Tennis Roundup : Evert Loses to Shriver; Graf Winner

Steffi Graf of West Germany, ignoring a doctor’s recommendation not to play due to the flu, won her 46th straight match Thursday night with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Manuela Maleeva of Bulgaria in the quarterfinals of the Virginia Slims tennis championships at New York.

The next opponent for the defending champion will be fifth-seeded Pam Shriver, who upset third-seeded Chris Evert, 7-5, 6-4, in another quarterfinal of the $1-million tournament.

Shriver now has beaten Evert in 3 of their last 4 meetings after losing their first 18.

Graf, who won the Grand Slam and an Olympic gold medal this year, had no trouble defeating Maleeva for the 10th straight time despite a fever and cold that forced her to stop several times.

“I had no trouble during the match, just a little problem breathing,” Graf said.

She began feeling ill Wednesday afternoon and visited a doctor Thursday morning. “He recommended that I not play,” she said. “But I practiced before the match and it wasn’t so bad.”

Pete Sampras, at 17 the youngest player in the Little Caesars tournament at Detroit, upset top-seeded Tim Mayotte, 6-3, 6-4, to reach the quarterfinals.

Sampras displayed poise, especially after losing his serve to allow Mayotte to tie the second set at 4-4. But Mayotte in turn double-faulted twice to lose his serve, then lost the match when Sampras aced him for the final point.

Second-seeded John McEnroe also reached the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Ricardo Acuna. McEnroe will face Jim Courier, who advanced with a 7-6, 6-2 win over Marc Flur.