TENNIS / WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT AT MANHATTAN BEACH : Navratilova Rolls; Sanchez Vicario Survives

Martina Navratilova’s glasses fogged up Wednesday night, but what could she see? Volleys--backhand, forehand and overhead--sprung from her racket and hid in the corners of the court.

When they were all added up 50 minutes later, Navratilova had a 6-3, 6-0 second-round victory over Alexia Dechaume in the Virginia Slims of Los Angeles, where for at least one night there was quite a racket. Navratilova held it.

It was Navratilova’s first tournament match since Wimbledon, but her game had a certain edge to it that impressed her opponent.

Said Dechaume: “It is a bit difficult to play against the best.”

Navratilova won 22 of 27 first-serve points, lost only 11 points on her serve and generally played like someone who has won four U.S. Open titles and been in eight finals since she began appearing at the Open in 1973.

How many more times will she show up?

“I really feel so much at home because of the crowds, and they seem to like me,” Navratilova said. “I think they know I’m not going to be around that much longer.”

Although Navratilova’s match was as short as her new haircut, Dechaume said that as far as she is concerned, Navratilova still has a lot of life left in her racket.

“If she wants to, she can play until 40,” Dechaume said.

In the day’s second-biggest escape act at Manhattan Country Club, Amy Frazier found herself trailing Lori McNeil a set and 5-2 in the second, before pulling out a 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 victory in 2 hours 27 minutes.

McNeil saved 14 break points, but eight double faults ultimately were enough to put Frazier in the third round tonight against Monica Seles.

As good as Frazier was at wriggling out of trouble, she couldn’t possibly compare to Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, who was saved by, of all things, a bathroom break.

Robin White led Sanchez Vicario, 6-1, 3-0, when Sanchez Vicario suddenly ran off the court to use the bathroom. When she came back, Sanchez Vicario took 12 of the next 13 games and wound up winning in a breeze, 1-6, 6-4, 6-0.

What happened?

Sanchez Vicario’s explanation: “I threw up everything and I felt better. . . . Maybe I ate something not good for my stomach.”

White’s explanation: “What changed? The bathroom break. I think it’s very unfair to take it in that situation. I’m not going to say it’s anything to do with gamesmanship. It’s got to be at certain times, not when somebody’s cruising.”

Tennis Notes

Martina Navratilova’s racket was auctioned for $3,050, Monica Seles’ for $2,000, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario’s for $1,200 and rackets belonging to Zina Garrison and Pam Shriver for $700 to benefit the Messiah Baptist Church. “I guess there’s no recession,” Navratilova said. “Maybe George Bush is right.”

After winning a bronze medal in the Olympics, Sanchez Vicario flew across nine hours in time changes--from Barcelona to Frankfurt, Germany, to Los Angeles--and arrived Sunday only to wake up at 2 a.m. Then, Sanchez Vicario and her mother woke up at 3 a.m. Tuesday. “At least I have somebody to talk to,” Sanchez Vicario said. As for attempting to win the gold medal, Sanchez Vicario said the pressure was intense: “Everybody was putting on me the medal before I play, but I didn’t think too much.”