Tennis Roundup : Navratilova and Shriver Each Lose Set but Win in Semifinals

Top-seeded Martina Navratilova struggled to a 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Zina Garrison Saturday night in the second semifinal match of the Virginia Slims women’s tennis tournament at Dallas.

Navratilova, the second-ranked player in the world, will meet second-seeded Pam Shriver in today’s final, with $50,000 going to the winner. Shriver claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 victory over third-seeded Manuela Maleeva in first semifinal.

Garrison’s acrobatic shot-making earned her the first set, but Navratilova regained her composure, breaking Garrison’s serve in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead.

With Navratilova ahead, 5-3, in the second set, Garrison was working toward a service break in the ninth game. Ahead 40-30, Navratilova hit a lob close to the sideline, which appeared to be out. Garrison netted the return, giving Navratilova the set.

Garrison protested, throwing her racket and appealing to the linesman. She was assessed a code violation by umpire Bill Kempffer for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Navratilova took control of the match with a break in the first game of the third set.

Todd Nelson defeated France’s Yannick Noah, 7-6, 6-3, and Senegal’s Yaya Doumbia beat Argentina’s Eduardo Masso, 6-4, 7-6, in the semifinals of the $280,000 Nabisco Grand Prix tournament at Lyon, France.

The 26-year-old Nelson from San Diego, seeded 119th internationally, put Noah on the defensive with his rapid-fire returns, and the Frenchman ended the 1-hour 50-minute match demoralized but calling it “a good match.”

Doumbia, 24, ranked No. 1 in Senegal, got into the tournament through qualifying matches.

Top-seeded Stefan Edberg of Sweden gained the final of the Nabisco Grand Prix tournament at Rotterdam, Netherlands, by defeating Dutchman Michiel Schapers 6-3, 6-3.

Edberg will face third-seeded Miloslav Mecir of Czechoslovakia, who eliminated Sweden’s Jonas Svensson, 6-2, 6-3.

Edberg outclassed the unseeded Dutchman, the first to reach this tournament’s semifinals in more than a decade. Svensson, seeded eighth, who defeated Jimmy Connors in a three-hour match Friday, was ousted in 80 minutes.