TEAMTENNIS : Dukes Face Navratilova, Atlanta in Final

Culminating a World TeamTennis season during which nothing has come easily for them, the Newport Beach Dukes must overcome arguably the greatest woman tennis player in order to win the league championship.

But Dukes Coach Greg Patton isn’t conceding anything to the Martina Navratilova and the Atlanta Thunder for tonight’s match at the WCT-Peachtree World of Tennis in Waycross, Ga. In fact, he is closer to waving a red cape in front of Navratilova and the rest of the TeamTennis defending champions.

“If we can get a little bit of a lead, I think (Amy Frazier) is going to be able to scare Martina a lot,” Patton said. “Martina has been playing pretty loose all year because she’s always had a lead. I think we can beat them. I think we can beat them.”

The Thunder routed the Dukes, 30-13, July 16 at the John Wayne Tennis Club. To a certain extent, the Dukes fell victim to scheduling. It was Atlanta’s first match after a 30-14 loss at Sacramento, two days before, and the Thunder was looking to redeem themselves. Atlanta finished the regular season, 13-1, and won its only playoff match, 30-22, Thursday over the Tampa Bay Action.

“Our team was really pumped up,” Thunder Coach Craig Kardon said when asked about the first match against the Dukes. “We were disappointed at the loss and I think it woke everybody up for the match. I don’t think Newport was expecting us to play as aggressively and wanting it as bad as we did.”

That loss dropped the Dukes’ record to 1-3. In their next match, they began a franchise-record seven-match winning streak, which put them atop the West Division. But the Dukes dropped two of their final three regular-season matches and were edged out for the division title on a tiebreaker system.

Among the Dukes’ improvements has been their men’s doubles tandem of Rikard Bergh and Ronnie Bathman.

“Our men have really matured over the course of the season,” Patton said. “They realized what we need to do. I’ve seen them evolve. They know how to adapt to TeamTennis.”

Atlanta led the league in four of the five categories. Navratilova had a role in three of those, women’s singles, women’s doubles (with Heather Ludloff) and mixed doubles (with Kelly Evernden). The Thunder also finished first in men’s doubles.

Atlanta’s weak point was men’s singles; Evernden and Brett Steven combined to finish fourth. The Dukes, with Bergh playing all the sets, were 10th in the 11-team league.

Kardon declined to say whether he would use Steven, who has played in recent matches, or Evernden, who began the season as the men’s singles player.

“Brett has been really, really good,” Kardon said. “He’s had to learn his way into TeamTennis. He’s used to playing singles and taking care of himself.

“I had Kelly playing singles in the beginning, just because I felt like Kelly is capable of bigger wins. Brett played his way into the singles and showed he’s capable of winning. But that doesn’t guarantee he’ll be playing every time.”

Navratilova was named the most valuable female player for the second consecutive season.

“I don’t think she played quite as well as she did last year, but in the matches that have really counted, Martina has come through and been real strong in the three events she has played,” said Kardon, who also has been Navratilova’s full-time coach since January, 1989. “She’s a great team player. She helps out her teammates when they’re down and cheers them when they’re up.”

Navratilova didn’t lose a TeamTennis women’s singles set in 1991, but lost three this season--to Patty Fendick (Sacramento), Ginger Helgeson (San Antonio) and Rosalyn Fairbank-Nideffer (Phoenix).