TENNIS SAN DIEGO TOURNAMENT : This Time, Graf Holds Off Garrison Finish, 6-4, 7-5, in Semifinals

SAN DIEGO —  The footsteps, once distant, are close enough to West Germany’s Steffi Graf that she knows she’s being followed.

Now it’s up to her to cover her tracks and keep the women chasing her No. 1 tennis ranking.

In the afternoon semifinal at the $225,000 Great American Bank tournament Saturday, Graf proved why she’s still the hunted. She beat Zina Garrison of Houston, 6-4, 7-5, and advanced to today’s 1 p.m. final at the San Diego Tennis & Racquet Club.

Graf will play fourth-seeded Manuela Maleeva of Switzerland, who defeated sixth-seeded Barbara Paulus, 6-0, 4-6, 6-1, in the second semifinal.

Garrison defeated Graf most recently at Wimbledon, but this also was a rematch of last year’s San Diego final, which Graf won by the same score.

She was happier this time around.

“Last year, I wasn’t playing very well,” said Graf, who has a 6-2 record against Garrison. “Today, I thought I was playing much better. I should have put it away at 6-4, 2-0, but still, I’m very happy.”

That Garrison was a player who had recently eliminated her from a Grand Slam event was of little concern to Graf.

“I wasn’t nervous today at all,” Graf said. “My forehand’s much better. I’m not making many mistakes anymore. I’m much more relaxed.”

Before a standing-room-only crowd, Graf lost a 2-0 lead in the second set and found herself down, 4-2 and then 5-3. But Graf held serve, broke Garrison and then held serve again to take a 6-5 lead.

Garrison’s chances of forcing a tiebreaker dimmed after she double-faulted and mis-hit a volley and then a groundstroke. They dissolved with Graf’s cross-court backhand winner that left Garrison flat on her feet at midcourt.

“I think I played well, but not as well as I could have,” Garrison said. “I missed some easy shots at the end of the match that normally I don’t miss. But Steffi kept the pressure on me.”

Garrison fought the flu early in the week and said she almost had to withdraw from the tournament, but she refused to make excuses.

“You can’t blame it on that,” she said. “I felt a little bit tired, but it was hot out there and my legs were just a little rubbery.”

Graf said Garrison has the type of game that troubles her, especially since Garrison’s backcourt game has improved.

“She’s never an easy player to play against,” Graf said. “It’s the kind of game that’s hard to get into rhythm. Lately she’s been playing well, and she’s not making the mistakes that she used to. She was shaky from the back, but she’s gotten a lot steadier.”

With No. 2-ranked and second-seeded Martina Navratilova withdrawing Tuesday, thus blowing the air out of a Graf-Navratilova showdown, there was speculation that this match would be the real final.

Not so, Graf said.

“Tomorrow’s the last match,” she said. “I knew this would be a hard match, but it’s the same for the finals. Whoever gets in the final has a high level, too.”

Graf celebrates her three-year anniversary as the world’s No. 1 player Aug. 16, and she said it is sometimes a hard role to live with.

“I’m surprised by the No. 1 ranking for three years,” she said. “I came in at 18 years (old). I didn’t expect to be there at that age, and not for that consistent time.

“It’s not easy. It’s not the tennis itself. It’s the life around me that makes it not the easiest and sometimes not the most enjoyable. But whenever I’m back on the court, I enjoy it.”