TENNIS ROUNDUP : Graf Defeats Navratilova for First Time Since 1989

Steffi Graf lost the first set in 24 minutes, then rallied to beat Martina Navratilova, 2-6, 7-5, 7-5, in the final of the European Indoors tournament at Zurich on Sunday.

The victory, Graf’s first against Navratilova since the Virginia Slims Championship final in 1989, evened the series record between the two at 8-8. Navratilova, 35, won the last encounter in the 1991 U.S. Open semifinals.

Top-seeded Graf, who is the second-ranked player in the world, easily won her first game and had three break points in Navratilova’s service game. But she failed to take advantage and Navratilova then broke Graf’s serve twice.

Graf recovered during the second set and Navratilova became upset by a line call that allowed Graf to break serve and draw even at 4-4.

Navratilova, who will turn 36 next week and is ranked fifth in the world, broke Graf’s first service of the third set, then visibly tired.

Graf, who is 6-0 in this tournament, earned $70,000 from the total purse of $350,000.

Goran Ivanisevic defeated top-seeded Stefan Edberg, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4, to win the Sydney Indoor tournament.

Ivanisevic, beaten by Edberg in last year’s semifinals, earned $135,000 for beating the third-ranked Swede for the third consecutive time.

Ivanisevic, seeded second, was spurred on by a rowdy pro-Croatian crowd in Australia and seemed to gather strength from the hundreds of fans. The crowd cheered every point he won, chanted “GOR-AN” and waved Croatian flags between games.

Ivanisevic yelled and pumped his fist in their direction several times during the final set. After he shook hands with Edberg at the net, he dashed into the packed upper deck to toss his shirt as a souvenir and hug supporters.

Guy Forget of France won his first title in nearly a year as he beat top-seeded Petr Korda of Czechoslovakia, 6-3, 6-2, in the final of the $315,000 Toulouse Open in France.

Forget, who won six tournaments in 1991 and helped France to the Davis Cup over the United States, had not won since the Paris Open last November. His world ranking, once as high as No. 4, had fallen to No. 14.

Jordi Arrese of Spain, who lost in last year’s Athens International final, won this year’s event in Greece, 7-5, 3-0, when top-seeded Sergi Bruguera retired because of a hand injury.