She’s Dressed for Near-Success : Tennis: Garrison may have her own line of clothes now, but she still hasn’t figured out how to beat Navratilova.

Zina Garrison entered this tennis season ranked No. 4 in the world, but she still didn’t have an endorsement contract.

Even at Wimbledon, where she played in her first Grand Slam final, Garrison didn’t have her own tennis clothes. She had to borrow some from Martina Navratilova, who even arranged for a friend’s mother to wash them between matches. Then, as Garrison proceeded toward a Wimbledon showdown with her gracious friend, Navratilova threatened to shrink them.

But after Garrison lost to Navratilova in straight sets at Wimbledon, she didn’t need Martina’s signature clothes anymore. Just to make it to a Wimbledon final was good enough for Reebok, which awarded Garrison with an endorsement contract.

Saturday at the Manhattan Country Club in Manhattan Beach, Garrison, dressed in her new blue and white togs, took center court against Navratilova again--this time in a Virginia Slims of Los Angeles semifinal match.

It was the first tournament Garrison has played since Wimbledon--the same as Navratilova. But even with her new clothes, and with her serve-and-volley game working well, and even with her court speed, the result of this match was the same. Garrison lost to Navratilova--for the 29th time in 30 matches--6-0, 6-7 (7-2), 6-4.

“This is devastating,” said the 26-year old Garrison, who double-faulted twice in the last game of the match. “To be at 4-4 in the third set and have balls sitting there that you can crunch. I hit two lobs that didn’t even get over her head.”

Garrison, of Houston, has beaten Navratilova only in the quarterfinals of the 1988 U.S. Open. So after losing the first set, 6-0, it seemed as if Garrison would again go quickly. This time, though, Garrison came back.

“I knew I wasn’t that bad, I just wasn’t hitting the ball well,” Garrison said. “I started to mix it up and play my game and it started to work.

“I was down and came back, which shows me the concentration is there. But I would rather beat Martina at the U.S. Open.”

Garrison was down, 4-1, in the second set, but broke Navratilova in the sixth and 10th games to tie at 5-5 and eventually force a tiebreaker.

It was in the seventh game of that second set that Garrison seemed to loosen up. On her second serve at deuce, she accidentally threw her racket. Navratilova returned the serve, and Garrison, racketless, mocked a forehand with her bare hand. Then she battled Navratilova to hold serve and move up, 4-3.

Despite the loss Saturday and at Wimbledon, Garrison has no plans to retreat. Navratilova’s dominance does little to cloud Garrison’s desire to win. Instead, Navratilova is her ultimate challenge.

“I’m never going to give up,” Garrison said. “no matter how many times I play her.”