European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 17, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                It. The curtain rings Down a.  -. A. " -,.---a  new York times new York she wore her heart on her sleeve and for 22 years she jammed her backhand Volley the one that won the replicated and was rarely returned Down the throats of any and All opponents who weren t savvy enough to get out of harm s  night at Madison Square Gar Den Martina Navratilova the Tennis Dynamo generally regarded the finest woman athlete to Grace her sport played her last match at the Virginia slim championships under the same prestigious roof where she had earned a record18 titles. ". Pitted against one of the strapping More on Martina Navratilova on pages 30-32 Young women whose demolition  had lately become the Bane of her competitive existence Navratilova was Defeated 6-4, 6-2, by Gabriela Sabatini. ,.-/. After the defeat Navratilova whose finest moment this year came at Wimble Don where she fought her Way to the final of the grand slam she had won a record nine times was party to another piece of history. A commemorative Banner the first tribute of its kind to any non Knick or Ranger was raised to the Garden s raft ers and on a less somber note she jumped for Joy As Virginia slims her sport s longtime sponsor gave her a har Ley Davidson  collected a record 167 titles Over a Tennis lifetime that spanned and often transcended three generations. A but this year closing in on her 38th birthday and tired despite her courageous grip on a top-5 ranking almost until the end of the. Emotional and physical strains that inevitably accompany any Champion Navratilova decided to Call i quits while the Call was still hers to make. Using lobs and passing shots to prevent Navratilova from establishing herself at the net Sabatini got the first break of the match in the fifth game and took a 3-2 Lead. At break Point Navratilova simply Martina Navratilova is hugged by coach Craig Kardon in Madison Square Garden ceremonies As sex great bile Jean King watches. Could t Corral the bold forehand Winner that Sabatini sent Down the line and her lunging Volley struck the  with a forehand drive of her own Navratilova broke right Back for 3-3 witha sideline skimming shot she punctuated with a one word compliment yes her charge proved Short lived though and Sabatini playing on instincts that seemed oblivious to the tensions inherent in this encounter broke her again for a 4-3lead. This time it was a Cross court Back hand that passed Navratilova by and nearly severed her sneaker tips in the process of putting her Back into deficit position. Sabatini kept. Navratilova pinned tothe Baseline and held serve for 5-3, and after Navratilova amid a Stream of self castigation held for 5-4, the ninth ranked Argentine used a service Winner to com plete a set she d begun with a pair of  got off to a 2-0 Lead in the second set but Sabatini soon corrected that and in the 5th game she broke Navratilova a second time and took a 3-2 Lead. ,.Sabatini who never second guessed a shot All night held for 4-2 Over Navratilova who fretted frowned and second guessed herself throughout. Navratilova did t even bother chasing the forehand return that Sabatini used to break for 5-2 and she hit her last Ever sin Gles shot a backhand that drifted away of the court ahead of her at match Point. The stars and stripes november 17,1994 r Page 36 Bicker topples Sam Preis Boris Becker Waits to put away lob from Pete Sampras. By Nesha Starcevic Frankfurt Germany a in a clash of past Cham pions Boris Becker produced one of the Best matches of his already impressive year and frustrated top ranked Pete Sam Pras with a 7-5, 7-5 Victory wednesday at the ism at tour world championship. Becker posted his second straight win Over the no. 1 in the world and raised his round Robin record at the $3-million tournament to 2-0. He was just too Good that s the Best i be seen him play against me Sampras said after his loss in one hour 43 minutes. Earlier Michael Chang crushed Alberto Berasategui 6 1, 6-0. Berasategui who has won three games in two matches said he was suffering from a wrist injury and Only played to at championship protect his ranking. In the last match of the Day Stefan Edberg Defeated Gora Ivanisevic 6-3,.6-4. Becker also beat Sampras in route to lifting the Stockholm open in the last week of octo Ber and is now 5-5 against the american in his career. I Don t know if it was my bes match against him but it was definitely one of my Best of the year said the German who outpaced Sampras 15-11. Becker won the tour ending championship of the top eight players in the world in 1992, but failed to qualify last year after dropping out of the top 10. He is Back at no. 5 now after winning four titles this year. I would say 1992 was the last year when i was Able to play Well against top players All the year said Becker who beat Ivanisevic tuesday. He is a much better player indoors said Sampras who leads the tour with nine titles this year. An ankle injury slowed him in the summer but he came into the tournament straight from winning in Antwerp. Becker broke Sampras for decisive 6-5 leads in each set and never dropped his own serve. Becker hit two aces in the last game with second serves the last one giving him three match Points. He missed the first serve but clinched the match when Sampras returned his second serve to the net. The eight players Are split into two round Robin groups with the top two from each advancing to the semifinals. Becker Sampras Ivanisevic wins and Edberg Are in one group while Chang Berasategui Andre Agassi and Sergi bruguera Are in the other. Agassi and bruguera who Are both 1-0,were Idle wednesday. Chang the no. 6 who lost to bruguera tuesday needed Only 47 minutes to beat Berasategui and even his record to 1-1.Winner of seven Clay court titles this year Berasategui is no. 7 in the world although he usually skips other surfaces. Wednesday update Suwanee a. A the Atlanta Falcons suspended Andre Rison wednesday for one game saying the wide receiver has repeatedly violated team rules. The Falcons declined to spec Ify their reasons for suspending Rison. 0"z46850�000504