Lloyd, Navratilova Will Play for $112,500 Prize

Second-seeded Chris Evert Lloyd defeated West Germany’s Steffi Graf, 6-4, 6-2, Thursday night to join top-seeded Martina Navratilova in the women’s final of the $1.8-million Lipton International Players Championships at Delray Beach, Fla.

Navratilova beat Canada’s Carling Bassett, 6-3, 6-3.

Lloyd and Navratilova play for the $112,500 first prize Saturday.

The men’s semifinals will be held today with 13th-seeded Tomas Smid of Czechoslovakia, the only seeded player left in the 128-player men’s draw, facing Scott Davis. Tim Mayotte plays Jan Gunnarsson of Sweden.

The men’s final, also worth $112,500 to the winner, is Sunday.

Lloyd got off to a slow start in her match, falling behind, 4-1, in the first set. “The first four or five games I don’t think she missed a ball,” Lloyd said.

Navratilova also trailed at one time, falling behind, 3-0, in the second set. But she then reeled off the next six games.

“For a while, I couldn’t hit my forehand in the vicinity of the court,” Navratilova said. “I shortened my swing and tried to get a rhythm.”

“It’s tough playing her,” Bassett said. “You really have to work for your points.”

At La Quinta, Calif., Stan Smith defeated South Africa’s Frew McMillan, 6-2, 6-4, in the second round of the $40,000 Hayes round-robin tournament for players 35 years old and over. In other matches, Marty Riessen beat Australia’s Owen Davidson, 6-3, 6-0; Bob Lutz defeated Lito Alvarez, 7-5, 6-3, and Chile’s Jaime Fillol downed Charlie Pasarell, 6-2, 6-3.