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GRAF WINS SPARKASSEN CUP Posted: LEIPZIG, Germany, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Steffi Graf crowned a triumphant comeback in the Leipzig Open by beating Nathalie Tauziat in straight sets in Sunday's final to win the tournament for the fifth time. Graf, playing her first event since an operation on her right wrist which put her out of action for nearly two months, needed 83 minutes to win 6-3 6-4 and record her 20th victory over France's Tauziat in as many encounters. The German former world number one, who has slumped to 22nd in the WTA rankings, has now won all 25 five matches she has played in Leipzig, where she won from 1990 to 1993. Second seed Tauziat, the beaten Wimbledon finalist this year, was more aggressive than her opponent and seized every opportunity to take the net as she earned five break points in the opening game. Cheered on by some 5,000 partisan fans, Graf saved all five and went on to break the Frenchwoman in the seventh game before claiming the first set. The second set was close until Graf, relying on powerful groundstrokes and precise passing shots, managed the telling break in the final game to score the 105th tournament win of her prolific career. Graf, 29, and Tauziat, 31, were the two oldest players in the draw of the $450,000 indoor tournament. Victory will allow the seven-times Wimbledon champion to climb five places to 17th in the next WTA rankings. It also increased her chances of entering the season-ending championships for the world's top 16 women later this month in New York. ``I have already booked holidays for that period but I can always cancel them,'' said Graf, who will play in Philadelphia next week and, if she reaches the semifinals there, will make sure of a berth in the championships in New York. ``I had played Tauziat many times before and her game suits me,'' she added. ``She's got a good serve and she often takes the net but that gives me chances.'' For the first time in 13 years, Graf, who started her professional career in 1982, was unseeded at a tournament. "I'm surprised to have won so soon after coming back from my injury,'' she said. ``I felt better every match.'' By winning in Leipzig, Graf set a record for prize money in women's tennis. She has now won around $20.5 million, surpassing the previous best of $20.3 set by Martina Navratilova. ``Such records show what you have achieved but they are not that important to me,'' she said.
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