TENNIS ROUNDUP : Navratilova Beats Seles in Three Sets to Tie Evert Mark

Martina Navratilova said making tennis history was secondary.

Navratilova matched Chris Evert’s record of 157 tournament titles Sunday by upsetting top-ranked Monica Seles, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, to win the $350,000 Virginia Slims of California at Oakland.

“This is as satisfying as you can get outside a Grand Slam tournament,� Navratilova said.

“To beat the No. 1 player in the world is enough. But tying the record was a huge bonus.�

Seles, 17, who lost her serve only twice in three matches leading up to the final, had her serve broken eight times by Navratilova.

“My serve hadn’t let me down in a long time as much as it did today,� Seles said.

Navratilova, 35, took command by breaking Seles’ serve twice in the final set for a 5-2 lead. Seles fought off match point and broke back to stay alive, but Navratilova finished her with another break.

Michael Chang won his first title of 1991, beating Guillaume Raoux of France, 6-3, 6-2, in the final of a $500,000 indoor tournament at Birmingham, England.

Raoux, 21, led, 2-0, and, 3-1, in the first set, but the top-seeded Chang rallied to win in 66 minutes.

“I was surprised that he was ready to go the first point,� Chang said. “Normally everyone takes about 1 1/2 games just to get a feel for each other’s game, but he didn’t do that.

“He knew what he wanted to do and went out and did it.�

Chang lost his serve in the first game of the match and didn’t make up the deficit until the sixth game. He broke Raoux again in the eighth game to win the set.

Chang won 14 consecutive points in the second set.

Andrei Cherkasov of the Soviet Union won his second consecutive Kremlin Cup by downing Jakob Hlasek of Switzerland, 7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), at Moscow.

“That was the most difficult match I’ve ever played in my career,� Cherkasov said. “Probably if I had played this match anywhere else, I would have given up. I had the crowd behind me.�

Hlasek broke Cherkasov’s serve twice in the first set and twice in the third set of the three-hour match. Each time, Cherkasov fought back to win in tiebreakers, playing best when he was behind.

Fourth-seeded Sabine Appelmans of Belgium won for the second consecutive week by defeating Katrina Adams, 6-2, 6-4, in the final of the Virginia Slims of Nashville at Brentwood, Tenn.

Christian Miniussi of Argentina overcame Jaime Oncins of Brazil, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, to win the Banespa Open at Sao Paulo, Brazil.