Rusedski makes progress

òf3óResults (1st round): òf39óGreg Rusedski (Britain) bt Arnaud Clement (France) 6-3, 6-4, Daniel Vacek (Czech) bt Thomas Johansson (Sweden) 6-3, 6-2, 7-Dominik Hrbaty (Czech) bt Andrei Pavel 6-4, 6-3, Fabrice Santoro (France) bt Marat Safin (Russia) 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Lisa extended

òf3óOKLAHOMA CITY: òf39óSixth-seeded Lisa Raymond beat Cara Black of Zimbabwe in a marathon first-round match at the $³170,000 Iga Superthrift Tennis Classic.

Raymond, ranked 29th by the WTA, outlasted Black 6-3, 6-7 (7-5), 7-6 (7-4) in a match lasting 2 hours, 32 minutes.

Eighth-seeded Sarah Pitkowski (France) beat Bulgaria’s Lubormoria Bacheva 6-3, 6-7 (6-7), 6-1 in the first round of the Iga Superthrift Tennis Classic on Monday.

Qualifier Mashona Washington advanced beating Taiwan’s Janet Lee 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), Italy’s Francesca Lubiani overcame Canada’s Jana Nejedly 6-3, 6-2,Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn ousted Tara Snyder 6-3, 6-1 and Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova edged out Japan’s Shinobu Asagoe 6-4, 6-3

Graf to play Sabatini

òf3óMANNHEIM: òf39óGerman tennis star Steffi Graf will square off against Gabriela Sabatini in Hanover for a farewell match in Germany on March 19, her company has said.

Graf, who injured her knee during a recent visit to Japan, is recuperating in the United States after being ordered to take one week rest, said a spokesman answering the telephone at Steffi Graf Sports Promotions in Mannheim on Monday.

Graf, 30, also hopes to play planned farewell matches in Stuttgart, Berlin and Oberhausen starting from March 3, probably against veteran Jana Novotna of the Czech Republic.

Sabatini, 29, who retired from professional tennis three years ago, last played an exhibition match again>