NEW YORK -- Steffi Graf, who says she is not nervous but her opponent should be, meets Martina Navratilova Friday in the most anticipated match of the U.S. Open.
'Many players go against Martina wanting to win a few games,' Graf said of her semifinal opponent. 'Me, I want to beat her.'
The confidence of the 17-year-old West German stems from more than naivete. She inflicted a 6-2, 6-3 beating on Navratilova at the German Open in May, the worst loss of the year for the world's top-ranked player.
'I never get nervous but she's going to be nervous playing me,' said Graf, ranked third in the world. 'I think it will be a tough match for her.'
Graf, the No. 3 seed, has been tough in all five of her Open matches. Only once has she needed more than an hour to win and dispatched No. 8 seed Bonnie Gadusek 6-3, 6-1 in a particularly awesome quarterfinal victory.
'I think I was not playing too bad today,' the daughter of a tennis coach said after that triumph.
However, Graf will need more than talk and her blistering forehand to beat Navratilova. The two-time Open winner, who turns 30 next month, has showed no signs of surrendering the No. 1 ranking she has held for the last five years.
Navratilova has lost 31 games in five Open singles matches and her doubles and mixed doubles team are in the finals. At Wimbledon in June, Navratilova just missed the triple as she lost in mixed doubles.
'Graf is definitely making a push,' Navratilova said. 'Her game is much, much closer (to the top) than a year ago.'
Friday's semifinal match is the featured attraction on a day that also includes a semifinal meeting between No. 2 Chris Evert Lloyd and No. 7 Helena Sukova of Czechoslovakia.
Graf and Navratilova will be playing for the fifth time. Before the match at the German Open, which was on Graf's best surface, clay, Navratilova had not lost a set to her younger opponent. At last year's Open, Navratilova routed Graf 6-2, 6-3.
Graf said she will need to alter her game slightly against Navratilova. Usually content to stay on the baseline and nail her forehand, Graf knows she will have to attack the net more to offset Navratilova's serve-and-volley game.
