Majoli's revenge over Seles

Tennis

Tennis

Monica Seles suffered only the second defeat since her comeback when she was beaten 1-6, 7-6, 6-4 by Croatia's Iva Majoli in the quarter-finals of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo yesterday.

The joint world No 1 conceded only three games in beating the 18-year- old in their Australian Open quarter-final meeting last week. "She is clearly a better player today," Seles, who went into the tournament with an injured left shoulder, said. She said her shoulder did not affect her game and that she wants to play at the Olympics this summer.

It was Seles's fifth tournament since her 28-month lay-off following a knife attack in 1993.

In the semi-finals Majoli now meets Martina Hingis, the 15-year-old from Switzerland who easily beat Naoko Sawamatsu, of Japan, 6-1, 6-2.

Conchita Martinez and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario had comfortable straight- sets wins to set up an all-Spanish meeting in the other semi-final.

According to a newspaper report in Germany yesterday, Steffi Graf's father, who has been in jail since August on suspicion of tax evasion, has agreed to take a psychiatric test to decide whether he may have grounds to enter a plea of diminished responsibility.

n Tim Henman could win his first ATP event after the defeat of the No 1 seed, Jeff Tarango, in the Shanghai Open. Mark Knowles, of the Bahamas, beat Tarango 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 in yesterday's quarter-finals. Henman plays Andrei Olhovskiy in today's semi-finals.