Navratilova Falters but Rallies U.S. Into Federation Cup Quarterfinals

Martina Navratilova got off to a bumpy start today but rallied to win a two-hour match as the top-seeded U.S. team blanked Denmark to gain a quarterfinal berth against Austria in the Federation Cup international women’s tennis tournament.

American Chris Evert, ranked fourth worldwide, easily defeated Denmark’s Karin Ptaszek, ranked 375th, 6-1, 6-1, in a 54-minute match delayed nearly two hours by a morning drizzle on the hard courts of Tokyo’s Ariake Colosseum.

But Navratilova, ranked second, lost her first three games against Denmark’s Tine Scheuer-Larsen, ranked 116th, before an ace in the fourth turned the momentum in her favor.

Wins 7-5, 6-3

After losing the eighth and ninth games of the first set, Navratilova went on to a 7-5, 6-3 victory.

Navratilova then teamed with Zina Garrison to make it 3-0 against 24th-seeded Denmark with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Scheuer-Larsen and Henriette Kjaer Nielsen.

On Friday, the Americans will meet eighth-seeded Austria, which defeated Britain 2-1 on Wednesday. The Federation Cup is the women’s version of the Davis Cup tournament.

In another close second-round battle, Spain’s Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, ranked fifth in the world, dropped her first set against Brenda Schultz of the Netherlands, ranked 71st, before winning 2-6, 6-4, 10-8.

Sanchez’ teammate, Conchita Martinez, earlier downed Nicole Jagerman 6-4, 7-5. No doubles match was played, and second-seeded Spain finished with a 2-0 victory over the 15th-seeded Dutch.

Spain meets the Soviet Union, seeded sixth, on center court as quarterfinal play begins Thursday. The Soviets advanced with a 2-1 victory over 12th seed Canada.

Defending champion Czechoslovakia, seeded third this year, won a quarterfinal slot with a 2-1 victory against Hungary, seeded 20th. The Czechoslovaks lost the doubles, but in the singles, Jana Novotna defeated Hungary’s Andrea Noszaly 6-3, 6-3, and Helena Sukova, ranked No. 8, downed Andrea Temesvari 7-6 (7-5), 6-0.

On Friday, the Czechoslovakians face West Germany, led by Steffi Graf, the world’s top-ranked woman player. Germany blanked host Japan, with Claudia Kohde-Kilsch defeating Nana Miyagi 6-3, 6-4, and Graf beating Akiko Kijimuta 6-4, 6-1 in the singles.

Sukova said that if doubles are the deciding factor, Czechoslovakia has the advantage.

“We feel more confident than they should feel,” she said, adding that Czechoslovakia has won all three of its most recent doubles matches against the Germans. “But we hope doubles won’t be necessary.”

Also scoring 3-0 victories Wednesday were Australia over New Zealand and Bulgaria over Argentina.

The finals are scheduled Sunday. Teams from 40 countries entered the tourney. The winning team will receive $80,000 and the runner-up $40,000.

At Brisbane, Australia, second-seeded Slobodan Zivojinovic of Yugoslavia was upset by Australian Shane Barr today at $180,000 Queensland Open tournament. Zivojinovic, struggling with an injury to his right elbow, fell to the tenacious Barr, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) in the second round of the event, held at the Milton Sports Center.