TENNIS ROUNDUP : Wrist, Hand Injuries Sideline Graf, Lendl

Two former No. 1-ranked tennis players, Steffi Graf and Ivan Lendl, were sidelined because of injuries Thursday, with the French Open only 18 days away.

Graf, hoping to retake the No. 1 ranking she recently lost to Monica Seles, hurt her wrist in a Frankfurt exhibition against Czechoslovakia’s Jana Novotna and pulled out in the third set.

“I wanted to stop in the second set because the pain was so strong,” Graf said. The extent of the injury was not known.

Lendl, the world’s third-ranked player, withdrew from his doubles match in the German Open at Hamburg with partner Stefan Edberg because of an injury to his right hand.

In Rome, ATP tour official Vittorio Selmi said Lendl withdrew from next week’s Italian Open and that the ailment will require surgery.

Lendl was upset, 7-5, 6-4, by 20-year-old Italian qualifier Renzo Furlan in Tuesday’s second round of the German Open but gave no indication afterward that he was injured.

Graf’s injury to her right wrist could take her out of next week’s International German Tennis Championships in Berlin.

In Thursday’s action at the German Open, Edberg, the world’s top-ranked player, defeated Ronald Agenor of Haiti, 6-2, 6-1, to advance to the quarterfinals. Edberg next plays Hamburg’s Michael Stich, who advanced by defeating Francisco Clavet of Spain, 6-1, 6-4.

Pete Sampras was ousted by Karel Novacek, 6-4, 6-2, and Furlan was eliminated by Yannick Noah of France, 1-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Seles, the defending champion, and third-seeded Martina Navratilova led the advance to the quarterfinals of the Italian Open at Rome.

Seles, seeded No. 1, defeated Katia Piccolini, 6-3, 6-1. And Navratilova, seeking her 154th tournament victory, struggled past No. 13-seeded Anke Huber, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3.

Top-seeded Michael Chang downed Bryan Shelton, 6-7, 6-4, 7-5, in the second round of the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships at Charlotte, N.C.

Chang’s victory moved him into today’s quarterfinals against Jaime Yzaga of Peru.

UCLA advanced to today’s quarterfinals of the NCAA women’s tournament with a 5-1 second-round victory over Mississippi at Stanford.

The Bruins won five of six singles matches, their only loss being Kimberly Po’s 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (7-0) setback to Paloma Collantes.

Next up for the Bruins (21-4) is No. 11 California, a 5-4 winner over No. 6 Texas. UCLA defeated the Bears twice during the season.

No. 5 Pepperdine (23-4) advanced with a 5-4 victory over Oklahoma State, and No. 2 Stanford, winner of five consecutive championships and seven of the nine since the NCAA assumed control over women’s sports, defeated No. 18 San Diego State, 5-1.

Cal Poly Pomona’s No. 2 team of Onnaca Heron and Cindy Hamnquist defeated the Broncos’ No. 1 team of Donna Ewing and Cyndy Hurzeler, 6-2, 7-5, for the 1991 NCAA Division II women’s doubles title at Rancho Cordova, Calif.

In the singles final, unseeded Laura Simmons, a freshman at the Air Force Academy, beat No. 1-seeded Chan Dixon of Valdosta (Ga.) State, 6-3, 7-6.