Stunning win to Navratilova

Press, 7 December 1981, Page 36

Stunning win to Navratilova

NZPA Melbourne The Wimbledon champion, Chris Evert-Lloyd, met her match in the final of the $200,000 Toyota Australian women’s open tennis championships at Kooyong yesterday. In a cliff-hanger three-set final, the American, Martina Navratilova, beat EvertLloyd 6-7, 6-4, 7-5 to win the $34,000 first prize, the $125,000 Toyota series pool and two cars worth a total of more than $20,000. The final set was one of the most dramatic finishes to an Australian open title. After Navratilova had

levelled the sets at one-all, she immediately broke Evert-Lloyd’s opening service, and ran up a 5-1 lead in the deciding set. However, the Wimbledon champion staged a dramatic fightback and won four games in a row to keep the match alive. Navratilova broke EvertLloyd’s serve in the eleventh game and held serve to 30 to take the match. It was the first dent in the Wimbledon queen’s crown. It was left to another former Wimbledon winner to upstage the ' firm favourite for the title before a capacity crowd.

The pair have won five Wimbledon titles between them. The match appeared early in the third set to be heading for a sudden anti-climax as Navratilova gained the ascendency, before Evert-Lloyd set the match alight again. In the next half-dozen games the world’s No. 1 ranked Woman player almost pulled off a sensational lastminute victory. Evert-Lloyd, the top seed, • started,a firm favourite, but it was not long before the crowd sensed Navratilova was making a major challenge. As their support swung from Evert-Lloyd, her...

opponent responded magnificently. When it was all over after a final game which could easily have gone either way, and led to a tiebreaker, Navratilova gave a huge victory leap. She then blew kisses to her new coach, Renee Richards, in the stand. Richards responded with a finger signal indicating Navratilova was now No. 1. Evert-Lloyd was forced into a tiebreaker in the first • set, signalling the rest of the match would be a hard battle. Navratilova showed her doggedness by staying in the

match and winning the second set. However, few fans were prepared for the sudden but temporary change which came over the match at the start of the third set. Navratilova broke EvertLloyd’s serve in the first game, and ran to a five-one lead to suggest the match would be quickly over.. However, Evert-Lloyd never gave up and unleashed • a recovery which took her to five-all. Evert-Lloyd lost the match in the tense final , game as she netted a seemingly easy return.