Lloyd, Navratilova Uphold British Tradition: They’re in Wimbledon Final Again

WIMBLEDON, England —  In women’s tennis, not unlike American television, they’re not afraid to keep repeating the same act.

Breakfast at Wimbledon Saturday is going to feature the same old kippers and eggs--and the same Martina and Chris.

Actually, there’s nothing wrong with the show, and there’s even a new twist this year: Chris could win. The problem is with the preliminary acts, which have all the drama, if not the entertainment value, of professional wrestling.

This will be the fifth time in eight years that Chris Evert Lloyd and Martina Navratilova have met in the final at Wimbledon. Only three other players have even made the final in those eight years--Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Hana Mandlikova and Andrea Jaeger. Only one of the others--Cawley--won.

In fact, between them, Lloyd and Navratilova will have won, come Saturday, the last 15 Grand Slam events.

So there was, predictably, little shock registered Thursday when Lloyd beat Kathy Rinaldi, 6-2, 6-0, in one semifinal, and Navratilova beat Zina Garrison, 6-4, 7-6, in the other.

Neither has lost a set the entire two weeks.

“When I thought I had hit a good shot, Chris would come up and hit one that much harder and deeper,” Rinaldi explained.

Their match was hardly a nail-biter. A nail-grower maybe. Though the match was never close, it featured two baseliners who put together rallies often as long as 15 or 20 shots before Lloyd would put Rinaldi away.

There was nothing Rinaldi could do. “She can’t pull a serve-and-volley game out of a hat,” Lloyd said.

Garrison, on the other hand, made a match of it, breaking Navratilova’s serve three times. In fact, she won the first two games of the match.

“You know when you break Martina right off the bat, she is going to come back even stronger,” Garrison said. “She came up with the big shots when she needed them.”

In the second set, Navratilova won the first five points of the 7-3 tiebreaker, putting away any doubts anyone had.

The highlight of the match came when Navratilova hit an overhead that bounced into the Royal Box, missing the Duke of Kent but hitting some baron or earl. Otherwise, Garrison showed a lot of flash but not quite enough game.

It was nice to see her back. A year ago, Garrison broke down in the middle of a Centre Court match against Virginia Wade, tears rolling down her face as the television cameras rolled.

“I got fan mail from all over the world,” said Garrison, who, like Rinaldi, wasn’t too upset after her loss. “Some people said they actually cried when I was crying on the court.

“I really wanted to get back to Centre Court this year.”

For Navratilova, there was no drama, only fine tuning.

“My serve could have been a little better,” Navratilova said. “I think I know what’s wrong, though. I’m not panicking.”

There is no cause to panic until Saturday, when one of the sport’s greatest rivalries resumes. The two have played 65 times, and Navratilova leads Lloyd in the series, 33-32.

But it had almost become a non-rivalry and a one-woman show. Navratilova bettered Lloyd in 13 consecutive meetings before Chris beat her last winter in Florida.

They have split four matches since the streak ended, and Lloyd, following her win on clay over Navratilova in the French Open final, has regained the No. 1 ranking for the first time in three years.

“I really just needed to win that one match against her,” Lloyd said. “Now, when I go out on the court with her, I know it’s possible for me to win. And when she goes out on the court, she knows it’s not a sure win.”

Lloyd has her confidence back; Navratilova has her eagerness back.

“There’s always something to prove, to you guys, to myself,” Navratilova said.

She had won six consecutive Grand Slam titles before Lloyd won in Australia last year. Now, Lloyd has won the last two.

“I think she’ll be a little more eager this time,” Lloyd said. “She’ll be out to avenge the Paris loss.”

This is a match of contrasting styles, contrasting personalities. It is a match in which will plays a strong role. Navratilova, the three-time defending champion here, has the advantage of playing on grass. Lloyd, who has lost only 17 games in six matches, is playing what many consider to be the best tennis of her long career.

You don’t like to boil down a rivalry to numbers, but there are several of interest: They have met in 11 Grand Slam finals, Navratilova winning eight. Navratilova has been in five Wimbledon finals--and won five. Lloyd has been in nine--and won three.

This time? Well, that’s why they play these matches.

“Our games are very close right now,” Lloyd said. “It might come down to who’s having her day.”

The men’s semifinals today should bring some excitement back to Wimbledon. Kevin Curren, conqueror of John McEnroe, gets Jimmy Connors this time. Boris Becker, the 17-year-old West German, meets Sweden’s Anders Jarryd.

Curren eliminated Connors here in four sets two years ago, serving 33 aces in the process, but Connors has beaten him twice since.

“If I had to pick someone, I’d pick Jimmy,” McEnroe said.

Jarryd, fifth-seeded but largely ignored here, and Becker, who has grabbed most of the headlines, have never played before. The winners will meet for the title Sunday.