The Spaniard, who secured her only Slam crown here in 1989 when she and Michael Chang became the event's youngest co-champions at 17, has arrived in her fifth career Slam final.

Graf, who won her third United States Open championship, has now captured six consecutive titles, including three Slam crowns.

Her victory today guaranteed her the top seeding at Wimbledon, her favorite Grand Slam event and the site of five Slam crowns.

But Sergi Bruguera kept himself in the running for a second Slam crown in 1994.

"This is really the first year in my whole life I am facing something of a slight," said the 29-year-old Swede, who owns six Slam crowns and believes he ought to win another before retirement becomes a reality.

Zvereva said she hoped the injury would not affect her doubles quest with Gigi Fernandez for a fourth Slam crown this year.

"Nobody is ever immune to choking," said Heinz Gunthardt, coach of No. 1-ranked Steffi Graf, who is poised to seize her third Slam crown of 1993.

It not only cost her an opportunity to convert her seventh Slam final into a fourth Slam crown, it denied her, at least temporarily, the chance to become the first Spanish woman ever to acquire the No. 1 ranking.

Today's Australian final was her first attempt to defend a Slam crown, and it was an assignment she had no intention of mishandling.

But the Spaniard, who used her first Slam crown to come out of the shadow of Sanchez Vicario, will need to become far more consistent if she hopes to have an even better 1995.