Shriver’s Clowning Goes Only So Far, While Navratilova Makes It to Final

WORCESTER, Mass. —  Pam Shriver tried changing the scoreboard but nobody would believe it and she got drubbed by Martina Navratilova Sunday night in the semifinals of a $250,000 Virginia Slims tournament.

Shriver, Navratilova’s doubles partner, was trailing 6-1, 4-0 when she went to the scoreboard and inserted a “5” by her own name.

“The only thing to do is try to divert some attention away,” Shriver said en route to a 6-1, 6-1 loss that was completed in just 50 minutes.

The top-seeded Navratilova, who will meet Claudia Kohde-Kilsch in tonight’s final, admitted she didn’t care for the clowning though she participated to the extent of asking Shriver to put a “7” in place of her 4 to make it a 7-5 score.

“At the beginning, it was funny, but you don’t want to let it get away when you’re that far ahead. I just wanted to keep my mind on the task at hand.”

Shriver persisted, however, dropping ice cubes down the front of her shirt and wiggling at the side of the court to drop it out after a bad shot.

“That’s the worst I’ve ever lost,” she said of a 3-24 lifetime record against Navratilova, the most one-sided of which was a string of 6-1, 6-2, or 6-2, 6-1 losses in the 1983 indoor circuit.

“Sure, I’m very good at compassion,” Navratilova said in a answer to a question about whether she had any sympathy for Shriver. “I’ve been there, I know what it feels like. We’re friends, only she didn’t play well. We play well together because we genuinely like each other.”

Earlier, Kohde-Kilsch earned her shot at the $40,000 first prize by defeating Kathy Rinaldi, 6-3, 6-4.

The fourth-seeded Kohde-Kilsch overcame an early deficit and a briefly troublesome shoulder problem for her third victory in seven career meetings with Rinaldi.