Distracted Graf Gains Third Round Rain Halts Outdoor Competition As Australian Open Continues

Hours after prosecutors in Germany asked for more than a six-year sentence for her father, a distracted Steffi Graf started slowly today at the Australian Open, then finished fast amid unusual flashes of anger.

Graf, spraying balls wildly in the breeze, fell behind 0-4 in the first set against Larisa Neiland. Then they played the rest of the match.

Railing at herself, the umpire, the wind, the sprinkles of rain and everything else that bothered her, the top-seeded Graf charged the net more boldly, fought off four set points and closed out a 7-5, 6-2 victory to reach the third round.

The match ended moments before heavy rain halted play on outside courts and led to the roof being closed in the stadium.

In one stretch after trailing 2-5 in the first set, Graf won nine straight games as she skirted the upsets that have so far claimed fellow German and defending men’s champion Boris Becker, Jennifer Capriati and several other seeded players.

In other women’s matches, 1995 champion Mary Pierce celebrated her 22nd birthday by defeating Natalia Medvedeva 6-2, 6-2 and No. 16 Sabine Appelmans downed Ann Grossman 6-4, 6-1. No. 10 Brenda Schultz-McCarthy was upset by Rika Hiraki, 0-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Graf has been able to win impressively during the past year, taking all three Grand Slam events she entered, despite her father’s being imprisoned and on trial for tax evasion over the handling of $26.5 million of her earnings.

Hours before she played, prosecutors in Mannheim, Germany, sought a jail term of six years and nine months for Peter Graf.

Michael Chang, the men’s No. 2 seed, faced no problems in a 6-3, 7-5, 6-1 win over Richey Reneberg. Chang next plays Britain’s Tim Henman, a 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 winner over Guillaume Raoux of France.

No. 7 Thomas Enqvist advanced with a 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 victory over Richard Fromberg. Becker’s conqueror, Carlos Moya, beat Patrick McEnroe 3-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-1.