TENNIS / THOMAS BONK : Navratilova Goes for the Gravy

Over the next two weeks, Martina Navratilova plays tournaments in which she could run up against Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Zina Garrison and Gabriela Sabatini.

Does this sound like trouble?

“No, it sounds like fun,� Navratilova said. “You don’t want to win tournaments because nobody is playing them.�

And so it goes for the nine-time Wimbledon champion, whose confidence may be as high as it ever was, even if her 33-year-old knees aren’t exactly looking forward to the cement courts.

Navratilova’s straight-set victory over Garrison in the Wimbledon final has changed the way she looks at her career, however long it may continue.

“I think I’m just going to live it up,� Navratilova said. “I don’t have anything to prove to myself and to a lot of people who said I should have quit a couple of years ago, that I was finished and I had no place up there anymore.

“Meanwhile, I slipped all the way down to No. 2. But I didn’t exactly win a Grand Slam, either, so I had a lot to prove and a lot of disbelievers. But I don’t have to do that anymore. Now, I can just enjoy it.�

Navratilova is top-seeded in the Virginia Slims of Los Angeles, Aug. 13-19 at Manhattan Country Club, where Seles, Garrison and Sabatini are her biggest challengers. Navratilova and Graf could meet in the final of the Great American Bank tournament in San Diego, which begins Monday.

After losing to Seles at the German Open and French Open and to Garrison at Wimbledon, Graf is at her weakest since taking the No. 1 spot in the rankings from Navratilova three years ago this month.

“I know she’s not finished, but I don’t know if anybody can dominate the way she has the last three years,� Navratilova said. “I certainly wouldn’t write her off. She could very well end up not losing another match for the rest of the year.�

Navratilova took four weeks off after her Wimbledon victory and began practicing again only last weekend. She has a week off after the San Diego and Virginia Slims tournaments, then takes aim at her new goal--the U.S. Open.

But even Navratilova admits that nothing compares to her ninth Wimbledon victory.

“It meant everything,� she said. “I think because it meant so much, and I’ve been focusing on it so much, that other people thought I would fail. (But) it was like my Olympics. I really wasn’t afraid of taking that kind of chance because that’s really what tennis is all about to me at this point in my career.

“It’s such a relief now that I think I will really feel much less pressure,� she said. “I wanted it so bad, and I really would have felt that there was a void in my career (if I hadn’t won). I can really say that I have accomplished everything I wanted and then some.

“I feel that my tennis career is complete. Everything I do from now on is just gravy.�

High-strung: In 1980, the Los Angeles Strings, behind Martina Navratilova, won the championship of TeamTennis. Last week, the Strings, coached by John Lloyd, clinched the Western Division of Domino’s Pizza TeamTennis.

“If we win the championship,� Lloyd said, “I guess it would be almost like our anniversary.�

The Strings (12-1) have a first-round bye in the playoffs and play their first match Thursday night at the Forum.

Lloyd put together a team that clicked, and owner Jeannie Buss backed him. Lloyd brought in countryman Nick Brown from England, convinced Robin White that TeamTennis would be good for her singles game and got Anne White as a replacement for Tracy Austin.

The Strings have the league’s top doubles teams: Brown and Lloyd in men’s doubles, Anne and Robin White in women’s doubles and Lloyd and Robin White in mixed doubles.

“We haven’t even made the playoffs the last two years,� Lloyd said. “There are simply people who cannot play TeamTennis. These people have proven that they can.�

List I: The top six male tennis players ranked by annual endorsement/corporate appearances, compiled by Tennis Buyer’s Guide.

1. Boris Becker, $6 million

2. Ivan Lendl, $4 million

3. Andre Agassi, $3.5 million

4. Yannick Noah, $2.7 million

5. Jimmy Connors, $2.2 million

6. Stefan Edberg, $2 million

List II: The top six female tennis players, ranked the same way by Tennis Buyer’s Guide:

1. Steffi Graf, $3.5 million.

2. Chris Evert, $3 million

3. Martina Navratilova, $2.5 million

4. Gabriela Sabatini, $2 million

5. Jennifer Capriati, $1.4 million

6. Monica Seles, $1 million

Rematch: Andre Agassi, who lost to Andres Gomez in the French Open final, plays him again, but this time in an exhibition.

Agassi, 20, and Gomez, 34, will play Sept. 15 as part of the Forum Tennis Challenge series.

Tennis Notes

Stephanie Rehe, a 20-year-old from Highland, begins her comeback next week at the Great American Bank tournament in San Diego. Rehe was ranked No. 14 two years ago when she injured her back in a car accident. She did not play in 1989. The Women’s Tennis Assn. has given Rehe a special ranking of No. 44 that she can use for four tournaments, after which her ranking will be determined on her play. . . . Want to hit with Steffi Graf? Tennis fans in San Diego who donate at least $500 to the Mary Birch Women’s Hospital at Sharp Memorial can play Graf during a tennis clinic from 11 a.m. to noon Thursday at the Great American Bank tournament. . . . There are three nominees for the Billie Jean King service award, which will be presented Aug. 18 between the semifinal matches of the Virginia Slims of Los Angeles: Martina Navratilova, Zina Garrison and tennis photographer Carol Newsom. . . . It looks as if the Lipton International Players Championship isn’t going anywhere, after all. Last week, the Dade County Commission accepted a report and plan for the financing and construction of a 14,000-seat, $16.5-million stadium on Key Biscayne. “It now appears that the Lipton will be here in the new permanent stadium for the next 30 years,� said Butch Buchholz, the tournament chairman. . . . The Rehabilitation Institute of Southern California in Orange is sponsoring a tennis benefit for disabled youth next Saturday and Sunday at the Dana Hills Tennis Center in Dana Point. For information, call (714) 633-7400, extension 235.