Navratilova Wins Her 29th Match in Row and Meets Shriver in Semifinals Today

Top-seeded Martina Navratilova needed 44 minutes for her 6-1, 6-0 victory over Bonnie Gadusek Saturday in the quarterfinals of a $250,000 Virginia Slims tennis tournament. The win was her 29th in a row.

Gadusek won her only game by breaking Navratilova in the third game of the first set.

The victory moved Navratilova into the semifinals today against Pam Shriver, her regular doubles partner.

Shriver, who lost to Navratilova in the final at Washington on Monday night, advanced by beating Helen Sukova, 6-4, 6-5, in an afternoon match.

“I just decided to play my game, that’s what I did. I didn’t serve well tonight,’ said Gadusek, who was seeded seventh.

Navratilova said if she deducted the “time in between points I probably played for 20 minutes. My practice is a lot more intense. I’m getting out of shape playing matches.”

She broke Gadusek’s serve seven straight times.

“I feel very confident,” Navratilova said. “I’m playing confidently and that’s working on my opponents, wearing them down. I make fewer errors and I stop worrying about them.

“I think the number of double faults is probably higher against me and sometimes I don’t even hit the ball, it’s just the threat,” she said.

In the other bracket, fourth-seeded Claudia Kohde-Kilsch routed England’s Jo Durie, 6-2, 6-1, to set up a date with eighth-seeded Kathy Rinaldi.

Rinaldi, 18, advanced with a 3-6, 6-0, 7-5 victory over promising Canadian schoolgirl Helen Kelesi. Kelesi, 16, had reached the quarterfinals after second-seeded Hana Mandlikova quit because of arm trouble Friday while losing to Kelesi, 6-3, 3-1.

“I think she kind of let down a little bit in the second set,” Rinaldi said of Kelesi. “But I know she’s a good player and she’s going to be a lot tougher. I had never played her and hadn’t seen her play before she met Hana. She’s a real competitor out there.”