Navratilova and Lloyd, Look Out, Here Comes 16-Year-Old Steffi Graf

The long domination of women’s tennis by Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert Lloyd may be nearing an end, thanks to West German teen-ager Steffi Graf.

Graf, a modest 16-year-old, is challenging the two long-reigning leaders and is surpassing even her own goals.

“My aim for this year was to stabilize my position in the top 10 in the world. Now I am already No. 3,” Graf said last Monday after beating Navratilova, 6-2, 6-3, in 64 minutes to win the West German Open.

It was Graf’s 20th straight singles victory and fourth consecutive tournament championship.

It was also Graf’s first career victory over Navratilova, and the world’s No. 1 female player broke into tears after her upset defeat. In three previous encounters, Graf had failed to take even a set off the American.

In their last match, Navratilova demolished Graf, 6-2, 6-2, March 22 in the Virginia Slims Finals in New York.

Since then, Graf has been unstoppable. Her first-ever tournament victory came in Hilton Head, S.C., where she defeated both Hana Mandlikova of Czechoslovakia and Lloyd, the No. 2-ranked female in the world.

Graf then won at Amelia Island, Fla., where she outplayed compatriot Claudia Kohde-Kilsch, and in Indianapolis, where she defeated Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina in the the final of the U.S. Clay Courts Championships.

With her victory over Navratilova, Graf has now beaten all of the top-ranked players this year and has emerged as a title contender at the French Open, which starts Monday on the clay courts of Paris.

“Navratilova is still the No. 1 in the world. And Chris Evert Lloyd is still unchallengeable for No. 2 when she plays faultlessly,” Graf said. “But they don’t like playing on clay.

“Whether I can get even closer to them in Paris, well, we’ll just have to wait and see. Before, I used to be a little bit scared of playing Martina and Chris. Now, it’s their turn to be scared of me.”

The No. 1 ranking among women’s tennis players has belonged to Lloyd or Navratilova for so long that it’s difficult to remember when someone else was at the top. In fact, it was 1974 and the name was Billie Jean King.

Between them, Lloyd and Navratilova have won 30 Grand Slam singles championships.

Graf said that for the time being at least she was content to leave the No. 1 ranking in familiar hands.

“I don’t want to put extra pressure on myself,” she said. “I am going to relax at my home in Bruehl, near Heidelberg, where I can have all the peace I want. I will read some books and a lot of newspapers to catch up on world affairs, in which I am very interested.”

Graf’s father, Peter, who also is her coach, said his daughter is very relaxed before matches, often deeply involved reading books in the locker rooms right up to the moment she is called out to the court.

Graf trains for long hours every day, and her father has installed a court near the family house. She lifts weights and also runs and jumps rope with weights tied to her ankles to improve her speed.

On court, she displays formidable power. A right-hander, she has a punishing forehand and a wicked service.

Graf’s latest impressive series has finally helped her steal some media attention from another West German tennis star, Boris Becker, who stunned the world by becoming the youngest man, at 17, to win Wimbledon last year.

Becker, who is having an up-and-down season this year, was credited for promoting the game in West Germany and creating a tennis boom. Graf doesn’t mind living in Becker’s shadow.

“I am a very relaxed type, and I am not arrogant,” she said.

While Becker’s sensational rise had focused attention on West Germany’s men tennis players, it is the women who have been quietly climbing the ladder of success.

Becker, at No. 5, is the only West German man ranked among the top 20 in the world.

Graf is No. 3, and Kohde-Kilsch is No. 4 among the women, making West Germany the second most powerful nation after the United States in women’s tennis, at least according to rankings.