Tennis Roundup : Navratilova in Form, Wins Eastbourne Title

It was hardly necessary, but Martina Navratilova has pronounced herself ready for Wimbledon.

Navratilova showed as much while beating Italy’s Raffaella Reggi, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2, in the final of a $300,000 Virginia Slims tournament Saturday at Eastbourne, England.

“I’ve done everything I could to be ready for Wimbledon and my preparation has been perfect,” said Navratilova, who won another warm-up tournament last week and has played 10 matches in as many days.

“This period has been my longest and most thorough preparation. I have no second thoughts about what I should do, and when you are not second-guessing yourself, it helps.”

The top-seeded Navratilova won the title for the eighth time.

Reggi, seeded 14th, rallied from a 1-5 first-set deficit to take four straight games with some brilliant service returns, then saved a set point when Navratilova netted a forehand at 6-5.

But the Italian struggled throughout the tiebreaker, won by Navratilova, 7-2, and couldn’t recover.

Boris Becker concluded his warm-up for Wimbledon by defeating Peter Lundgren of Sweden, 7-5, 6-4, to win an international grass-court tournament at Wirral, England.

Becker said he would donate his $40,000 prize money to the Hillsborough Disaster Fund, set up for the relatives of those fans killed in the Sheffield soccer stadium tragedy April 15.

The 20-year-old West German, a two-time Wimbledon champion, took just under 90 minutes to finish off Lundgren, ranked 62nd in the world.

Kevin Curren upset Mats Wilander of Sweden, seeded fourth at Wimbledon, 6-2, 6-4, in the final of a grass-court tournament at Wentworth, England.

Wilander, the world’s fifth-ranked player, lost to the South African-born American in 64 minutes.

“That match won’t worry me for Wimbledon,” Wilander said. “I have got a good draw early in the tournament. If I can get into the third round, I should be in good shape.”

Fourth-seeded Eric Jelen of West Germany struggled past unseeded Nick Brown of Britain, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, to win a $130,000 grass-court tournament at Bristol, England.

Jelen was fined $500 by the umpire for an audible obscenity following a controversial line call in the final game. His victory was sealed moments later when Brown netted a volley.