The players involvedSteffi Graf and Gabriela Sabatini
- Steffi Graf. The undisputed golden girl of women’s tennis
Steffi Graf was born in 1969 in Germany. In 1982, at the age of 13, she became the youngest player ever to receive a WTA ranking. After winning the showcase event at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, he steadily improved his game and results. At the age of 16, he reached the semi-finals in 1985 US Open:defeated World No. 1 Martina Navratilova (6-2, 6-3).
In 1986, she won her first WTA title at Hilton Head before reaching the semi-finals of the US Open for the second time. Closely supervised by her father, Peter Graf, the German had her breakthrough year in 1987 when she lifted her first Grand Slam title, defeating Navratilova in the final. Roland Garrosand being the runner-up, also to Navratilova Wimbledon and the US Open.
On August 17, she took over the top WTA ranking from the Americanwho has held it intermittently since 1982. Graf began 1988 by defeating Chris Evert (6-1, 7-6) to win the tournament. Australian Openand in June she also won Roland Garros, punishing Natasha Zvereva (6-0, 6-0) in the shortest Grand Slam final in tennis history.
After the Wimbledon final, where she beat six-time defending champion Navratilova (5-7, 6-2, 6-1), Graf dominated the tour, and at the US Open she wrote a new page in tennis history, defeating Gabriela Sabatini in the final (6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1, from Grand 70 from 190).
- Gabriela Sabatini. The only player to ever beat Graf was in 1988
Gabriela Sabatini, Argentinian, was born in 1970. Successful at a very young age, in 1985 he became the youngest player to reach the semi-finals at Roland Garros, where he was defeated by Chris Evert (6-4, 6-1). In the years that followed, Sabatini, displaying a beautiful one-handed backhand, firmly established herself in the top 10, reaching the Wimbledon semifinals in 1986 (losing 6-2, 6-2 to Martina Navratilova), and twice more at the French Open in 1987 and 1988, each time losing to Graf.
He also won eight tour titles, most notably in Boca Raton in 1988, where he became the first player to beat Graf that year (2-6, 6-3, 6-1). Just before the US Open, she won in Montreal, defeating Natasha Zvereva in the final (6-2, 6-1), and in New York, she finished second to Graf (6-3, 3-6, 6-1).
The placeSeoul Olympic Park Tennis Center
Seoul Olympic Park Tennis Center is a tennis venue in Seoul, South Korea, located in the Olympic Park. The Olympics were new to the world of professional tennis, as the sport had been absent from the Games since 1924. On May 11, 1987, the IOC decided to include tennis in Seoul. The stakes were higher than tennis. by including all tennis players, the IOC would officially recognize the end of amateurism for the first time.
The factsGraf wins in straight sets
At the start of the 1988 Olympics, Steffi Graf was the logical and overwhelming favorite until she recovered from her US Open campaign, winning in New York just 10 days before the start of the tournament in Seoul. In fact, after her victory in New York, the German took no time to celebrate, flying home as soon as possible.
“I came here really tired,” Graf said. according to The New York Times. “I didn’t expect much from myself.”
However, her form improved as the tournament progressed and she played some excellent tennis in the semi-finals, defeating world No. 8 Zeena Garrison 6-0, 6-2. In the final, he faced Sabatini, the only player to beat Graf in 1988.
That’s something not many people will achieve after me. It’s amazing.
Steffi Graf on her failed conquest
Sabatini got off to a better start. After missing three break points in the first game, the Argentine managed to break his opponent’s serve at 2-2. Unfortunately, he couldn’t hold his own serve and eventually Graf took the lead and sealed the first set 6-3 with an ace. After the two young women split the first four games of the second set, the German broke Sabatini’s serve again.
“I felt like I was going to win the second set after the fifth game,” Graf said. “But I actually had a very good feeling after the first game of the match. I liked how I played.”
The world No. 1 also won the second set 6-3 to complete the victory. He has just achieved a very unique feat in the history of tennis, which would not even have been possible in the past, because tennis was out of the Olympics for 64 years.and hasn’t happened again since.
“I’m very excited,” she said. “That’s something not many people will achieve after me. It’s amazing.”
What next?? Graf ends his career with 22 Grand Slam titles
Steffi Graf would go on to lead the WTA rankings until being replaced by Monica Seles in 1991. After Seles’ stab in 1993, Graf would regain the top spot and hold it for the most part until 1997, setting a new record of 3,771 weeks as world no.
By winning the 1995 US Open, he would become the only player of all time to win each of the four Grand Slam titles at least four times. When he retired in 1999, shortly after winning his last major title at Roland Garros, he had won an incredible total of 22 Grand Slam events.
Sabatini would rise as high as world No. 3 in 1989. That year, he would lose to Graf in the semifinals at both the Australian Open and the US Open. He eventually beat the German at Flushing Meadows in 1990 (6-2, 7-6) to claim the first and only Grand Slam title of his career.
In 1991, he would play in his last Grand Slam final (once again losing to Graf, 6–4, 3–6, 8–6), and would remain a top 10 player until 1995, reaching the semifinals of Grand Slam events seven more times. Struggling with motivation in 1996, Sabatini would play just 10 games and eventually retire at the end of the season.
