TEAMTENNIS : Navratilova’s Night Right From the Start

Martina Navratilova, in the midst of her second season of World TeamTennis, held court at the John Wayne Tennis Club Thursday night. The subjects covered in her post-match press conference ranged far and wide, and proved to be infinitely more entertaining than the evening’s tennis.

No, she said, she’s not thinking about retirement or what she might do when she does quit the sport.

No, she said, she’s not concerned about her Battle of the Sexes II match against Jimmy Connors in September in Las Vegas. (Remember Billie Jean King versus Bobby Riggs in the Houston Astrodome?).

Yes, she believes TeamTennis is a legitimate summertime pursuit and it really is worth pouring all her energy into the month-long league that falls between Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

Yes, contrary to a report on the radio Thursday, she will indeed be playing in New York this summer.

Oh, by the way, she was pleased to have led the Atlanta Thunder to a 30-13 rout of the Newport Beach Dukes in front of 2,200 appreciative fans. It was Navratilova’s night right from the start.

She got the loudest ovation during the announcement of the starting lineups, though Dukes’ Coach Greg Patton was a close second.

“The Sacramento crowd gave me a nice ovation, too,” Navratilova said. “Then they were pretty rude during the match, so this was better. We got killed last time, so everybody was ready.”

But enough about the match. . . .

Navratilova said she has grown tired of answering questions about her retirement. After all, people have been asking the nine-time Wimbledon winner that for 10 years now.

“I don’t know when I’ll stop playing tennis,” said Navratilova, who turns 36 in October. “I don’t know what I’ll do when I do stop playing tennis. . . . I don’t know any job that has better hours than playing tennis.”

Would she like to become a TV analyst like Chris Evert?

“I’m still playing,” Navratilova said. “What am I going to do, commentary on my own matches?”

She was then asked about the exhibition against Connors, but said only that it’s “two months away and I’ve got another month of TeamTennis to think about first.”

And she is taking TeamTennis seriously. Last summer, she helped Atlanta to the league title over Connors and the Los Angeles Strings and was the leading money-winner in TeamTennis. Not that she needed the extra cash, but, hey, $43,365.50 is $43,365.50.

“The pressure is different playing TeamTennis,” she said. “Every point is so important. Here it affects the whole team. Tournament tennis is like cake after that.”

Baring injury or other unforeseen happening, she is planning to play the U.S. Open. But did she hear what they were saying on the radio this afternoon?

“How does a rumor like that start?” she asked. “Some idiot disc jockey has to be a smart ass. (Bill) Clinton’s had to put up with that all year.”

“You had to get that political statement in there, didn’t you?” said Atlanta Coach Craig Kardon, who also is Navratilova’s coach.

The tennis itself was uneventful, except for Navratilova’s 6-4 victory over Amy Frazier in the women’s singles set. By then, Atlanta (5-1) had built a huge lead, 24-12, and the only thing keeping the crowd around was Navratilova, who also played women’s doubles and mixed doubles.

The Dukes (1-3) next play the Phoenix Smash at 7 p.m. Saturday at the John Wayne Tennis Club.