Sanchez Vicario Poses No Problem for Hingis

PARIS — Defending champion Steffi Graf may have struggled in her matches at the French Open, eventually losing in the quarterfinals Tuesday, but top-seeded Martina Hingis has had no such problems.

The 15-year-old needed only 64 minutes to defeat former champion Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, 6-2, 6-2, to advance to the semifinals. She will face third-seeded Monica Seles, who defeated 12th-seeded Mary Joe Fernandez, 3-6, 6-2, 7-5. Amanda Coetzer, who upset Graf, will play Iva Majoli. The ninth-seeded Majoli defeated Ruxandra Dragomir, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2.

Hingis started her match on defense. Sanchez Vicario broke Hingis at love in the first game and served notice that she was going to attack. That’s also Hingis’ style, and the teenager broke back in the next game.

Seles was extended by Fernandez, who prepared for the clay here by winning the German Open. Fernandez quickly won the first set, but neither player could hold serve in the second set until the sixth game.

Fernandez failed to capitalize on the opportunities Seles offered and Seles was fortunate to hang in for the match.

“I can’t be happy with the way I played today,” Seles said. “To me, it’s never really a question of winning or losing the match, but my play. What was most disappointing was the start of the match. That just messed up my concentration totally, when I lost all those games at 40-15. In my mind, that set the tone for the match.”

Seles is 15-1 in her career against Fernandez.

“There were going to be a lot of winners and also unforced errors because I was going for it,” Fernandez said. “It’s hard to maintain a high level of play against her for three sets. I played a great first set. Second set, I had an opportunity to go ahead. I made a couple of mistakes. I got in trouble.”