March 25, 1997
KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. -- Fourth seed and two-time champion Monica Seles shook off a slow start to defeat seventh seed Irina Spirlea of Romania, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, to reach the semifinals.
Playing in just her fourth match of 1997, Seles reached her first Lipton semifinal in six years. She will take on No. 11 Barbara Paulus of Austria for a berth in Saturday's final. Paulus dispatched Sandrine Testud of France, 6-3, 6-3. Testud ousted second seed Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of Spain on Monday.
On the men's side, top seed Pete Sampras of the United States and second seed Thomas Muster of Austria posted straight-set victories today to advance to the quarterfinals of the $4.45 million Lipton Championships.
Jim Courier knocked off fifth seed and reigning Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 in a night match.
SELES, WHO WON HERE in 1990 and 1991, had not played a tournament since last November, when she was forced to retire in her first-round match at the WTA Championships. She broke her right index finger and was unable to defend her Australian Open title in January. She also has been at the side of her father, Karolj, who is suffering from stomach cancer.
Sampras, a two-time Lipton champion, crushed Sweden's Magnus Larsson, 6-2, 6-0, while Muster improved his 1997 record to 18-3 -- all on hardcourts -- by downing Spain's Alex Corretja, 6-4, 6-4.
Sampras, who improved to 30-5 lifetime at the Lipton Championships and 6-1 against Larsson, will face the winner of today's match between Germany's Hendrik Dreekmann and Mikael Tillstrom of Sweden.
The 25-year-old Sampras, who won this year's Australian Open, Sybase Open and the Advanta Championships, had his 17-match winning streak stopped by Bohdan Ulihrach of the Czech Republic at last week's Champions Cup, but Sampras can move past Rod Laver into eighth on the all-time tournament wins list with 48 by winning here.
Muster, who improved to 7-1 lifetime against Corretja, will meet Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman in the round of eight. Bjorkman handed Mark Philippoussis of Australia just his fourth loss of 1997 with a 6-3, 6-4 triumph.
IN OTHER MEN'S fourth-round matches, fourth seed Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia, seeking his first career title on American soil, topped Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty 6-4, 6-4.
Also today, Andrei Medvedev of the Ukraine rallied to defeat Nicklas Kulti of Sweden, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, and former French Open champion Sergi Bruguera of Spain, who bounced third-seeded American Michael Chang in the third round, bested Argentina's Gaston Etlis, 7-6 (7-0), 6-4. The two winners will meet in the round of eight.
TOP-SEEDED MARTINA HINGIS of Switzerland extended her 1997 unbeaten streak to 26 matches Monday by downing No. 16 Elena Likhovtseva of Russia in three sets to reach the quarterfinals.
Hingis will take on 10th seed Mary Joe Fernandez of the United States in the round of eight. Fernandez ousted fifth-seeded compatriot Lindsay Davenport in straight sets.
Hingis will become the youngest world No. 1 when the next WTA Tour rankings are released on March 31, taking over the top spot from injured Steffi Graf of Germany. She will be 16 years, six months when she claims the top spot, replacing Seles as the youngest No. 1 ever. Seles was 17 years, three months and 19 days when she passed Graf on March 11, 1991.
IN OTHER FOURTH-ROUND action, third seed Jana Novotna of the Czech Republic stopped Russian teen sensation Anna Kournikova in straight sets. Seeking her first title of the year, Novotna will face eighth seed Iva Majoli of Croatia, who downed Barbara Schett of Austria in three sets.
All seeds received first-round byes.
Graf, the three-time defending champion, has been on the shelf with an injured left knee and is not expected to return to the Tour until April at the Rexona Cup in Hamburg, Germany.
OF THE WORLD'S TOP 20 male players, only No. 4 Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia, 14th-ranked American Todd Martin and No. 17 Stefan Edberg of Sweden were missing from the draw. Kafelnikov is still nursing his broken right hand, Martin is recovering from an elbow injury and Edberg is retired.
Mary Pierce of France, ranked 13th, sat out with a strained right calf. Sixth-ranked Conchita Martinez of Spain also is missing.
Other than the Grand Slams, the Lipton Championships is one of a handful of tournaments that blend the men's and women's tours. Officials from the ATP and WTA are meeting this week to discuss having the tours cross paths in Hamburg, Rome and Cincinnati.
The prize money is lucrative, with the men's winner receiving $360,000 and the women's champion $215,000.
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