IN BRIEF : Navratilova to Skip Italian Open

World No. 2 Martina Navratilova has pulled out of next month’s Italian Open tennis championships, the Italian Tennis Federation said today.

A spokeswoman said the 32-year-old American, twice a losing finalist and a losing semifinalist in her last appearance in 1987, had told organizers she did not want to play on clay courts.

The French Tennis Federation said Tuesday that Navratilova had withdrawn from the French Open, and the Italian Federation said she was also pulling out of a West Berlin tournament due to start the week after the Italian Open from May 8 to 14. All three contests are on clay, and French federation sources said Navratilova wanted to sharpen her grass game for Wimbledon, where she lost her title last year to world No. 1 Steffi Graf of West Germany.