FULL VERSION Seles vs Graf 1990 German Open

In a single year Monica Seles has risen from No. 88 to No. 3-ranked women's tennis player in the world. The only thing growing faster than her reputation is her body. The current count is five consecutive tournament victories, five inches, and a whole shoe size.

Included in her flashlike streak are back-to-back, giant-killing victories in finals over No. 2 Martina Navratilova and No. 1 Steffi Graf of West Germany in her last two tournaments. Seles not only defeated them, she did so in straight sets. Two weeks ago, she decimated 33-year-old Navratilova in the final of the Italian Open, 6-1, 6-1. Sunday, in the final of the German Open, she staggered 20-year-old Graf, 6-4, 6-3, breaking the West German's 66-match winning streak, the second longest in tennis history.

That performance, elbows flying as she belted her unorthodox two-fisted strokes on both sides of the ball, has made Seles the most prominent young player anywhere save perhaps for 14-year-old American Jennifer Capriati, a puppyish child she has much in common with.

"Maybe we should go shopping together," Seles said.

Seles, the 16-year-old Yugoslav, ended Graf's 66-match winning streak on the West German's home soil with a 6-4, 6-3 victory in the final of the German Open at West Berlin.

It was the fifth consecutive tournament victory for Seles, who has won 24 matches in a row. Last week, she routed Navratilova, 6-1, 6-1, to win the Italian Open.

She said confidence played a big part.

"I'm much more experienced now and I wasn't afraid of Graf as much as before," Seles said before adding, "This is just one match. I'm just happy that I'm playing well."

Seles handed Graf her first loss in nearly a year. Graf hadn't lost since last June 10, when Arantxa Sanchez Vicario beat her in the French Open final.

Graf's winning streak was the second longest in the modern era of women's tennis. Navratilova won 74 consecutive matches in 1984.