Home > Tennis > Navratilova v Graf - the greatest title rivalry in women's tennis
by Ravi Kiran Muvvala on 23 November 2009
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The year was 1988 and the event the Wimbledon women's final between Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova.
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Navratilova had been the winner for the previous six years and had beaten the same rival in the 1987 final.
Martina won the first set 7-5 and Graf fans were beginning to think she was about to lose another Wimbledon final to her big rival.
Actually, everyone was watching Graf, expecting her to win the Grand Slam as she had already taken the Australian Open by beating Chris Evert 6-1 7-6, and the French Open, toppling Natalia Zvareva 6-0 6-0 in just 38 minutes. After the match she apologised to her opponent.
However, back to that Wimbledon final. Martina won the first two games of the second set and Graf fans were beginning to think this would be a repeat of Martina's 7-5 6-3 win over Graf the previous year.
Then came a dramatic change which turned into an afternoon of magic for the German girl.
Steffi's powerful forehand and backhand slice began to work. She won six games in a row to take the set 6-2.
The final set was even more remarkable. Steffi raced into a 5-1 lead and Martina had to serve to save the match.
The match took another twist as Martina took a 40-love lead but two double faults helped take the score to deuce. Staffi then took the game, the set and the match with a powerful forehand and a backhand slice.
At the ceremony initiating her into the Hall of Fame, Graf had trouble picking her favourite title, but after pausing, she said her first Wimbledon crown may have been the best.
"The good thing is there are so many to pick from,'' she said. "The tough thing is to pick one or a special one.''
Steffi repeated her win over Martina in the 1989 final and went on to win seven Wimbledon titles by the time she reached the age of 27.
But her first, in 1988 was, in my opinion, the greatest Wimbledon final in women's tennis.
Comments (4)
by albert hanks on November 23, 2009
They've only played 18 times (9-9). If you look for a rivalry with your beloved Graf, look for Seles. They're the same age. Graf is 15 years younger than Martina, it doesn't make sense. Martina was past her prime when Graf started her own run.
by bob bardant on November 24, 2009
Lol at the previous comment. Whatever, great article, agree with about this match, such a great one, with so many winners, and you just have to listen to the crowd to realize how the tennis level was high ;)
by Ravi Kiran Muvvala on November 24, 2009
It's OK and Steffi ,Seles meets only in 15 matches and before 1993 stabbing,they meet 10 times and Graf leads in 6-4 and 10-5 overall. Graf has good record with any major player like Navratilova,Seles,Arantxa,Sabatini,Evert,King,Lindsay Davenport,Hingis,Serena,Venus,Date...,etc!
by albert hanks on November 24, 2009
was burned out in 1987 and on. Congratulations for taking over somebody down and old. Proof? Navrat has a losing record against Seles.
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