Graf makes early departure

Tennis

Tennis

Steffi Graf, the world's joint No 1 ranked player with Monica Seles, was beaten 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 by the unseeded Amanda Coetzer of South Africa in the first round of the Canadian Women's Open in Toronto. The German never looked at ease as the court-side temperature soared above 104F despite winning the first set.

Graf blamed a cranky back and "some other things'' for her defeat. Her father is the subject of an income tax investigation in Germany. In another match, Kimberly Po, of the United States, beat Australia's Rennae Stubbs 6-4, 6-1. She was scheduled to play Seles in a second-round match last night. Seles is making her first tournament appearance since she was stabbed in Germany in 1993.

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