Graf Skips Aussie Open

Steffi Graf, the world’s No. 1-ranked women’s tennis player, said in a telephone conference call that she has withdrawn from the Australian Open, which begins a two-week run Jan. 16, because of a strained calf muscle in her right leg.

“I’m very disappointed about not going to the Australian Open,” Graf said. “It’s not the way I wanted to start 1995.”

Graf spent most of 1994 in pain from inflammation in her back. The Australian Open was her only Grand Slam tournament triumph last year, although, while playing with a back brace, she did reach the final of the U.S. Open in September where she lost to Spain’s Arantxa Sanchez Vicario. She lost to Mary Pierce in the French Open semifinals and was upset in the opening round at Wimbledon by Lori McNeil.

Graf said a treatment program of massage, spinal manipulation and stretching that cured her back pain may have, ironically, been responsible for her latest injury.

“It happened during practice while I was running for a shot,” she said. “I do a lot of stretching. Maybe I tried to do a little too much.”