At Paris, Steffi Graf displayed her best tennis since September with a 6-3, 6-2 semifinal victory over Jana Novotna in the Paris Open.

Graf advanced to a potentially dramatic title match today against Australian Open champion Mary Pierce, who beat Iva Majoli of Croatia 6-3, 6-4 in the other semifinal.

At Memphis, Tenn., No. 1 Pete Sampras won his first set 6-4 against Todd Martin in the St. Jude Indoor tournament semifinals. But Sampras missed two match points as Martin pulled out a 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 victory. Martin will play Paul Haarhuis, who beat unseeded Jonathan Stark 6-4, 7-5 in today’s finals.