Wightman Cup Suspended; U.S. Too Dominant : Tennis: American women have won 11 straight from British. New format to be sought.

The Wightman Cup, born in an age when British tennis was the world’s best and American women were just learning to play the game, was pushed aside today, the victim of a decade of U.S. dominance.

Britain’s Lawn Tennis Assn. said the annual event between women’s teams from the two nations was being temporarily suspended while officials sought a new format to make it more exciting and competitive.

“My immediate reaction is one of sadness, having played the event so many times,” said Ann Jones, a former Wimbledon champion and one of Britain’s most famous players. “But you have to be realistic. We haven’t done very well over the last few years and now it’s a much more professional event with sponsorship and a much higher profile.”

The reaction was much the same in the United States.

“It’s very disappointing, I’m upset about it,” said American Kathy Rinaldi, a three-time Wightman Cup player.

The Wightman Cup is played on alternate sides of the Atlantic each year, with the U.S. team winning its 11th consecutive tournament in Williamsburg, Va., last September. Six of those 11 series have been won by a 7-0 shutout.

The LTA said the matches would not be held as scheduled in London this autumn. It gave no word on whether the tournament might be revived in 1991.

David Markin, the United States Tennis Assn. president, said he hoped the event could resume soon under a new format, possibly extending the British team to include the rest of Europe, like golf’s Ryder Cup.

The Wightman Cup was first staged in 1923 and has been canceled only during World War II. The Americans hold a 51-10 lead in the series.

As rankings for American players soared and British women plummeted, the Cup--played at London’s Royal Albert Hall whenever it is staged in Britain--began to lose its value, surviving only because of tradition.

In the current listings, Californian-born Monique Javer is the highest ranked British player at 99, while the Americans have 30 in the top 100.