Near End, Navratilova Denied : Tennis: In her second-to-last tournament, she loses to Sanchez Vicario in Oakland final.

In a week of contrasts and of triumph, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario began by answering the threat of the future and finished by responding to the challenge of the past.

After eliminating 14-year-old Venus Williams in her first professional tennis match Wednesday, Sanchez Vicario overcame her own indifferent play and a partisan crowd to defeat 38-year-old Martina Navratilova, 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-3), Sunday in the final of the Bank of the West Classic.

Navratilova, who is scheduled to play in one more event, the Virginia Slims Championships, before taking her leave from women’s singles, was two points from the victory in the final set.

But her years and Sanchez Vicario’s powerful forehand would not let Navratilova add one more to her record of 167 victories.

“I had so many opportunities,” sighed Navratilova, “but she always came up with the goods.”

For Navratilova, in the 239th final match of a career that began in 1975, or when Sanchez Vicario was 3 years old, it was a bittersweet afternoon at Oakland Coliseum Arena.

The crowd of 7,098 was on her side, but her serves and volleys betrayed her. And Sanchez Vicario, winning her 21st consecutive match, was no help either after the first set.

“I hadn’t played tennis like that in a long time,” Navratilova said. “Not this year, I guess.”

Not even at Wimbledon, where Martina reached the final against Sanchez Vicario’s countrywoman from Spain, Conchita Martinez.

“The sentiment was with me, of course,” Navratilova said. “They’ll get to watch Arantxa many, many times. They should all root for a player who’s about to quit.

“But she is a great scrambler. She keeps fighting no matter what. When I was up, 4-1, in the second set I didn’t hit the serves hard enough. And there were times she hit great returns. Her win was more her doing than mine.”

Winner of two of this year’s Grand Slam events, the French and U.S. Opens, Sanchez Vicario said she wobbled a bit early in the match because of weariness. “After the doubles semifinals Saturday night I got to bed at 1 a.m. and got five hours’ sleep,” Sanchez Vicario said. “I was not moving well. But I never give up. And I’m strong mentally.”

She had to be. The fans were against her in the Williams match. And they were against her in the Navratilova match.

“But I think the first match helps me for today,” said Sanchez Vicario, who earned $40,000 after her eighth tournament victory of 1994. “I win that match and it give me the confidence. I had not played in a month. There were a lot of things going the other way.”

Particularly the audience.

“I first played in the Bay Area in 1975 when this tournament was at (San Francisco) Civic Auditorium,” Navratilova said. “I had my first big win. I beat Nancy Richey. I lost to Chris Evert in the semifinal.”

Her play this week did not inspire Navratilova to make one more trip around the circuit and the globe.

“I have no desire to play next year,” she said. “I really don’t. But I didn’t play this kind of tennis for a long time. So it’s, ‘Oh, my God, look at this shot I hit.’ It’s like 10 years ago.”

Ten years ago she probably wouldn’t have lost tiebreakers in the second and third sets.

“This year has not been very satisfying,” Navratilova said. “At least here I got to have a proper goodby. In Los Angeles I lost early. In Eastbourne I lost early. Chicago I lost in the quarters. Those are cities that really meant a lot to me. I played horrible tennis. It’s been a very frustrating year.”