Seles Overcomes Sinking Feeling, Beats Navratilova : Tennis: In tuneup for the U.S. Open, 16-year-old stops veteran for her 41st victory in her last 42 matches.

It was like running in mud. Martina Navratilova probably used up some of her lives, not to mention a few belonging to her cats, but it didn’t do her any good.

Monica Seles continued her blond ambition tour through the world of tennis Sunday afternoon, even if she wasn’t sure how she did it.

“I think I probably choked,” Seles said.

Right about now, Seles is probably able to swallow comfortably and think about how she defeated Navratilova in the final of the $350,000 Virginia Slims of Los Angeles.

The 16-year-old Seles served up a wildly erratic but still madly amusing, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6) victory over the other left-handed, European-born player at Manhattan Country Club before a crowd of 5,965.

At 33, Navratilova proved she is still a significant other. Afterward, she pronounced herself both unlucky and ready for the U.S. Open.

And, if nothing else, Navratilova has all but perfected the comeback.

Navratilova, who has won this event six times, might have won a seventh if she hadn’t kept falling behind so often in the third set.

A brief history:

Third set--Navratilova falls behind Seles, 5-1, catches up at 5-5, loses her serve to 5-6 and breaks back to 6-6.

Third-set tiebreaker--Navratilova falls behind, 4-2, catches up to 4-4, falls behind Seles again, 6-4, and catches up again, 6-6.

Navratilova said the whole thing gave her a funny feeling.

“I felt like I was climbing a ladder all day long,” she said. “When I got to the edge, she just extended it a little bit more. It was like the never-ending ladder.”

If Navratilova was so wrung out, imagine how Seles felt.

“I was thinking I had her, that this was it, at 5-1, then 5-4, then 4-2 in the tiebreaker, then 6-4, but you know, it never was just it,” Seles said.

But at 6-6, Seles took over and for Navratilova, that really was it.

Seles found herself with a fourth and final match point when Navratilova pushed a forehand approach wide. Then, Seles found herself a winner for the seventh time this year when Navratilova couldn’t handle her 75-m.p.h. first serve and dumped it into the net.

After all they had been through in 1 hour 58 minutes, Seles couldn’t quite believe it was really over.

“I don’t know how she missed that ball,” Seles said. “When I won it, wow, I was sure glad, to be sure.”

To be sure, it was probably a relief for both of them. Navratilova shook hands with Seles at the net, patted her on the back with her racket and then tossed the racket at her bag in disgust.

“It was not quite a successful escape,” Navratilova said. “But I get an E for effort.”

Meanwhile, Seles got $70,000 for winning. Not only was it Seles’ 41st victory in her last 42 matches, but it also provided a mental boost going into next week’s U.S. Open.

The favorites?

“I would give Steffi, Martina and myself probably the best chance of winning it,” said Seles, who deliberately listed herself third.

“I’m still No. 3 in the rankings,” she said.

It took one hour for Seles and Navratilova to split the first two sets. By then, Seles looked calm, but Navratilova seemed slightly distracted. When someone shouted from the stands “Martina, you’re No. 1,” Navratilova shook her head and held up two fingers.

Once when she was serving, Navratilova stopped her motion when some birds flew overhead. But Seles thought what happened after she broke Navratilova twice for a 5-1 lead in the third set was strictly for the birds.

“I choked,” she said. “I couldn’t hit a ball. I mean, I was just so nervous. I was just so scared of hitting the ball, my racket just stopped.”

Navratilova smiled when told of Seles’ comments.

“That takes an honest person,” Navratilova said.

Down, 5-1, Navratilova won 12 of the next 14 points to get back to 4-5, then broke to 5-5 when Seles knocked a forehand wide on the dead run.

Face to face with prosperity, Navratilova walked over to serve and promptly dumped another shaky forehand volley into the net at break point.

Navratilova’s assessment was simple: “Every time I got a chance to get ahead, I blew it.”

Now serving for the match at 6-5, Seles held a match point at 40-30, but Navratilova saved it with a volley into the corner. When Seles netted a backhand, the crowd roared and the 16-year-old stood open-mouthed, face turned upward.

“I wasn’t sure what I should do,” Seles said.

So she got lucky. Seles won a key point in the tiebreaker at 5-4 when she hit a forehand that was heading out, but the ball clipped the net and landed on the line.

“On the outside of the line, too,” Navratilova pointed out.

As Seles moves toward the U.S. Open with confidence, Navratilova promised to travel the same path right in step with her.

“I know I can come from behind,” Navratilova said.

Then she thought for a couple of moments and found another positive factor. Navratilova smiled slightly.

“I played two three-set matches the last two days and I’m still standing.”