``I've been having a great time. It's great to be back,'' beamed the German superstar after beating third seed and defending champion Jana Novotna 6-7, 6-4, 6-1 in the first round of the Chase Championships last night.

At the age of 29 -- almost ancient by women's tennis standards these days -- and coming back from yet another surgery, this time on her right hand, Graf is on a roll that has taken her completely by surprise.

After a two-month lay-off, she entered the tournament in Leipzig two weeks ago and proceeded to win it with the loss of just one set.

Then last week in Philadelphia, Graf picked up her 106th career title, beating second-ranked Martina Hingis in the quarter-finals, ninth-ranked Nathalie Tauziat in the semis and world number one Lindsay Davenport in the final.

With her win over third ranked Novotna, Graf has accomplished theastonishing feat of beating the top three players in the world in a span of five days.

``I am still surprised that I keep on being on that kind of roll and beating the players that I am beating right now,'' said Graf, her current match win streak at 11 and counting.

``It has been few years since I felt like that, that I would be able to keep up with everybody,'' she said. It's no wonder that Graf would feel that way despite a phenomenal career in which she has so often been the game's dominant figure.

She began the year still recovering from the knee surgery that kept her out of competition for some eight months and her first comeback was stalled in her second tournament by a strained left hamstring.

The former number one, whose ranking fell off the radar screens during her many layoffs, was forced to miss tournaments in may due to an ankle injury and another comeback stalled in September with the surgery to remove a bone spur in her hand.

Graf was so sure she would't accumulate enough points toqualify for the season finale she has won five times, that she had to cancel vacation plans when she earned a place in the 16-player field.

``I was extremely excited when less than a week ago I found out I would be here,'' said Graf, who won her last two appearances in the year-end event in 1995 and 1996.

``A few weeks ago, I was hoping to play one tournament before this season is over. Now I am in the position where I am playing three tournaments,'' she said.

``It has been a joy the last few weeks." The last few weeks may also have served notice to all the players who thrived in her absence, as Novotna noted last week: ``The minute Steffi got injured and she couldn't play for two years, I went on and won all the tournaments that I couldn't win in 10 years while I was competing with her.''

Second seed Hingis, making her third consecutive appearance in the year-end event at the age of 18, rallied to hold off 10th-ranked fellow Swiss teenager Patty Schnyder 4-6, 6-0, 6-3 earlier last evening.

In anafternoon match, eighth seed Nathalie Tauziat of France made short work of Natasha Zvereva of Belarus, winning 6-3 6-1.