam title and her third for the year.
But avenging her loss to Coetzer turned out to be adequate motivation for yesterday's 6-7 (1-7), 6-1, 6-4 comeback.
"I have to admit I don't like losing, and I definitely wanted to play her as soon as I could," said Graf, who hasn't been able to concentrate on her tennis, or slam in her serve, the way she used to. Yesterday she committed 7 double faults and made 56 unforced errors, evidence of someone with more worries than the normal performance anxiety on the Grand Slam tournament stage.
"I haven't really played a lot, so I definitely lack confidence," admitted Graf, who could face tax penalties of up to $80 million if her father, Peter, to whom she had entrusted her financial affairs, is convicted. Graf has not been permitted to speak to her father since his arrest on Aug. 2 and has hired a Berlin lawyer to represent her in the case.
"I'm trying not to let it affect me," she said, "but obviously at certain times I have difficulty concentrating out there."
Coetzer, by contrast, was brimming with concentration and confidence, a condition she traced directly back to her first-ever victory against Graf in Toronto; Coetzer rode that cushion of confidence all the way to the Toronto final before it was flattened by Seles.
"I look at many of the top players with the mentality that I can hurt them a little bit," said Coetzer, who nonetheless was not eager to square off against Graf in the first round.
"It's definitely not the first round I wanted to see," she said in retrospect. "To play either Monica or Steffi is difficult in the very first round." Or any round.
Graf got through yesterday's match the hard way, by forcing herself to muster a comeback from a discouraging first set in which she trailed, 5-2, and saved seven set points in order to force a tie breaker in which she then managed to win just one point.
Six unforced errors from Graf gave the tie breaker to Coetzer, but in the second set, Graf put her forehand into overdrive and methodically pounded Coetzer, who allotted a total of 24 break points against her serve, into submission.
"I was really grinding to win the first set after I had such a comfortable lead," Coetzer said, "and then I started to miss a lot of first serves and she lifted her game up just a little step higher. Maybe the fact that she is a little bit vulnerable and she's not expected to win every match could take some pressure off her."
The only seeded contender to falter in the day session was 13th-seeded Iva Majoli of Croatia, an 18-year-old whose fearless attitude on the court and unfettered giggle beyond it have elicited comparisons to her former countrywoman, the Yugoslavian-born Seles. But Majoli had an off day today, and 70th-ranked Barbara Paulus of Austria was the 6-4, 6-4 beneficiary of Majoli's poorest Open result in four visits.
MATCH POINTS
In other matches, seventh-seeded YEVGENY KAFELNIKOV made good on his vow to trounce JEFF TARANGO, the now-notorious Wimbledon miscreant who's received $63,000 in fines and a pair of suspensions for conduct unbecoming to the game. Kafelnikov prevailed in straight sets, 6-0, 6-4, 7-5. Tarango later referred to himself as "persecuted, used and abused" and continued to take an unrepentant stance toward his Wimbledon walkout, which he blamed on corrupt officiating by the veteran umpire BRUNO REBEUH. Some of the other seeds who made progress: fifth-seeded JANA NOVOTNA and fourth-seeded CONCHITA MARTINEZ advanced in straight sets; 14th-seeded MARY JOE FERNANDEZ rallied to defeat JUDITH WIESNER, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3; 11th-seeded ANKE HUBER dismissed YAYUK BASUKI, 6-2, 6-3; 14th-seeded JIM COURIER defeated BERND KARBACHER, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3; 15th-seeded TODD MARTIN used 23 aces to down GUY FORGET, 6-3, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4; 13th-seeded MARC ROSSET came up with a convincing 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-1, 6-0 comeback against ANDREA GAUDENZI, the Italian protege of third-ranked THOMAS MUSTER, and unseeded MATS WILANDER, the 1988 champion, hung on against STEVE CAMPBELL, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.