She also led 3-1 in the tie-break, but double-faulted for the sixth time to beckon Graf back into the shoot-out, which she won with a stop volley, 7-5.Seles had her serve broken once by Martinez, when leading 4-0 in the second set. "I didn't play bad, but she was playing winners very close to the lines and not missing very much. That is the difference."Yesterday, a combination of Graf's errors - 42 of them - a sore left foot and Sabatini's eagerness on all but the decisive points detained the German on the court for an hour and 38 minutes. It ought to have been longer.Sabatini led 3-1 in the second set, only to be broken twice. She will need to raise the level of her game after labouring to overcome Sabatini.The Argentinian did not have a great foundation on which to build her confidence for her 40th meeting with the German, having lost 28 of their previous encounters, including the last seven. Graf had dealt particularly severely with her at the French Open in June, conceding only one game in the quarter-finals.The score, 6-1, 6-0, was the same when Sabatini lost to Seles in the semi-finals of the Canadian Open in Toronto three weeks ago "Against Seles, I didn't have any chance really," she said.

Graf, with the Wimbledon and French Open championships to her credit this year, is attempting to lift her 18th Grand Slam title. I can't say how unexpected this is."Right now what I have achieved already in the last two weeks means more than when I went through Paris and Wimbledon It's definitely the most demanding time of my life It's taken a lot out of me. I'm playing for a lot of people," Graf said.Seles has won eight Grand Slam singles titles. Even yesterday her performance was hampered by a foot injury.The German appeared even more surprised than Seles to have advanced so far in the tournament "How could I expect to be there?" she said "I didn't feel the odds were for me. I know I certainly am."Graf has had to deal with a chronic back injury and her father's imprisonment, awaiting trial on tax evasion charges. When they met in the 1992 Wimbledon final, a muted Seles won only three games."My first Grand Slam after being out so long is so special that I cannot put it into words," Seles said "I think we're both surprised to be in the final.

Today's contest will settle a lot of arguments, Graf having virtually dominated the women's game in Seles' absence.They last played in the final of the 1993 Australian Open, Seles winning a hard-hitting contest, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 Graf leads the head-to-head series, 6-4. Monica Seles will duel with Steffi Graf for the United States Open title today, nearly two and a half years after being stabbed in the back on court in Hamburg by Gunther Parche, a deranged Graf supporter.Seles swept past Conchita Martinez, the 1994 Wimbledon champion, in 61 minutes yesterday, 6-2, 6-2, to record her 11th consecutive victory since returning to the WTA Tour in Toronto. She has yet to drop a set.Graf had already booked her place in the final, although she looked far from comfortable in defeating the ninth-seeded Gabriela Sabatini 7-5, 7-6.The sun disappeared behind clouds for the first time since the championships started 13 days ago, and the organisers are praying that rain will not disrupt a day of days.On her return, Seles was given the dispensation of sharing the world No 1 ranking with Graf, and was seeded No 2 to the German here. Tennis JOHN ROBERTS reports from New YorkThe amazing comeback has led to the dream final.

Swimming Dai Guohong, the 400m individual medley world champion, is considering retirement after withdrawing from the Chinese championships at Chengdu. The 18-year-old from Liaoning has not swum competitively since the Asian Games in Japan last October and has put on more than 20lb. She was to have competed in the 50m and 100m breaststroke in an attempt to qualify for the short-course World championships in Rio de Janeiro at the end of November.. Overall standings: 1 Jalabert 31hr 3min 18sec; 2 A Olano (Sp) Mapei-GB +29sec; 3 Pianegonda +38; 4 M Mauri (Sp) ONCE +51; 5 O Rodrigues (Port) Artiach +1min 5sec; 6 J Bruyneel (Bel) ONCE s/t; 7 Bartoli +1:13; 8 B Rijs (Den) Gewiss-Ballan +1:18; 9 R Virenque (Fr) Festina-Lotus +1:31; 10 P Meinert (Den) TVM-Verzekeringen +1:46.. The Italian Nicola Minali won the difficult mountain stage, which included a multi-rider crash before the finish that sent the Spaniard Jose Santamaria to hospital with a head injury. Laurent Jalabert of France managed to keep the overall lead despite his food poisoning. TOUR OF SPAIN Sixth stage (264km, Orense to Zamora): 1 N Minali (It) Gewiss-Ballan 7hr 27sec; 2 M Wust (Ger) Castellblanch; 3 A Baffi (It) Mapei-GB; 4 J Blijlevens (Neth) TVM-Verzekeringen; 5 D Abdoujaparov (Uzbek) Novell Software; 6 G Pianegonda (It) Polti; 7 L Jalabert (Fr) ONCE; 8 M Bartoli (It) Mercatone Uno-Saeco; 9 A Saitov (Rus); 10 S Biasci (It) Mercatone Uno-Saeco all same time.