Gabriela Sabatini turns 50 - Too often failed due to Steffi Graf
From 1985 to 1995 she was Steffi Graf's constant rival and sporting companion - on Saturday Gabriela Sabatini filled the half century.
by SID
last edit:
May 14, 2020, 05:28 pm
Most of the time she pulled the short of this German with the incredibly fast legs. Steffi Graf and Gabriela Sabatini met 40 times in that eventful tennis decade from 1985 to 1995, and Graf made the last point 29 times. On Saturday, the beautiful Argentine, who has long been a good friend of the "Countess" from Brühl, is celebrating her 50th birthday: more attractive, glamorous, radiant than in her sporting heyday.
Sabatini was just 15 when she failed to defeat US legend Chris Evert in the 1985 French Open semi-finals in Paris. Like so many clay court specialists, she felt most comfortable on the baseline, from there she could control the action with her variable game with a lot of topspin on both sides.
It only seemed a matter of time before the teen sensation from Buenos Aires would climb to the top of the world rankings, but it should never make it there. Third place was for Gabriela Sabatini, and that had, but not only, something to do with Steffi Graf.
Sabatini's fear of winning the tournament
Long after the end of her career in October 1996, Sabatini revealed surprising things in an interview with the Argentine newspaper La Nacion. She was extremely shy, almost scared, and often when she had the impression that she could win a tournament, she lost in the semifinals: "I was paralyzed by the fear of having to speak publicly as a tournament winner and speak to the press. I couldn't play freely anymore, my head was completely closed. "
And that's why the statistics for such a talented player "only" have 27 titles, including that at the 1990 US Open when she won the first and only Grand Slam final against Steffi Graf. In 1991 Sabatini separated two points from Wimbledon victory before Graf won the match and won the third set 8: 6. In 1988 Sabatini was the opponent when Graf transformed the match ball into her legendary Golden Slam at the Olympics in Seoul. In the same year the double Graf / Sabatini won the title at Wimbledon.
A persistent abdominal muscle injury marked the end of Sabatini's career in early 1996, and she struggled through the year more badly than it should be. Her last match was at the indoor tournament in October 1996 in Zurich, where she lost to Jennifer Capriati in the first round. Sabatini traveled to the Masters in New York, but declared her retirement at the age of just 26 before the tournament started.
Today Sabatini, who has had a place in the Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport since 2006, is a successful businesswoman. Shortly after the end of her career, she had launched a perfume of her name on the market, the scented water was a remarkable success. Almost 20 women's and men's fragrances now come from their own production. She runs her business from her place of residence in Switzerland and has been living in Pfäffikon for several years.