Graf Regains Sole Status As No. 1

Steffi Graf is all alone on top of the WTA Tour world tennis rankings for the eighth time in her career.

Monica Seles, co-ranked No. 1 with Graf since returning to the WTA Tour on Aug. 14, 1995, fell to a co-ranking of No. 2 with Spain’s Arantxa Sanchez Vicario following her semifinal loss to Jennifer Capriati last Saturday.

Seles can move back up to a co-No. 1 ranking this week when she plays at the Bank of the West Classic in Oakland, Calif.

Graf, a native of Buhl, Germany, first reached the No. 1 ranking Aug. 17, 1987, and held the spot for 186 consecutive weeks, the longest stretch of any professional tennis player, before Seles passed her March 11, 1991. Graf regained the top spot Aug. 5, 1991, and the two began a two-month stretch where they alternated being No. 1.

Seles then held the No. 1 ranking from Sept. 9, 1991, until June 6, 1993, two months after she was stabbed by a spectator during a changeover at a tournament in Hamburg, Germany.

For the fourth consecutive time, Pete Sampras will finish the year ranked No. 1 among the men.

Sampras was ensured the top spot when Yevgeny Kafelnikov lost to Thomas Enqvist on Sunday in the final of the Paris Open. That meant the third-ranked Russian can’t earn enough points to overtake Sampras.

Second-ranked Michael Chang lost his shot at No. 1 when he was defeated in an early round in Paris.

Sampras, 25, joins Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe as the only players to finish No. 1 four straight years since the ATP Tour rankings began in 1973. Connors did it five years in a row from 1974-78.

McEnroe defeated Johan Kriek 6-4, 6-4 Monday to capture the $200,000 NTT Data Champions tennis tournament at Tokyo.

The victory, worth $50,000, was McEnroe’s second title on the over-35 Champions Tour.