Martina out of French Open

Press, 27 April 1989, Page 52

Martina out of French Open

NZPA-AP Monte Carlo The world No. 2, Martina Navratilova, has pulled out of the French Open tennis championships, French officials said. Cecile Caradec, a press spokeswoman , for the French Federation of Tennis, which runs the tournament, said they received official notice from the Women’s International Tennis . Association. No specific reason was given for the withdrawal although Navratilova has complained recently about being mentally tired from a heavy schedule of exhibitions and tournaments. Navratilova relies on a power game and serve-and-volley tactics, better suited for fast surfaces like grass. The French Open, from May 29 to June 11, is played on the slow, red clay courts of Roland Garros stadium in Paris. Navratilova lost her No. 1 ranking in August 1987 to Steffi Graf, who won the Grand Slam and the Olympic gold medal. Graf beat Navratilova at Wimbledon last year, reversing the result of the previous year. She lost the 1987 French Open to Graf — the West German’s first Grand Slam tournament. Navratilova lost in the third round of the French Open in 1988 to the eventual finalist, Natalia Zvereva, of the, Soviet Union.