Tennis Roundup : Evert Is Too Much for Navratilova

Chris Evert played a dominating first set Sunday to win her third straight Virginia Slims of Houston championship with a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Martina Navratilova.

Evert, seeded second behind Navratilova, was in control throughout and failed to hold her serve just once.

“I was psyched up for this match,” said Evert, who won $50,000. “Martina was pressing. She had too many errors. I think I got her at a vulnerable time.”

Navratilova, who took home $22,500, was not at her best as she double-faulted six times, including the final point of the match, and committed 47 unforced errors to Evert’s 14.

“I’m still trying to figure out what happened,” said Navratilova, who still holds a 40-37 edge over Evert. “I don’t know whether to laugh or cry . . . it was so pitiful.”

Sunday’s championship was a rematch of last year’s thrilling final won by Evert, 3-6, 6-1, 7-6. Evert also won the 1986 championship, defeating Kathy Rinaldi, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.

Ivan Lendl came back from a two-month layoff to win the $492,500 Monte Carlo Open, defeating Argentina’s Martin Jaite, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3, in a match that lasted 3 hours 45 minutes.

It was the 71st Grand Prix title of Lendl’s career, tying him with John McEnroe for second place behind Jimmy Connors with 105.

The victory was worth $67,500. Jaite collected $33,750.

“I was annoyed with myself at first,” said Lendl, who has played only three tournaments this year after suffering a stress fracture in his right foot. “But after the second set I saw he was getting really tired.”

Jaite, the aggressor in the first two sets, started to unravel in the late afternoon, taking more chances and making more mistakes.

“I had chances in the third set, leading three games to one and serving,” he said. “But I didn’t take advantage of them.”