Graf Overcomes Injury to Win N.Y. Title : Tennis: Top-seeded West German is tentative because of sprained ankle, but she defeats Navratilova in final, 6-4, 7-5, 2-6, 6-2.

Steffi Graf was warming up for her Virginia Slims Championships final match Sunday, then stopped. The pain from her left ankle, sprained a week ago, had spread to both the tendons and underside of her foot.

Depressed and uncertain of her ability to play a five-set match, Graf asked tournament officials to have a replacement ready for an exhibition if she was unable to go on.

She was--and two hours, 35 minutes later she was the Slims champion after beating Martina Navratilova, 6-4, 7-5, 2-6, 6-2. It was Graf’s second Virginia Slims title in the past three years, and she won $125,000 of the $1,000,000 purse. She also won $200,000 from the year-end bonus pool.

Graf continually pressed Navratilova with serves (she had nine aces and won 63 of 85 points when her first serve went in) and an unusually effective net game. She won the first set on a perfect backhand volley and often forced Navratilova to retreat to the baseline and attempt passing shots.

“Against Martina, you have to take chances and come to the net before she does,” said Graf, who improved her overall record for the year to 85-2, including 14 tournament victories and a 41-match win streak.

“I felt I was in the match the whole way,” said Navratilova, who ended the year with a 68-7 match record and seven tournament titles. “Overall, it was a very high-quality match, but Steffi just served so much better than I did. She won a lot of free points on her serve, many more than I did.”

“This was very similar to the U.S. Open because I beat (Helena) Sukova, then I had a tough three-setter against (Gabriela) Sabatini in the semis and I beat Martina in the final,” said Graf. “But this is the best tournament I could have won because I really didn’t think I was going to be able to play. I just kept saying to myself, ‘Come on, it’s like the U.S. Open and you did it there so you can do it here.’ ”