Navratilova Hurt, Withdraws : Tennis: Second-seeded player's calf muscle is injured during practice for San Diego tournament. She hopes to be ready for L.A. competition.

Navratilova Hurt, Withdraws : Tennis: Second-seeded player’s calf muscle is injured during practice for San Diego tournament. She hopes to be ready for L.A. competition.

By KIM Q. BERKSHIRE

Aug. 8, 1990 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

SAN DIEGO — What tennis fans had hoped would be a showdown Sunday between the two top female players in the world, No. 1 Steffi Graf and No. 2 Martina Navratilova, won’t take place.

Navratilova suffered an injured calf muscle during a practice set Monday against doubles partner Gigi Fernandez, and withdrew from the Great American Bank tennis tournament Tuesday.

Navratilova said that although she is a quick healer, she would have to monitor the injury a day at a time. She said she is unsure whether she will be ready to play at the Virginia Slims of Los Angeles, beginning Aug. 13 in Manhattan Beach.

“I should be able to play next week,” Navratilova said, “but certainly not (Wednesday). I’m hoping three or four days. The doctor said two or three weeks, but I’m a little more optimistic. I’ll take it on a day-by-day basis.”

Navratilova said she bent down low to hit a slice backhand when her left foot slipped and she jammed her Achilles’ tendon.

“The ground is porous and normally my foot would have held,” she said, “but it didn’t. I was still getting used to the footing.”

This was to be Navratilova’s first tournament since she won her record ninth singles title at Wimbledon. She had planned to play back-to-back events here and in Manhattan Beach to prepare her for the U.S. Open, beginning Aug. 27 in New York.

Seeded second, Navratilova was to play Rosalyn Fairbank-Nideffer in a first-round match Tuesday night. She was replaced by Luanne Spadea of Boca Raton, Fla., in singles, and by former San Diego State All-American Monique Javer and Spadea in doubles.

Fairbank-Nideffer made short work of Navratilova’s replacement, winning 7-5, 6-1 before of 3,875.

The announcement that Navratilova had withdrawn came after Graf’s 6-0, 6-3 afternoon singles victory over Oceanside’s Stephanie Rehe, a wild-card entrant.

Graf, seeded first, said Navratilova’s withdrawal will have no effect on how she prepares for the rest of the event.

“There’s no difference,” Graf said. “I’ll still prepare the same way to get myself ready for the next match.”

Third-seeded Zina Garrison, Wimbledon finalist this year and runner-up to Graf in this event last year, had her opening match delayed a day because of a bout with flu. Garrison’s coach, Sherwood Stewart, said she will be ready for her singles match today against Fernandez, which follows the 11 a.m. center-court match between Patty Fendick and Manuela Maleeva.

“She could have played singles (Tuesday),” Stewart said.

“But she was a little sick Saturday night and I asked them if she could delay her first (singles) match a day.”

The loss of Navratilova is a mixed blessing for Coronado’s Angelica Gavaldon. Had she advanced to tonight’s second round, Navratilova and Gavaldon would have played in the featured match on center court.

“It would be a great experience to play Martina,” Gavaldon said last Friday immediately after the draw was made. “But everyone looks forward to playing a top player.”

Like Gavaldon, Oceanside’s Stehpanie Rehe, formerly of Highland, Calif., was looking forward to playing a top player. But Graf is no longer suffering from the sinus problems that plagued her at Wimbledon and she played at full strength against Rehe, winning, 6-0, 6-3. Rehe scored only nine points in the first set.