Burgin Can’t Beat Navratilova, Joins Her to Win Doubles at Houston

In her longest match of the week, top-seeded Martina Navratilova needed only one hour to defeat her doubles partner Elise Burgin, 6-4, 6-1, Sunday in the final of a $150,000 Virginia Slims tournament at Houston.

Navratilova and Burgin then teamed up in the doubles to beat Manuela Maleeva of Bulgaria and Helena Sukova of Czechoslovakia, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.

Navratilova earned $27,500 for her singles victory and added $5,500 in doubles to increase her earnings for the year to $397,850. It was her 105th career tournament victory and sixth of the year.

Burgin received $14,000 as the singles runner-up, along with her doubles share of $5,500.

Navratilova has a 36-2 record in matches this year and a 61-6 record in sets, including a string of 29 in a row since she lost to Hana Mandlikova in the semifinals of the U.S. Indoor tournament.

“How can I not be pleased?” Navratilova said. “I’ve won two tournaments and haven’t lost a set. Today was my toughest match and it was 6-4, 6-1.

“I feel better than I did at this time before the French Open last year, and I think I can still get in better shape.”

Miloslav Mecir of Czechoslovakia upset Henrik Sundstrom of Sweden, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4, at Hamburg, West Germany, to win the $42,500 first-place prize in the $315,000 West German Open.