Graf’s Crown Is Gift-Wrapped : Tennis: Novotna, on verge of her biggest victory, loses two-break advantage to German in the third set.

There are many ways to lose a tennis match, so on the occasion of Wimbledon’s 100th women’s singles championship, Jana Novotna picked one. She chose the ugly way.

Steffi Graf won her third consecutive title on a balmy Saturday afternoon as shadows raced across the Centre Court and filled Novotna’s heart with doom.

Instead of claiming a glorious Grand Slam triumph from the No. 1 player in the world, Novotna made one gigantic pratfall and fell in a heap to Graf, who shook her head, gratefully accepted a 7-6 (8-6), 1-6, 6-4 victory.

Graf then had an honest answer of what she would have thought if she had lost after leading, 4-1, in the third set.

“You choked,” Graf said. “I would be very, very disappointed with myself, obviously, and probably would have that feeling, yes.”

It was plenty ugly, all right. Novotna held a two-break lead for 4-1 in the third set. She even had a game point for 5-1. She double-faulted.

Then she hit a high forehand so badly, it nearly went into the Royal Box. Then she knocked an overhead into the net to give back one service break.

It was almost eerie from there, like some kind of slow-motion action, the ski jumper hitting the snow headfirst from “Wide World of Sports,” played in perpetual loop . . .

Now Graf is serving, down 4-2. She falls behind, 15-40. She saves one break point with an ace and another when Novotna cuts a forehand volley too close and hits the net. Graf holds for 4-3.

Novotna serves. At 30-30, she double-faults. She saves break point. Then she double-faults. Then she double-faults again.

The match is 4-4, and Novotna is reeling. Now all the old criticisms of her are coming back to mind--she is as fragile as Waterford crystal, she is from Chokeoslovakia, she doesn’t need Hana Mandlikova as her coach, she needs Freud.

After that, it was about as routine a choke as you can get. Graf held at love for 5-4 and Novotna won one point on serve trying to stay in the match. She hit balls that wouldn’t be in play on a cricket pitch.

On match point, Graf put away an overhead, then began celebrating her fifth Wimbledon title and her 13th Grand Slam victory.

She ran to the stands and climbed to the players’ box where she hugged her mother and father, then made the ritual trip with the giant silver plate.

In the meantime, Novotna sat slumped in her chair. When the Duchess of Kent greeted her in the awards ceremony, Novotna burst into tears and rested her head on the Duchess’ shoulder.

Novotna composed herself later. She insisted she had not crumbled like a day-old scone, but that Graf simply had played better.

“I don’t think it’s a horrible experience,” she said. “I just feel it’s very disappointing being so close . . . I had the chance to lead for 5-1 (and) unfortunately I double-faulted.

“I felt a little tired, but you know, when I’m a little tired, then I don’t get that sensitive or that nervous. So I just don’t think it was nerves at all.

“It just didn’t work at all today.”

Well, it worked for awhile, until Novotna came face-to-face with winning her first Grand Slam title.

Even Graf was worried. In fact, she thought it was already over at 4-1.

“I did think I was out of it,” Graf said. “She had two breaks, she was going to serve for it . . . and the way that I played, I thought, yes, I kind of have lost it.

“She gave me a few points definitely, I mean, I made some important ones, too, but . . . “

Graf played only well enough to win. She went down a break in the opening game of the match, but broke back for 2-2, saved two more break points and won the first set in a tiebreaker when she saved one set point with a whistling ace down the middle.

Novotna’s gliding, volleying game wore down Graf in the second set, which she won easily by taking advantage of Graf’s serve. Graf won only six points on her serve in the set.

“I played so bad and even in the beginning of the match I didn’t really play that well,” she said. “My serve wasn’t as strong as usual and my whole game was not up there. That’s why I felt, ‘That’s it.’ ”

Of course, Graf was wrong.

“I couldn’t believe it, really, to get back from there,” she said.

After 20 Grand Slam finals, there is something about a finely tuned mental approach, so Graf was asked if she thought Novotna ought to work on her mental attitude.

Said Graf: “How do you train that? It’s a human brain.”

And so Novotna dried her tears, picked up the pieces of her shattered psyche and tired to make the most of the whole thing. It wasn’t she who had lost it, no, it was Graf who had won it.

“Everybody has been talking about it, that I had no nerves to play against the top players, that I’ve lost a few close matches . . . I don’t see that this has anything to do with today’s loss,” Novotna said.

“I just think that today unfortunately things didn’t work out as well . . . as before.

“It’s just a sad ending.”