Gabriela Sabatini

WASHINGTON -- Six months after she turned pro, 17-year-old Lindsay Davenport of Palos Verdes, Calif., got a taste of the big leagues here last night.Davenport and her partner, Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina, were out-dueled by Spain's Aranxta Sanchez Vicario and Jana Novotna of the Czech Republic, 7-5, 6-3, before 4,026 fans on the third night of the Elizabeth Arden Women's Tennis Association Challenge at the William H. G. FitzGerald Tennis Center.Lutherville's...

PHILADELPHIA -- Call it a no-fault divorce -- tennis style.Pam Shriver and Martina Navratilova, who combined to form the most dominant doubles team in women's tennis history, are severing their partnership.And this time, unlike an on-again, off-again two-year split that began in 1989, it's for good.But Shriver said there are no hard feelings."I knew it was the best deal for both of us," Shriver said. "Martina doesn't want to commit to a full doubles season and I'd like to find a partner who can play 12 to 14 times a year."

WASHINGTON -- The Arantxa Sanchez Vicario express made a stop here last night without being derailed.The third-ranked player in the world used powerful ground strokes and some untimely unforced errors from Mary Joe Fernandez to win, 6-2, 6-4, on the second night of the Elizabeth Arden Women's Tennis Association Challenge at the William H. G. FitzGerald Tennis Center.In the second match, No. 12 Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere of Switzerland rallied from a set down and beat No. 23 Lori McNeil of Houston, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.The four players were half of eight top-ranked players in the world who took part in the team competition.

NEW YORK -- In less than two hours yesterday, Gabriela Sabatini ended 2 1/2 years of frustration.Sabatini broke the serve of Lindsay Davenport 10 times in 14 games, in one stretch breaking the teen-ager six times in a row, en route to a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 victory in the final of the season-ending Virginia Slims Championships at Madison Square Garden.The victory in a match that took just 1 hour, 41 minutes gave the 24-year-old Argentine her first title since the 1992 Italian Open, a string of 43 consecutive tournaments without a championship.

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WIMBLEDON, England -- In years past, Pam Shriver might have cried, angry and frustrated after a third-round loss in a tournament she wanted desperately to win.But, yesterday, Shriver calmly could analyze a defeat at Wimbledon. Her comeback from shoulder surgery remains an ongoing project, subject to dips before a rise. So, a 6-3, 7-5 loss to No. 5 seed Mary Joe Fernandez was neither surprising nor crushing."You have to view it as progress," Shriver said. "That's the whole key to this year.

MIAMI -- Mary Joe Fernandez knew she had to grab the initiative and not let Monica Seles take the first crack at the ball. She knew if she hit anything short, she would be "a goner."She was gone last night in one hour and 10 minutes. It was Seles who took early command and spoiled Fernandez's bid to reach her first Lipton final, 6-1, 6-3, at the International Tennis Center before 8,832."She puts you on the defensive right away," Fernandez said. "I had my chances and didn't convert."Yesterday afternoon, Steffi Graf had chances to end her three-match losing streak against Gabriela Sabatini.

NEW YORK -- Radka Zrubakova kept waiting for the real Mary Joe Fernandez to show up yesterday at the U.S. Open."I think she was playing weird all match, because she was making all the mistakes," Zrubakova said. "That is not very usual about her game. I expected her to play a little bit stronger."But Fernandez, the No. 5 seed, was bothered by the heat and slowed down by a pulled left hip flexor. She could do little but stand around and watch as Zrubakova rubbed her out of the second round, 6-1, 6-2."

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. -- She looked like the old Steffi Graf, winning the first set 6-0. But Graf wasn't playing the old Gabriela Sabatini yesterday in the Lipton tennis tournament.The Sabatini of the '90s is a confident player who does not run out of hope or energy. The improved Sabatini climbed out of the hole and beat Graf again 0-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-1.Sabatini now challenges Monica Seles in tomorrow's final. Seles, the defending champion and the No. 1 player in the world, trounced Mary Joe Fernandez 6-1, 6-2 in last night's semifinal.