TENNIS / THOMAS BONK : Navratilova Facing an Age-Old Question

LONDON â€”  Splendor on the grass? For Martina Navratilova, it seems a lot less likely now after getting dumped by 64th-ranked Linda Harvey-Wild in the second round of the traditional Wimbledon warmup for the women at Eastbourne, England.

Navratilova, playing her first tournament on the tour in 11 weeks, was clearly hoping for more, especially with an already thinning chance for a 10th Wimbledon crown.

Instead, Navratilova equaled her worst loss at Eastbourne since she first played there in 1975--and it doesn’t exactly propel her into Wimbledon under a head of steam. Still, she assumed a semi-optimistic stance after losing to Harvey-Wild, a former USC player.

“I’m here, I’m healthy, I think I can win,� Navratilova said. “This second-round loss doesn’t help my confidence, but it doesn’t shatter it. I don’t have as good a chance as I used to have, but I still have one.�

Navratilova will be playing her 20th Wimbledon, which begins Monday at the All England Club. Last year, she lost to Jennifer Capriati in the quarterfinals and watched as Steffi Graf won her third Wimbledon title. One of the top four seeded players will probably win this year, said Navratilova, listing Monica Seles, Graf, Gabriela Sabatini and herself.

“It’s sort of hard for me to talk about myself in the same breath as Monica, Graf and Sabatini after losing to Linda Harvey-Wild,� she added. Last year’s quarterfinal Wimbledon defeat was Navratilova’s earliest exit on the Church Road grass courts since 1977, when she was 21. But she is 35 now and is again reminded that age is hardly on her side.

“When I do lose a match, sometimes I ask, ‘Am I too old?’

“The doubts creep into your mind--whether I have enough emotional energy, or do I have anything left. So it’s a struggle and a fight for me not to let those doubts creep into my conscious mind. They’re already in my subconscious.�

Book report: In her new book, “Lady Magic,� Nancy Lieberman-Cline reveals she was once Navratilova’s lover and tells of an incident during which Rita Mae Brown, who was having an affair with Navratilova at the time, allegedly grabbed a pistol and shot out the window of Navratilova’s car while the Wimbledon champion hunkered down in the front seat.

According to “Lady Magic,� the gunplay was the result of an argument that arose when Brown questioned Navratilova about her relationship with Lieberman.

Grass news: Jimmy Connors and Michael Chang spent some time last week sharpening up their grass-court games under the watchful eye of Roscoe Tanner, the director of tennis at Sherwood Country Club’s finely manicured courts.

Serving notice: When reigning Wimbledon champion Michael Stich won a grass-court warmup tournament in the Netherlands last week, he never lost his serve. Stich also moved up to No. 4 in the rankings and bumped Boris Becker back to No. 5, Becker’s lowest in nearly seven years.

Re-Pete?: Even though he lost in the second round at Wimbledon a year ago and in the first round two years ago, Pete Sampras is actually picking up some support as a player to be reckoned with the next two weeks. Sampras isn’t counting himself out, either.

“To win on grass, you have to break serve . . . and if I’m going to win this event, that’s what I’m going to have to do,� Sampras said. “Obviously, my serve is going to be very effective, but I’m not going to win this tournament with my serve. It’s going to have to be with my first volley and return of serve, which people like Becker and (Stefan) Edberg do so well.�

Sampras isn’t too keen on the Wimbledon chances of top-ranked Jim Courier, the Australian Open and French Open champion: “The expectations of Jim on grass aren’t exactly that high.�

Endurance tests: For what it’s worth, 33 five-set men’s matches were played at the French Open, only two short of the Open era record of 35 set at the 1983 U.S. Open. Ten players came back to win after losing the first two sets.

Court costs: Teen whiz Jennifer Capriati is having a difficult time combining tennis and her teen-age years, according to former prodigy Chris Evert.

“Jennifer’s having a hard time figuring out what her reality is,� Evert told the Associated Press. “She wants it to be a home life and going to school and being with her friends. But the problem is, she’s a superstar and a great tennis champion. She’s having a tough time trying to juggle the act a bit. . . . I don’t think she really has that streak in her that wants to win at all costs, right now.�

Capriati, 16, is $30,123 short of $1 million in career earnings.

Becker update: His first-round defeat in the Stella Artois event at Queen’s here last week was his earliest exit from a grass-court tournament in more than seven years. Becker lost to Michiel Schapers in the 1985 Australian Open, which was played on grass at Kooyong in Melbourne.

Last week’s loss to Christo van Rensburg was also Becker’s first match in 32 days because of a leg injury. Becker quickly figured out what was wrong--he fired Coach Tomas Smid.

Rumor mill: With Wimbledon upon us, the London tabloids are going to have a field day with a story that appeared last week linking Sabatini to steroid use.

It began when Klaus Hofsaess, the German Federation Cup coach, was quoted in a story in the German newspaper Welt am Sontag to the effect that Sabatini of Argentina and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of Spain used steroids.

Then, in Buenos Aires, an Argentine news agency reported that Hofsaess had denied making such a charge.

“Arantxa and Gabriela do not take anything,� Hofsaess was quoted by Diarios y Noticias.

Sabatini issued a statement anyway, called the steroid claim “a base lie and a vile infamy� and vowed to take legal action. Sanchez Vicario also vigorously denied the charges.

Tennis Notes

Besides Monica Seles and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, other notables in the draw for the Virginia Slims of Los Angeles, to be played at Manhattan Country Club Aug. 10-16, are Mary Pierce, Kimiko Date and Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere. . . . Gabriela Sabatini leads the list of entries for the Mazda Tennis Classic, Aug. 24-30, at La Costa. Also entered are Jana Novotna, Conchita Martinez, Zina Garrison and Pam Shriver. . . . Bjorn Borg has entered The Volvo-Los Angeles tournament, Aug. 3-9 at UCLA.

The Volvo-Los Angeles tournament is looking for volunteer ushers. Details: Annette Davis, (310) 824-1010. . . . Monica Seles will join comedian Jerry Seinfeld and recording artist Kenny G in a celebrity exhibition match Aug. 3 at the Volvo-Los Angeles event. . . . Jim Courier’s victory at the French Open put him in some select company. Courier is the fourth player to have won three Grand Slam titles before he was 22. The others are Boris Becker, Borg and Mats Wilander. . . . Wilander, who in 1988 won three of the four Grand Slam events and ended the year No. 1, completed a long free-fall last week: He officially fell off the ATP computer list this week. He has played only in the Queen’s event this year. A record 2,196 youngsters have entered the 90th Southern California Tennis Assn. Junior Sectional Championships, which began Saturday at six Orange County sites. The finals will be played June 29 at the Los Caballeros Sports Village in Fountain Valley. Top competitors include Jeoff Abrams, 14, of Newport Beach, top-ranked in the boys’ 14 division, and Ania Bleszynski, 17, of Thousand Oaks, who won the girls’ 16 title last year.