TENNIS ROUNDUP : Seles Stops Navratilova in Three Sets

Martina Navratilova is still close to the top, but she can almost feel herself slipping away.

Top-ranked Monica Seles overcame 34-year-old Navratilova, ranked fourth, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, Sunday to win the Milan, Italy, indoor championship.

“I still feel close to the No. 1,” a dejected Navratilova said. “It was a good battle, a close match decided on two or three points.”

The 1-hour 40-minute victory by the Seles kept Navratilova from equaling Chris Evert’s record of 157 tournament titles.

Seles and Navratilova, who met in the U.S. Open final last month, played with intensity normally reserved for a Grand Slam event.

“Martina played better than in the U.S. Open and this final was much tougher for me,” Seles said.

Seles broke Navratilova in the ninth game of the third set and fought off a break point to hold her serve for the match.

Stefan Edberg routed Brad Gilbert, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2, to win the Australian Indoor at Sydney.

Edberg had only 12 hours of rest after a long semifinal victory over Goran Ivanisevic.

“It was a match I felt in control of pretty much from the start,” Edberg said. “I was never threatened. I did everything well, but I didn’t try to do anything fancy.”

“I was worried I might be tired, but I just felt great today.”

Gilbert is 4-11 against Edberg.

Top-seeded Steffi Graf of Germany, ranked No. 2 in the world, defeated ninth-ranked Jana Novotna of Czechoslovakia, 6-3, 6-3, in the final of a tournament at Leipzig, Germany.

Graf, who won her fifth title of the year, took charge with a service break in the fifth game of the first set.

“Leipzig isn’t just any old tournament for me,” said Graf, who donated her winnings from last year’s tournament to build a tennis center for youngsters. “I’ll keep playing here for as long as I’m agile and in top physical form.”

Graf has defeated Novotna in 11 of 12 matches since 1987.

Top-seeded Guy Forget of France used his strong serve to beat unseeded Amos Mansdorf of Israel, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4), in the final of the Toulouse Grand Prix at Toulouse, France.

It was the fifth tournament victory of the year for Forget.

Top-seeded Sergi Bruguera of Spain beat Jordi Arrese, also of Spain, 7-5, 6-3, to win the Athens International.