Knee Injury Forces Graf To Withdraw From Tokyo Final

Top-ranked Steffi Graf of Germany withdrew today from the final round of the $926,250 Toray Pan Pacific Open women’s tennis tournament because of knee injuries, organizers said.

In the final, the top-seeded Graf was to meet second-ranked and second-seeded Martina Hingis of Switzerland, fresh from her Australian Open triumph last week.

Graf said during a news conference that she suffered the injury, an aggravated patella tendon of the left knee, last summer. Her knee became worse during a semifinal Saturday against No. 8 Brenda Schultz-McCarthy of the Netherlands. Graf won 6-1, 7-5. Hingis defeated fourth-seeded Anke Huber of Germany 6-1, 5-7, 6-2.

The precocious Hingis has won 13 straight matches this year, at Sydney, Melbourne and Tokyo.

Goran Ivanisevic made it to the finals of the Croatian Indoors, the tournament he co-owns, and will play Greg Rusedski of Great Britain for the title in Zagreb, Croatia.

Top-seeded Ivanisevic easily defeated Javier Sanchez 6-2, 6-4 in 59 minutes, spoiling the Spaniard’s 29th birthday. Rusedski beat Thomas Enqvist of Sweden 6-4, 6-4.