STEFFI GRAF TO MISS AUSTRALIAN OPEN

Tennis

Steffi Graf, the joint world No 1, will be unable to defend her Australian Open title next month after undergoing an operation for a chipped bone in her left foot on Friday, her surgeon said. ''The patient wants to give herself enough time over the next few weeks to carry through the rehabilitation programme fully and without suffering further physical complaints,'' Hartmut Krahl of Essen's Alfred Krupp hospital said in a statement.