1986 US Open Semifinal Navratilova vs Graf ITA
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- Опубліковано 17 січ 2018
- This is a great classic. Credit to Kevmcg for the first part of the video. The rest is not in English, but I hope people will enjoy it anyway. Rino Tommasi and Gianni Clerici, historical sports journalists, are commentating, so I'm sure fellow Italian tennis fans will appreciate this video as much as I always did
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Martina has such a beautiful service motion. That lefty serve sliding into the box must have been difficult to handle.
This kid taking a set and forcing a second tiebreak from big Martina in 1986 was spectacular and a preview of what was to come in the following years
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This is one of the best matches I’ve ever seen.
Right up there with their 1991 US Open semifinal.
@GeorgeHenryThomas Nonsense.
@@cush6827 Yes, most definitely another one of their greatest tennis matches. I had the incredible pleasure of ballboying their '91 US Open Semifinal match, which Martina Navratilova won. I was the ball boy at the back or top of the screen to the right throughout their entire match. Amazing tension & atmosphere. I'll never ever forget it.
@Illya Kuryakin Lol
Agree totally.. please see my comment entry from today.
This was a great match I remember it vividly. Steffi Graf really exploded on the WTA scene in 1988. We knew we were seeing one living legend, Martina, and one future legend, Graff.
Steffi became #1 in August 1987.
@@carrerau7138 He said Graf exploded on the scene 1988, not become no.1 then
@@renescerlini1643 I‘d say when a 18-year-old takes away the #1 spot from Evertilova with a 75-2 win/loss record (in 1987) it looks awfully like an explosion on the scene.
One of the greatest tennis matches, two absolute legends taking it to the limit, forcing the other to play better, great contrast in styles, you simply don't get matches like this these days, not the variety and court craft. People criticising Grafs handshake at the end - yes it could have been better but she was 17, would have been the biggest win of her career at that point and she was clearly upset, she learned from it (see the warm congrats at the end of their 91 us open semi for the difference)
People criticizing her handshake have never played a competitive sport in their lives. I've never once cared about the way an opponent that I just beat shook my hand. I understand that they are upset that they lost, so I don't expect anything from them.
Graf had terrible handshakes at all stages of her career!
You realize that one year prior the semifinal also was between these two, yes?
Nah, she was always like this, even when she got older. Look at her treatment of Seles after she had been stabbed by a German Graf fan. No human warmth at all, Seles had a lot to say about that. She was like that - an amazing tennis player, quite possibly the best ever, but that is all I respect her for. Martina I respect for her humanity, the way she speaks up when she sees injustices, etc. Graf only deserves respect for her craft, she was an unbelievable competitor.
@@gentlemanjim480 What did Seles say about it? You are making stuff up.
Love watching Martina's matches from this era - not only was her tennis great to watch but she was also quite theatrical :-) You definitely got your money's worth :-)
I dont mean to be offtopic but does any of you know a method to log back into an Instagram account??
I somehow forgot my login password. I would appreciate any tricks you can give me!
@Zane King Instablaster ;)
@@zaneking7102 Why don't you use the forgot password feature? It will send an email to get it reset
Thank you for this rare Steffi Graf video at the 1986 US Open! At just 16, you can tell just how much potential Steffi had at such a young age. A year later, she would refine her game enough to win her first FO grand slam. In the next year, Steffi would famously win her 1988 calendar year golden grand slam winning all four GS and Olympic gold entering into 2 years of dominance as her first peak years.
As a tennis player, more so for those on the pro tour, any small changes can alter your game significantly. In this USO match, Steffi has still not fully grown into her athletic body and her tennis skills. Her repertoire of shots were not as deadly. If you observe carefully, she was executing her backhand slice swing in such a neutral position meaning her stance was slightly open with both her arms moving up and out wide, similar to a bird spreading their wings. Mostly arm movement with with very little aggressive forward-moving momentum and weight transfer. I’m glad her team refined her backhand to that best ever vicious and deceptively knifing slice.
Of course her legendary iconic forehand would be on full display 1-2 years later. Watching this video versus her later matches, her forehand would evolve to less of a ‘wind-mill’ swing meaning from high to low and back to high. It would become more of a hybrid flat-topspin drive with deadly accuracy and consistency.
Her serve, backhand topspin (mostly used for passing shots against net rushers), net volleys including her strength, speed, and agility/footwork all executed with such grace would be so much better than what we see in this FO match.
Steffi would enter into her second peak years from ‘95-96 mainly attributed to her change from Dunlop 85 to Wilson 95 racquet. Though I won’t go into technical details, she also further refined her game thanks to racquet and string innovations. Similarly, Roger Federer and his team also refined his game even further by making a switch to a larger racquet.
Incredible that both those iconic tennis greats, in Steffi and Roger, became an even greater version of themselves at a later age!!!
Most overrated player in tennis history.
@Max E most fans today rate Serena as the GOAT 🐐. 🤔
@@MrBjorn6 Most fans today are complete schmucks.
Steffi was 17 years old at the USO 86.
@@MrBjorn6 Not even in tbe USA.
Been waiting for this match for many many years. Thanks a lot, Guiseppe!
Andy Plummer Me too. I have this amazing match on VHS tape & I really need to find a way to convert it (& many more copies of great tennis matches from the '80's, '90's & 2000's) to Disc & saved to my laptop & external hard drives. U thought I was going to be the 1st to upload this great women's tennis match to UA-cam but again I want to Sincerely Thank Giuseppe for uploading this, one of the Greatest women's tennis matches ever, to UA-cam.
Steffi comes from city 10 KM besides my village and when she became famous in 1985 it must have been a friend and me went with our bikes to her city. In that times Stars used to give signed cards and posters to their Fans and when we arrived we found a lot of kids already their but Steffi was very respectful to all these kids and very friendly as well. We went home with our bikes and i remember that Steffis signed Poster hang over my bed for years. I am still impressed from these trip we did with our bike and how natural here behaviour was.
There are indeed millions of stories how respectful and friendly she was towards fans or the lower echelons of tournament staffs.
Then again WTA suits and certain media people had sometimes problems with her. Not the little guys and gals.
But she was not always nice to other players when she lost. I admire Steffi but the truth is the truth.@@carrerau7138
the last two tiebreakers were mad amazing tennis
IKR? Say what you will about Navratilova, but she made things happen. She took it to her opponents, which is more than you can say for most of today's players, who hang back at the baseline shrieking until the cows come home. ;)
Depuis le temps que j'espérais cette demi finale sur youtube :-) 1000 fois merci !!!
Greatest Doubles Player of All Time | Top 10 Deadly Doubles Duos,
ua-cam.com/video/5U-UgIIo6Bg/v-deo.html
To quote the late great Bud Collins from his report on the match:
"She overcame the challenging Graf with a champion's grit and daring, attacking incessantly during the third set, which will stand as a historic masterpiece, the crescendo of the match of the tournament".
One of the most thrilling matches of all time...involving all time greats.. the only other comparable matches that come to my mind are the Evert/Navratilova French Open final of 1985 and Seles/Graf French Open final of 1992.
...what a match...! i remember how close it was... if stefffi would had won, she most probably would have been an us open champion with 16. it was a kind of impressive promis of a future soon to come.
i was following steffis career since i saw her age 12 (same age as me) playing in our tennis club. it was a match of the womens national german tennis league. her team mates and opponents were 18 +.
and already weeks people were whispering: "das wunderkind kommt" (the wonderchild will play). and that she was: thin like a stic , a head smaller as her opponents - but a bundle of determination and explosibe energy and power, she deafeted one of the best german players in 3 sets by her unbelievable will power. and since that i also spoke about that" wunderkind" .
... a year later age 13 there was an interwiew with her in popular german sport magazine. the title: i ll become number 1 and i will dethrone martina navratilova.
i thougth: very big words for a 13 years old girl. but the upcoming years showed it crysle clear:: slowly but steady and unstopable steffi was improving, became physically stronger, better and better. with the precision of a swiss watch, she climbed the wta-rankings. and she wasnt too much pushed. her father limited her tournaments - different to gabriela sabatini.
different to boris becker who shot from nowhere to the top, she improved steadily and silently. international coaches from the wta-scene said: there is no one in her generation coming just close to her.
when steffi became 15, martina navratilova said in an interview: if she is not stopped by injuries, steffi will be my natural successor. no question. she was not only impressed by steffis new concept of playng: dominating with an agressive baseline game. she also pointed out that graf would have the mentality of a real champion: that she would much rather loose a game as to win it by gifts of wrong line desicions. she also said: others dont wanna loose. she wants to win. tzhats the difference.
ist seemed to be certain as the spring folls the winter that she will rise to the top.
i m glad that i had the chance to see those both play: one eternal legend, the ruling queen who had redifined womens tennis and dominated with athleticism, aggressive serve and volley and her almos unbreakable determination..... and the upcoming young princess who dominated with agressive baseline tennis, her unbelievable foot speed and her will power. steffi emerged and improved impressively along that challenge, narrowing the gap more and more - espcially on martinas empire: the gras court in wimbledon which were much faster that time.
the wimbledon final 1988 is still one of the best matches ever played.. its tennis from another universe. steffi considers it as her best performance ever. they had spectacular battles.the respected each other deep. they were real champions and they are legends. who willl be rembered ever... i reall miss them and i miss these golden times of tennis.
As a former local tournament player for 15 years, it is beyond difficult to play in the wind.
Martina forever in our hearts 🎾 ❤🔥❤🔥
Il momento in cui nasce una stella. La grandezza di Steffi c’era già tutta. Perse, ma questa partita è stata talmente memorabile, che secondo me non ci furono sconfitte
One of the best matches at the US Open in the 80s. It's interesting that in the two Slams Steffi played in '86 (the other being the French), she held match points but lost the matches.
Giuseppe, Thank you So much for uploading this great women's tennis match. I have this match on VHS tape. I've been looking for a way to get my VHS copy of this match & many more of my older tennis matches converted to Disc & later saved to my laptop. Hopefully, I'll get that done very soon one of these days.
I've been wondering about that process, of getting them from VHS to UA-cam. ;)
+Steven Michael + F Joseph Gonzales: either transfer by connecting the VHS recorder to a combined DVD-hard disk video recorder, such as Sony RDR-HX780 (or any similar model from any other vendor, such as Panasonic or others) and then burn from its harddrive to the built-in DVD recorder. Then, from the PC, or Mac, from the CD/DVD drive (external or internal) rip to the computer, and then it is more or less straight-forward to upload to youtube. Just see that the chosen quality of the upload is decent (640x480 minimum, although preferably larger format).
Another, easier way, would be to connect the VHS recorder via video card or interface directly to the computer and record the match onto computers harddrive with the software provided with the interface, or third party software.
Buenísimo aporte!
Martina could do it all...Amazing.
male against female,
Which one is the male? Steffi was not cute back in the day. She looks like a boy in this video.
Ellen Jones Graf looks cute. 😘
Joey Convery another loser Seles fan. 🤣
Joey Convery Steffi Graf can do everything. Amazing forehand and great topspin backhand. Graf’s simply the best. 😘
Great match of both champions. How cute Steffi was when 17 ! It was the dawn of a wonderful era. I miss Steffi so much today...these happy days are unfortunately gone for ever...
I loved Graf in early ages when she was breaking through.
Forhand was something it looks it can only get bigger and better.
But her backhand returns that she played sometimes like volleys from base lines were so brave and learned to perfection already....the way she used Martina's power and the pace of her serve against her.
Steffi Graf so cute. She just turned 17 here. She beat Navratilova the following year at French ‘87 and overtook the number one ranking from Nav in August of that year. Impressive Graf. 😉👌
She lost to Navratilova at Wimbledon and the US Open in 1987, though.
Graf cute? 😂😂😂😂😂
Navratilova was good back when she dominated...and also very lucky hitting net cords, volleys with the tip of the racket. Either way, both are 2 of the all-time greats.
Just wish Steffi's sportsmanship came a little closer to her mad tennis skills but oh well she was such a joy to watch!
Meh, she's maybe 16 or 17 here, i think she's allowed to pout a little after losing such a close one :)
@Illya Kuryakin classiest my foot.
YUK THOOOOO
@Illya Kuryakin BS analysis 😝😝
@Illya Kuryakin there are lot of other paper which says monica was a child prodigy and she was one of the best......
@Illya Kuryakin and better than Steffi..........N.ow you will deny this surely
The great two LEGENDS👋
One of the greatest female tennis matches of all time!!! unbeliable thriller....
Watch the 1991 US Open Semifinal Navratilova vs Graf
91 Open semifinal not as dramatic and exciting as this one.
@Illya Kuryakin you can't except quantity in that crap era.
@Illya Kuryakin that was a crap era. And that's not new news... everybody knows that
Steffi looks so weak here but within 2 year she become monster... much taller stronger and faster.. she grabbed golden slam!
@Illya Kuryakin yess. Thanks for the correction ☺️🙏
Thanks for uploading. If Graf had won this match she would have won the title.
I think so, too! Probably in 3 sets. Sukova was good. Also, the score would've been the same as when Navratilova lost to another teen phenom, Tracy Austin, in the Final in 1981!
If.
In slam finals she was a walkover. She could come up with big upsets in the quarters or semis of slams sometimes but couldnt handle the pressure of finals. All 4 of her slam final losses were super easy. Steffi was also a horrible match up for her for whatever reason, she lost 20 matches in a row to her after her first win when Steffi was 14.
I was glad she got inducted into the Hall of Fame though. The combination of reaching 4 slam finals in a tough era (or in her case crossover of eras as she wasnt firmly in the Navratilova era or Graf era, but rather split between the two) facing numerous all time greats, and coming up with atleast 1 huge win en route to all 4 finals, along with a great doubles and mixed doubles career with more than several slam titles in both divisions, cummulatively was enough for the Hall of Fame. Especialy with some of the current people who are inducted. She was always a class act, and I was glad to see her make it in. IMO she is more worthy than someone like Conchita Martinez, even though Conchita has the better singles career on paper.
@Illya Kuryakin because she was inferior to seles
Tommasi & Clerici....ricordi...😀
An amazing match,Steffi showing that she was a soon to be possible great
Martina was more animated in this match than during her entire career against Evert,it seemed! Used all her guiles and skill to thwart an upcoming Graf.As the years wore on,both Monica and Graf used to play passing shots frequently against a net charging Martina .
2nd year in a row Graf gave MN a poor handshake.
Legends!
Wow, Graf number 3
I love Steffi, my favorite !!
16:54 what a beautiful serve
Here Graf proved her backhand was still vulnerable and Martina exploited it to the hilt. Graf actually has a losing record against Martina at the Open 1-4, losing again the following year in 87 and 91 in another great semi though not as dramatic as this one !
It's interesting isn't it? A lot of it can be out down to Steffi being young in a couple of the matches, but I think the court was a major factor. Slow enough to just take a little bit of the sting off Steffi's shots, but fast enough to allow Martina to play her attacking game.
You can't count - that makes it 3-1 not 4-1
Steffi is like Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar..Both r in the court very quite, calm, respect, highly professional etc..
@Ilya Kuryakin ''Steffi would most certainly have lost to Martina in Wimbledon in 1985 & 1986''
Not most certainly. Steffi would have lost to Martina at Wimbledon in those years, 100 %
You're ignorant about Martina's aura at Wimbledon.
@Ilya Kuryakin But there isn't.
Nacio superstar Graf
Super close match!
This match doesnt get its due for being a classic. Great match! Steffi showed she was certainly the future and Martina was Martina!
@Illya Kuryakin I haven't. I can't recall the last time I've heard this match even uttered. They have replayed numerous matches on the tennis channel and other outlets. Must've missed when they showed this one.
@Illya Kuryakin Of course they do, it was a great and significant match.duh. That wasnt the point! My point was I dont hear this match talked about enough. 1985 was 35yrs ago there is a generation of tennis fans who may not know anything about this match. It has never been replayed on any outlet that I'm aware of.
@Illya Kuryakin Your comment about Gen Z, black hippo and clown opponents exposed you. That 85' match was a rare expection for women's tennis. Great tennis certainly wasnt commonplace. Steffi came along at the right time,imo. The Martina/Chris battles bored me to tears by this time.
After this match, Graf became the greatest tennis player.
Not the greatest the second greatest. The greatest is Serena.
@@jondishmonmusicandstuff2753 why do you think Serena is the Greatest?
@@jondishmonmusicandstuff2753 Serena is not the greatest. She doesn't even have half of Martina's total amount of singles titles and she lost too many times to early round players, more than other greats.
Giuseppe, no offense but I would've preferred watching your CBS - English speaking commentary version of this match instead of your Italian speaking commentary version. You started this match with the English speaking CBS TV station version & then it switched to the Italian speaking version. Any reason for the change to the Italian speaking version you made during the beginning of the 2nd set?
The reason is simple. I don't have any English commentary copy of this match. The first part is from another channel which afterwards cancelled the match as it was incomplete. I added that part in English to my Italian copy as I missed it. That's all. I decided to upload that match as many people were requesting it, although in a non-English version. Also consider the fact that, on this planet, there are also people who DO NOT speak English
Giuseppe Ok. Good answer. I'll try to convert my English speaking commentary version. But I'm still happy to see your copy on UA-cam. Thanks. Take care.
I challenge anyone to upload the 1985 epic quarterfinal between Graf vs Shriver....I don't even think highlights exist of this match, a real shame!!!!
Eric Lopez
It’s on here, Eric. Kevmcg posted it a week ago. There’s a 40 min clip of it. Take a look.
As a former local tournament player, it is extremely hard to play in the wind.
like sailing with little wind..........
Steffi was soo cold.
Graf empezaba deslumbrar con su tennis, al siguiente ano se convirtió en numero 1
Dove hai trovato questo commento in italiano?
Giovanni gioventù bruciata tra videoregistratori e cassette vhs 😅
Giuseppe ne avresti altre in ita?
LOL Graf didn't shake the umpire's hand at the end of the match.
Best tennis
Steffi was ungraceful in defeat.but she was young
Graf is the better player
Ball kuch jda bda lg rha h #syad ?
best match of the 1980's in women tennis
There is some stiff competition, though. From the US Open alone, the 1984 and 1985 finals were pretty amazing, too!
Illya Kuryakin She played nowhere near as well as she did in this match, though. In 1986 she was still pretty near her prime.
1987 was probably the closest we got to seem them play against each other in their respective primes, with Martina winning two out of their three slam finals (at age 31!).
By 1988, she was way over the hill.
@Illya Kuryakin steffi was garbage
@Illya Kuryakin only you consider that . It's the weakest era in the history of tennis. And steffi without the seles incident would have been kicked out of the circuit long long back
Back when Graf used the backhand topspin regularly. It vanished after her ski accident in 1990. Came back in 94-95 though.
Graf used the backhand topspin regularly? Really? I think you're confusing Steffi's slice backhand with her topspin backhand. Cause Steffi only used her topspin backhand regularly when her opponents were at the net & she was going for passing shots.
Steven Michael huh?
Not only did her topspin backhand disappear after her skiing accident but her down the line slice backhand also disappeared. She brought that shot back in 1995 as well.
1:30:15 backand graf. amazing how he never used this shot anymore ps Tommasi Clerici the comment
I'm here for the handshake!! one of my favorites LOL!!!!
What was so special about the handshake?
@@carrerau7138 lol watch it .lol
@@nickhorgan4349 Short and professional. Like they do it in football.
@@carrerau7138 steffi walked away to avoid
@@stephenroger4527 Are you American?
You can see here where Steffi's game was still a work in progress. Her serve in particular was nowhere near as powerful as it would be.
How the game has changed.
yes and not into anything good
Graf choked on those matchpoints.So many of them she squandered by just bunting the ball into the net when she should've just taken a swing at it.
She was 17. One of the biggest stages in the world, potential finale in sight.... Wouldn't you feel nerves?
1:38:59 OMG
Sportsman spirit....wow steffi... Way u congratulated martina and hand shake with referee suggests something else.
Superficial and shallow people have weird priorities regarding class, grace, sports woman spirit.
There even exist people who criticize Steffi for handshakes which are allegedly 0.5 seconds too short but who find excuses for Serena‘s behavior. We must make certain that these kind of people will never come to power again.
Improved the look of that court,with the blue alot
MARTINA👍😊✨✨✨ 🎾😃☀️
a veteran move, vs a teenager, atleast steffi learned her lessons here, and just became a better player with this loss.
at the time of shaking hands with the spite of the Graf, Steffi on several occasions has proved arrogant not to mention her attitude to Seles.
Steffi was a powerhouse on the court but boy she was an offing little brat when it came to sportsmanship! She got better as she got older but in the beginning her handshakes when she lost were atrocious!
I agree with you, I think she was the best athlet on court i mean for the way she was always fit. i dindt like her
Chris Evert always said a player is tested in how they handle winning AND losing. Graf was not a gracious loser.
@Illya Kuryakin bla bla bla
@Ilya Kuryakin yes Serena, more single grand slams!! it hurts you but its a fact!!!
This match served notice that Navratilova time at the top was on notice. Martina whined until the tie break as Graf hit winners to set up MPs. Martina did not whine she nodded in approval and enjoyed the remainder of the match . Martina was lucky to have won this and then won Open by beating Sukova . The next time she met Graf in a slam was French 87. Graf beat her . Then Martina had one last hurrah ( winning W and Open both against Graf in final in identical matches and almost identical scores. Graf won the Golden slam in 88 ( Graf beating Martina in 88 & 89 W) then 89 Open Martina up a set and 4-2 with ad for 5-2 won only 2 more games . Graf dominated Martina after the 87 Open final . Martina here in this match won in her Last year of being ranked number one for the year. The last great match that Martina won against Graf was 91 Open where she beat Graf in 3 sets.in SF only to lose to Seles in the final . Martina not only had Graf at the time but by now she had Seles to contend with.
Steffi Graf dominated Martina Navratilova after the '87 US Open final? Really? Then how come Martina Navratilova & Steffi Graf are tied 9-9 in their Head to Head rivalry?
@John David I agree. Their matches were always highly competitive and exciting.
@Illya Kuryakin I love how you only post "would haves" & "could haves" comments about Steffi Graf but never about Monica Seles & Serena Williams. Like Seles could have & would have if she was never stabbed and the same goes for Serena Williams if she had never missed as much playing time as she did due to her Many injuries.
@Illya Kuryakin Ok
@Illya Kuryakin Of course not. That's why they're coulda wouldas. Cause they never happened.
This young girl shows promise...she could have a decent career.
Boom! Stefi did it again.
Martina is the GOAT!! (as history stands today with the Seles tragedy). Graf: About #4 or #5, all time, had Seles never been stabbed. Facts: Margaret Court with 192 career pro singles titles but only 92 in the open era (and 24 GS singles titles but 11 of those in her home country's Australian Open, which most top players skipped in those days), Martina with 167 career pro singles titles, Chris Evert with 157 (Martina and Chris tied at 18 GS singles titles each), Graf 107 (22 GS singles titles), Serena with a surprising 72 but 23 GS singles titles, putting Graf behind all of these, considering the longevity of Court, Navratilova, and Evert. But Seles' career was barely starting (8 GS singles titles before turning 20) , and IMO she surely would have eclipsed everyone, had she never been stabbed (and lowered Graf's GS singles titles total considerably), and would be the GOAT today.
Serena is the GOAT. Graf is 2nd. Martina is about 4th or 5th.
@GeorgeHenryThomas Except for Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert & Monica Seles, what other tough top competition did Steffi Graf face that was tougher than All of the tough competition Serena Williams has faced since 1999?
@GeorgeHenryThomas Out of your 1st & 2nd Tier competitors, only 8 of them ever won a Grand Slam title. Serena Williams, btw, also faced Sanchez, Novotna, Fernandez, Pierce, Huber, obviously, Seles, Hingis, Davenport & Capriati (that's why I didn't mention those players in my last post). But I'll repeat again, except for Navratilova, Evert & Seles, Steffi Graf didn't have any rivals or tough competitors during her Era. 3 or 4 of your 1st Tier & ALL of your 2nd Tier competitors were mentally & athletically weak players vs Steffi Graf during her Era. Once Monica Seles got stabbed & was away from the game for almost 3 years, Graf had free reign, ZERO competition & One way traffic to her 22 Grand Slam titles. And we All know if Seles was never stabbed, by that psycho German Steffi Graf fan, Monica Seles would've definitely held on to the Top of women's tennis for God knows how long. Seles had just won the '93 Aussie Open, was growing stronger & stronger mentally, emotionally & physically. And if Graf suffered more loses, how weaker & lower would Steffi Graf's game & confidence sank? Btw, I'm so sick & tired of reading comments from Serena Haters about her weaker competition. What weaker competition? While also forgetting Serena Williams has been regularly competing against players 10 plus years her junior, competing at an extremely high level at her advanced age, breaking records & still not receiving any respect from You Haters. If it was Steffi Graf, Lindsay Davenport, Justine Henin or any other WTA player, You haters would've been raving & commending those players for doing what Serena Williams has & is still doing.
@GeorgeHenryThomas Clowns? Really?!? I wouldn't consider Capriati, Kuznetsova or Li Na Clowns. If they're Clowns, then so are Sukova, Sanchez-Vicario, Martinez, Novotna, Pierce, MJ Fernandez & Sabatini. All of whom played during Steffi Graf's Era & a few also played during Serena's Era. Just because no one dominated Serena, means Serena Williams was the dominate player during her Era just like Steffi Graf was during her Era.
@GeorgeHenryThomas Capriati, Kuznetsova & Li Na have won 7 combined Slams and Sanchez-Vicario & Sabatini won 5 or 6 combined. So Yes, I am comparing these 2 groups of female tennis players.
26.08 Gordon Gekko
Steffi 4-2 in grand slam finals .p
huh?!?!?!?
So tired of all the anti martina trolls. You guys are transparent. When the critiques venture over the line to delusion and even homophobia its pretty sad.
Grafanatic trolls are the worst tennis fans.
poor sportmanship from graf. didn't look at navratilova during handshake, and refused to shake the umpire's hand.
@Max E did you ever see evert act that way .
What a cold person that Graf was at the net. I never liked her.
Martina is a great player . She was better than Steffi
Graf is not the GOAT. In fact, it’s shocking how few records in the WTA world record book that she actually holds. Graf has the golden grand slam and most weeks at number one, but that’s about it. She has a shocking amount of losing head-to-head records at 9. She has a winning record against 3 of the all-time top 10 players. Evert holds the record with winning H2Hs against 4 of the all-time top ten. Graf does not have the most titles at the Austrian, French, Wimbledon, or the US Open. Those records belong to Williams, Evert, and Navratilova. She does not have the most GS titles on the various surfaces.. hardcourts, clay, or grass. Those records again belong to Williams, Evert, and Navratilova. She’s not the best at any grand slam or on any surface. She doesn’t have the highest winning percentage all time or at the grand slams. Those records belong to Court. So how again is she the GOAT? She isn’t.
Here are some of the major Open Era (not amateur) records in women's tennis and the person who holds the record:
Most grand slam titles= Williams
Most tournament titles= Navratilova
Most titles in a single season= Court
Most consecutive singles titles= Navratilova
Most titles on hard: Williams
Most titles on clay: Evert
Most titles on grass: Court
Most titles on carpet: Navratilova
Highest winning percentage on hard courts= Evert
Highest winning percentage on clay= Evert
Highest winning percentage on grass= Navratilova
Highest winning percentage on carpet= Navratilova
Most AO titles= Williams
Most FO titles= Evert
Most Wimbledon titles= Navratilova
Most USO titles= tie Evert & Williams
Most consecutive GS titles= Navratilova & Court
Most Olympic Gold Singles= (No repeat winners) Graf, Capriati, Davenport, V. Williams, Henin, Dementieva, S. Williams, Puig
Most GS finals= Evert
Most GS semis= Evert
Most weeks at No 1= Graf
Most consecutive weeks at No 1= tie Williams & Graf
Most consecutive years ranked 1 or 2= Graf
Most year-end No 1= Graf
Youngest no 1= Hingis
Oldest no 1= Williams
Most weeks ranked no 1 in singles and doubles simultaneously= Navratilova
Most season ending championships= Navratilova
Most years in the top 10= Navratilova
Most matches played= Navratilova
Most matches won= Navratilova
Most consecutive years with at least 1 GS title= Evert
Most consecutive years with at least 1 tournament title= Navratilova
Most consecutive finals= Navratilova
Most consecutive titles= Navratilova
Longest winning streak all surfaces= Navratilova
Longest winning streak on a single surface= Evert
Highest career winning percentage= Court
Highest single season winning percentage= Navratilova
Highest grand slam match winning percentage= Court
Calendar year GS= Court & Graf
Golden calendar year GS= Graf
Career grand slam= Court, King, Evert, Navratilova, Graf, Williams, Sharapova
Doubles & mixed GS titles= Navratilova
Doubles titles overall= Navratilova
Most wins over the no 1 player= Navratilova
Players to defeat the number 1 & 2 players at the same event= S. Williams leads with 8
Players to defeat the number 1, 2, & 3 players at the same event= (tie) Graf, S. Williams, V. Williams
Least number of games lost en route to a grand slam title= Navratilova
*source= WTA record book 2020
Look at Steffis game spirit after the match point.....I hate that
@Max E Rude behavior makes her more classy? LOL. OK. She was a spoiled brat when she lost. Always a cold handshake and unsportsmanlike behavior. She had no social skills due to her family letting her drop out of school in middle school. You aren't going to learn proper social skills from being around Peter Graf 24/7.
@Max E Been reading a lot of your comments defending Graf which is fine with me, you're a big Graf fanboy, I get it, but you tend to attack other commenters' personal character and call them names a lot simply because you disagree with what they say about Graf. If Graf is as classy as you say she is you are certainly not in her league in that department.
Do you hate it more than the average Serena behavior during a match?
@@carrerau7138 Serena lacks discipline ....Steffi is fantastic discipline on court
Those commentators are soooo annoying. Talk nonstop even though points.
Steffi manner is bad
A lot of people like to point this out when Steffi gave curt handshakes but that was very common back in that day. Look at players like Sabatini in many of her losses to Graf (1988 U.S Open, 1988 Olympics, 1989 U.S Open, 1990 Zurich, 1990 Worcester, etc) and Seles in some of her matches (losses to Graf in 1989 and 1991 as well as her losses to Sabatini in 1991 and 1992). Other players like Sukova, McNeil, Coetzer, sometimes either Williams sisters, etc., also often gave curt handshakes whether they won or lost. Steffi may have been brusque (for North American standards anyways) in how she held herself but I personally prefer someone who's direct and upfront as opposed to someone who's fake.
That's fine but as I had mentioned, players like Sabatini, Seles, S. Williams, V. Williams, etc. also often gave curt handshakes when they were younger. And they too got better with age.
I think all the emphasis on the handshake after the match is a little superficial. Unless they refuse to shake hands (e.g. Almagro vs. Berdych or Schnyder vs. Martinez), I don't see why it's such a big deal. I remember at the 1989 Australian Open, Graf defeated Helena Sukova and after the match they had a very brief, curt, and almost abrupt looking handshake. But during the trophy presentation, you could clearly see Graf and Sukova laughing and chatting with one another. At the 1991 Hamburg tournament, Graf defeated Seles and they too shared what looked like a very brief and curt handshake with Seles barely even looking at Graf. But I remember seeing a photo of the trophy presentation where they were standing together with their silverware and laughing together with smiles on their faces.
And Graf often had great respect for players who could defeat her. While she might've seemed displeased with the loss at the time (which she probably was), she had very friendly relations with players like Sabatini, McNeil (Steffi and Lori played doubles once or twice together), Sanchez Vicario, and Coetzer (they played a series of exhibition matches together in South Africa after Steffi retired). A few years ago, Lori McNeil gave an interview where she talked about Steffi for a little bit and she says that she still sees her and her family every now and then and they're always friendly and warm towards each other. Steffi might not have shown that side of her on the tennis court but she was never a demonstrative person as she was extremely shy and aloof.
As it is she was a very shy girl, who never socialized much, plus she was way too young in this match and very immature understanding all these manners. On top of all this, she lost a very hard-fought match. Give her a break! She eventually did learn to accept defeats more gracefully in the later part of her career
Peru. I recall Graf admitting years later (while laughing) that she was so angry about the outcome of this match at that time that she stormed to the airport to fly home but then had to go back to the hotel because she left her coach and family behind!
IIRC, I remember Monica Seles once said that Steffi could be a little scary to the other players because she was so intense when it came to tennis. Everything for her just seemed to be tennis, tennis, tennis. It seems like it wasn't until she got older (and more injured) that she started to become a little more openly relaxed on the court.
gk891 Interesting story. Thanks. Yeah, I always thought Steffi's reaction to Martina after she lost this match was because she wanted to win so much & because of her youth & inexperience at losing matches, which hurts everyone. She's human, like all of us.
Graf's 7 Wombles better than Navratilova 's 9...
Not sure what alternative reality you're living in, but 7 is not better than 9. Not by a long shot.
@Max E What garbage.
Martina has 9 wins including 5 over Evert and one each over Graf, Mandlikova, Garrison, and Jaeger. 6 of Martina's victories came over Wimbledon champions.
Graf has 7 wins including 2 over Navratilova and Sanchez Vicario, and one each over Sabatini, Seles, and Novotna. 3 of Graf's victories came over Wimbledon champions.
Martina wins with quantity and quality. Sorry, you lose again dumbass
@Max E Evert sucked on grass? Oh really? She has 17 titles on grass. That’s third in the open era behind Martina and Pam. Graf never won a single event on grass except for Wimbledon. Not one. Bounced out of every other grass court tournament she ever played.
Evert has 5 grand slam titles on grass. That’s third in the open era as well behind Martina and Steffi.
She is third in match wins on grass. Graf isn’t even top 10. Don’t give me this garbage excuse about more grass tournaments were played back in the day. Even freakin’ Nathalie Tauziat in on that top 10 list that Graf is nowhere to be found on. Plus Shriver, Sukova, Garrison, McNeil, even Fairbank. Rosalyn Fairbank is ahead of Graf on grass wins. LOL
Evert is third behind Martina and Serena on grass winning percentage. Graf is fourth behind those 3. Winning percentage is a great equalizer through the eras. Graf wasn’t as good as the others.
Plus, this doesn't even work Margaret Court into the mix. She would be right up there and bump a few of those rankings down, even with her limited time in the open era.
You collapse the years to try to make a convincing case. Graf had a 17 year career for heaven’s sake. She was not some one decade wonder.
Tell us again how Evert sucked on grass. Tell us again that Graf is the greatest on grass. Tell us more lies, dumbass.
@Max E Your memory is a Ford Pinto old man. Your assertion was that Evert sucked on grass. No one who won 5 grand slams on a surface was bad on that surface. She's top 3 on grand slams, titles, and winning percentage on the surface. Her weakest surface was still pretty darn good. Stop telling flat-out lies
@Max E As usual you're showing utter stupidity regarding the statistics of the game.
Steffi was the better player.
Steffi don't have sportsmanship. Look at how arrogant she was, at the handshake
sorry but she gave a great tribute to Martina by the press conference. The thing is just she was so shy, especially when so young. We shouldn't judge the whole personality of a champion just on the basis of only one act.
Huh? Sportsmanship has nothing to do with shaking hands. She was just not an outgoing character. She never disputed line calls, never complained about opposition players like Monica Seles’s noise levels unlike Navratilova who was a whinged bar none.
@@luvdasitar seriously???
nikos GR yes seriously. Look at the 92 wimbledon and see who complained about Seles’s grunting. It was Tauziat and then Navratilova.
Martina the best all times, second Seles... Graf ,lloyd, Williams, Fernandez, Sabatini, Sanchez
@Illya Kuryakin when steffi defeated seles she was 14 year old kid
After that even a 16 year old seles ( still a kid ) could beat Steffi almost at will.
Beating steffi was a walk in the park for her.
@Illya Kuryakin that gap would have reduced drastically. 1hen she was stabbed she was still a kid. And even then she was getting defeated regularly...LMAO
@Illya Kuryakin seles never struggled against the LOAT on clay. And seles would have surely betaen Steffi in grass as well. But her career was cut short
Seles won FO @16 which your steffi can never break.
Under 20 she won 8 GS ... amazing. Real GOAT
@Illya Kuryakin but Steffis boyfriend didn't allow seles to continue because both were scared that Steffis reign will come to an end.
And 99 statistical don't count because as I said seles version 2.0 was not the GOAT as before courtesy Gunter parche.
Monica seles would have. Defeated steffi compressively in grass as well.
@Illya Kuryakin from 1993 monica seles leads Steffi 5-1 . Check this out
Seles post stabbing version was not even GOAT material. Just think post stabbing if it can be so heavily skewed in favour of seles then without the stabbing seles would have created havoc and the numbers would have been ridiculous like 20-0 LOL