Chris Evert d. Gabriela Sabatini - 1988 Los Angeles final
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- Опубліковано 4 вер 2024
- Chrissie's 2nd-to-last career tournament victory had its share of drama, as she turned back Sabatini 2-6 6-1 6-1 in the finals of Los Angeles. Probably the first non-Davis Cup tennis match to experience nefarious audience activity, someone mysteriously sent a jar of paint across the court on match point, startling both players & holding up play for 20 minutes. The bizarre happenings were handled gracefully, with neither player acknowledging it in their post-match speeches. Indeed Chris took the interview opportunity to crack up the spectators with some diversions of her own to lighten the mood & not allow the incident to ruin a great event. Commentators Vic Braden & Anne Smith. Footage courtesy of chrisevert.net
I love the sportsmanship of the players from this era. They acknowledge their opponent's good shots and work together to agree on line calls
I think it depends on player personality ,not the era..you find this kind of sportmanship in every era..but don't forget it 80's you met one of the most hot blooded player of all time: johny Mac
Amazing that Chris maintained such a superior standard of excellence and power throughout a long career, against dangerous young guns like Sabatini. I mean, this was in the twilight of Evert’s storied tenure and she could still muscle those deadly groundies until rising forces like Sabatini and Seles and Graf were at a loss for what to do.
I read almost all the comments and it seems no one, now or then cared that someone through a glass jar full of paint at Gabriela Sabatini, there is no mention of it after the paint is cleaned off the court, the commentators don't even say a word...I love You Gabi.
leirbag it was paint
@@lenwelch2195 In a glass jar which shattered, they said there was glass all over the court. I am amazed there wasn't more made of this incident too. I never heard about it, just stumbled on it here, and I'm a lifelong Gaby fan.
Evert was always one of the hardest workers in her training regimen, even before she learned to spend time lifting weights in the eighties. Born and raised in the humid Florida conditions, heat and long matches her two of the BFF's. I very rarely saw her fatigued until 1989 when injuriesand lay-offs prevented her from keeping up with the Joneses.
Chrissie.. tournament in and tournament out, she's always the "epitome" of a sheer,classy lady, nowadays there aren't too many..and that's too bad for us..thanks Chrissie for being such a truly "class act"
Chrissie, a legend in the twilight of her career, beats a 18 year-old Sabatini in her prime.
You're not in your prime at 18
Martin Gonzalez true but no one picked Chris to win this match. I was at this match and everyone expected sabatini to win especially after the first set,
@@MartinGonzalez-ki8kn perhaps, but evert was literally old enough to be her mother in 1988....
@@lkfrostadthen they didn’t KNOW Chris Evert did they.
@@lenwelch2195haha you got that right my friend!!
The amazing thing about Chris is that she hardly ever plays a bad match. She's so bloody consistent all the time. And she looks as if she's hardly trying. Always, poised, cool, never rushed, hardly breaking out a sweat. In comparison, Gaby looks like she's in a difficult labour every point.
Love me some Chrissie
WOW! You are the best. These videos of Chrissie are so much fun to watch, especially as I never have seen this match.
Great Chris Evert. And a wonderful lady
I was lucky enough to get a great seat for this final. The first set Gabby really flattened out her backhand and Chrissie was having a tough time in the baseline rallies. All of a sudden Gabby ran out of gas after the end of the first set and was done!
Sadly for Gabi, she often used to conk out in those days. She was notorious for it.
Evert always got stronger as matches progressed. When Chrissie hit deep well angled hard groundstrokes opponents were doomed! Martina's serve volley could break some of that up a bit but usually NOT on Clay
@skaterfan1 Yeah, Gabi's game matched up very well against Steffi's because Gabi could get the ball high up on Steffi's backhand with all that topspin, was a great retriever and wasn't afraid to come to the net. Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario had some success against Steffi for the same reasons.
I have that match on tape & Gaby had played a long 3 set match the night before ending almost at midnight -- I think against Zina, who could really make you run!!! So she was tired. And it was 107 degrees on court. Chris played great to have that win of course, but the level of beatdown here may have something to do with her feeling there was no shame in losing to Chris. Gaby was not known for her stamina!
@hairbrush81 It's all relative, but Gabi beat Steffi more than anyone else. I guess I meant that a lot of their matches went to 3 sets and were pretty tough - Gabi's game matched up against Steffi relatively better than most players as many of Steffi's opponents were lucky to get 3 games. Gabi's game didn't match up so well with Seles for example, as Monica could consistently punish Gabi's serve off both wings. I think Gabi got away with a lot by just spinning her serve into Steffi's backhand.
zephyruk gabby was a worthy foe for Graf .gabbys game of topspin took so much energy and her serve never improved . If she had made adjustments she may have a better record but gabby is gabby. I bet she tried .evert tried to improve her serve but only 10-20 percent improvement from the 70’s -80’s. Evert did improve other parts of her game from 83-85 , took 2 years of gym work, sprints , and adding topspin to her forehand to keep Martina back . From Margaret Court at 15 yrs of age to Seles at 34 in 1989 open . Quite a span . Evert was no fluke !
That was the last match what Chris Evert won against Sabatini!
I disagree with concrete joey. Anybody who beats Graf 11 times, more than anybody else, deserves a lot of credit no matter how many times they played overall.
This was always a good matchup for Chris. Those high balls to her backhand didn't bother her like most players. She didn't cheat the backhand like Graf did, leaving the forehand side open for Sabatini's backhand down the line.
Have to say, I completely disagree. Evert herself said that playing Gabi was incredibly difficult for her because she found the topspin difficult. If Gabi wasn't having one of those awful days where she conked out, like in this match, her game against Evert was very good. Part of the problem for Evert was her stroke mechanics. Basically developed in the 1960s in an era of wood when nobody could hit with topspin like this, Chris had learned to let the ball fall, move back and plant her feet whereas modern players would move in and take the ball on the rise. If you watch Gabi's win over Chris at the 1989 Lipton tournament, Gabi pushes Chris way back and drags her all round the court with topspin angles. Because Chris can't take the ball early, she looks helpless at times. Just also to illustrate Chris's vulnerability to high bouncing heavy topspin, there was a famous point when she played Seles in the 1989 US Open. Seles hit a high topspin shot, and because Chris let the ball drop, moved back and planted her feet, she ended up against the stands and the ball bounced over her head.
What year was this?? 1988???
Thanks for posting. These clips show several things: Evert gives away 15 years to Sabatini, but she moves as well as the much younger woman, she hits haymaker ground strokes and she has an all court game.
Did they ever find who threw the paint?
This match was the beginning of her journey from loopy game on early rounders. She was tired from the match before doing the same things.
The paint incident wasn't enough for the WTA to institute tougher security standards they waited until Seles was stabbed, very sad.
Thang Vuong I agree, Imsure when Gabby heard of the Seles incident she thought back to this match.
Ya. Court side temp. 107. Her Game. Was sure on Fire.!!
I love Gabi's expression. She could not have been bothered LoL.
@westfaner Even most of those looses with the tennis greats were up to three sets. Gaby defeated Graf in the US Open in straight sets. She lost 2 matches to Seles in five sets (one of them an epic match along with the Wimbledon final against Steffi). She beated Seles twice in Rome in straight sets, etc. It was not that she was dragged around on court, so to speak.
BRAVO!
@hairbrush81 About her being "just #3". She had three chances to jump to number one in 1991. The German Open, Wimbledon and Canada which, of one reason or the other, she missed them. She ranked in the top ten 10 consecutive years where you had Evert, navratilova, Seles And Graf. But, yeah, it much better to have Jankovic, Safina or Wozniacki at #1.
Two babes two great tennis players
brilliant
Ya. I'm bewildered.! Otherside of the Coin. Over 30 years. I've. Stefan. Pete. Matina. Ect.
@zephyruk agreed, also to a degree sanchez was able to absorb steffi's power, and arantxa had a better record against steffi at the slams than gaby.....not just in the matches she won against her, but there were plenty of 3setters as well
@westfane Well, Gaby playing Graf more than anybody else shows increible consistency meaning that she beated a bunch of players to meet Graf at least at the quarter finals. Sanchez (who is put in the same level of Seles and Graf by a poster here) couldn't play her as much with a much longer career. What's really silly is that Sabatini is really well respected by her peers( Seles, Graf, Navratilova, Evert and the like) while a bunch of amateur tennis followers can't do the same.
Chris certainly wasn’t playing safe in second and third sets . This is where Everts game really shows her metamorphoses from being a counter puncher to an aggressive baseline player with skill at net with lob volleys and droppers . She hit the ball exactly where Sabatini didn’t want to hit from . Chris dictates the policy making Gabby run run run . This 34 year old tired out the teenager . All her years of training to catch up to Martina pays off in this match .
Sabatini never achieved that much, and yet outside the slams gave Graf such a hard time.
Any story on the paint glass thrown on the court?
Goat. Goats. 3. Trio. C.E.L. M.N.T. S. Graff .booked in history. Moreso. To See & Experience.. My Rare. Privilege.!!
@newmark401 Gabi had a bit of a reputation for playing very flat after a tough match in the previous round. Her career is littered with matches she maybe should have won, but seems to have lost because she had a tougher match previously. I think in her earlier career it was partly physical, but it seemed to be more mental as the years went on.
@StevieNicksfann She was ready to step down. She married Andy Mll in 1988 and was pretty much done with titles. She was ready for the title of mom!!!! :) But she did have a stunning 3-setter against Graf in '89 which would have been her last title, had she pulled it off.
@spacecolt Yeah, the WTA tour website says Gabi beat Zine 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 in the match before
@comedywriter666 Really.. well I concur with westfaner. If she played Graf 22 times more than Martina and managed to be her 2 more times.... it is hardly a great feat or anything worth mentioning.. because her perctange of victory would be quite a bit lower, and Chris and Martina were quite a bit older, and not her contemperary like Sabatini was.
Anne white here ( announcer) is so quick to be unimpressed by Evert it’s disrespectful. Harsh on her unforced errors in the first set and again when they show an old pic of Evert asking the viewers “ who could this be “ Anne white is dismissive like oh brother. Chris made it to 34 grand slam finals - the most consistent player of all time here playing at almost 34 years of age and Anne White can barely say anything nice about her game. Well once again Chris shows why she’s so great by coming back and stomping Sabatini in to the ground relentlessly. Suddenly ms White became quieter as Chris starting winning most of the points. What a bitch. Jealousy will get her no where , even when she showed up in 81 at Wimbledon in her white spandex body ski suit for attention. Wimbledon quieted her ( asked her to not wear it again and asking her to change her outfit) as Chris quieted her down by playing her A game in the last two sets. Useless Anne White.
Len Welch they were doubles partners in 1986. And the body suit at Wimbledon was 1985.
Wasn't Anna White like the Anna Kournikova of that era. Lots of attentions for her prettiness and flashy outfits, despite her mediocre tennis and results.
Totally agree. There is another match where she is totally negative about Evert's game. I remember White only because of the body suit at Wimbledon-don't remember her making it late enough in tournaments to be on tv.
@@kloatlantasame result , Wimbledon forbade her from wearing the all white suit whether it was 1015,1985,:1983. And they did play doubles that doesn’t mean they were friends , they got along and Anne wasn’t known as a great 0layer but turn bull was and when Wendy couldn’t play Chris asked those like Catarina lindquist who played her to 7-6 in third at Brighton was impressed by her play enough to ask he r to play doubles with her.Chris played doubles to improve her volley.I don’t think Chris believed she was a better volleyer than Anne so she deferred to her concerning learning the volleying aspect. When Chris served in doubles she followed her serve to the net.rarely did evert stay back. Knowing she had half the court to cover at the net she knew pretty much where the ball was likely to go when she had to volley. In singles she followed up every short ball to the net with great approaches so her volley didn’t have to be the best but on a singles court had a tendency to go to the middle of the net. Here white commentates wher Chris is playing singles and criticizes Chris for not catching g on to sabatinis topspin. In those days no one besides sabatini had that topspin so she’d either back up giving sabatini more time to get into net position but in second and third sets Chris forced herself to rush sabatini by moving up, no longer 6 feet behind the baseline waiting for sabatinis ball to drop having to hit hard with the ball losing its force by the time it bounced on sabatinis side of the court. That’s why sabatini controlled the points in the first set. In second and third Chris stepped up hitting many of sabatinis topspin shots on the rise robbing sabatinis time in tracking Chris’s balls. Chris ran sabatini to death. Chris being twice sabatinis age should be commended for problem solving after the first set lose. She knew what she should do even though she didn’t like playing that way she knew it was her only chance to win. She made some timing errors in hitting on rise till she got into a rhythm amd white just shakes her head . She gets real quiet and says “ you don’t want to let down and let someone like Chris back in the match. Sabatini didn’t let evert in the match .Chris figured out a way to impose her will by moving up and hitting those toppers on rise often hitting the ball at shoulder height. All those practice balls hit in practice she e,polyester in last two sets . Over head smash winner hit from near court to saba Toni’s forehand side for a clear winner. It looked like a typical Martina winner. Chris amd ,artina pushed each other to become strong in their games where the other was strong . They helped each other become complete all court players. It shows when evert employed aggressive play against other players hitting winners rather than just trying to outsteady them by hitting an even ball for them to Toff on. Being 1987 on Chris had on and off days no longer could count on producing her best for 2 weeks. At 89 open she played a great match- a top 5 match of her career the Uber evert then was flat against a player that softballed her had a 5-2 advantage then her body betrayed her having rhythm problems with lack of feel , again off and on days . On on days she had no trouble generating her own pace . Down 5-2 zina decided to return every ball even if it was hit without much on it to make evert dictate the play and everts movement was suspect not feeling the ball and after she lost that tie break knew she didn’t have it, she wanted off the court. That’s why she retired no longer counting on having her a game day to day. She did it longer than any other p,Ayer winning 90 percent of all her matches 1070-1989. 89.95 percent correctly rounded to 90 . She has highest percentage winning record af any male or female . She simply didn’t lose often to players ranked below her like Martina did in first 14 years . Evert would’ve never lost to shriver twice at the open in her prime. Between 1975-1984 Chris lost 2 finals to Martina , lost Sf Martina lost final to Austin after Austin straight settled Martina. Chris won 6 opens 8 years .
You say, "but to mention she beat Graf more than anyone else; when she played Graf at least 22 times more than anyone else, is really ridiculous " I disagree. It is still a great accomplishment. Consider than in 20 matches, Mary Joe Fernanandez didn't even beat Graf once.
@spacecolt She made the final of Lipton, and Houston both after the match with Graf, and lost in both finals in 3 sets, so Houston potentially would have been her last title not Boca !
Chrissie played great but I am kind of shocked that Gaby wins only two more games after winning the 1st set 6-2.
Sadly, Gabi was notorious for conking out in three setters back then. She'd had a very tough match against garrison the day before and seems not to have had much energy left.
Gaby is lucky that paint missed her on match point (tho not by much!) The next time something like this happened was when Gunther Parched stuck that knife in Monica's back over 4 yrs later.
shihlin1 this should've made WTA to start adding security on court then stabbing Seles could've been prevented LESSON NOT LEARNT ....
@concretejoey10 That is about the silliest thing I have ever read, She played Graf 40 times. Graf played Maritna 18 times, they are 9-9, Chris 14 times they are 8-6, Monica 15, they are 10-5, 29-11 vs Gabby. Martina vs Gabby is 7-3, Chris vs Gabby 6-3, Monica vs Gabby 11-3. Yes her topsin bothered all of these players, but to mention she beat Graf more than anyone else; when she played Graf at least 22 times more than anyone else, is really ridiculous !
Actually on tour Chris and Steffi are at 7-6, one of those matches counted is a Fed Cup match.
westfaner he said If she played her 20 more times , not that she had.
@zephyruk Actually 21 of the 40 matches they played went 3 sets.
Gabi and Steffi? With those two in the early days, Gabi could push Steffi but had a reputation for "conking out" in the final set. Their two matches at the US Open in the 80s were prime examples. Gabi in general though in those days struggled when She'd had a tough match in the previous round. I remember when she beat Steffi at Amelia Island in 1988 in a really tough match, then came out in the next round and only won a handful of games against Navratilova because she was still so tired. Her game was so draining in those days.
I was never a big fan of Sabatini's loopy game. It was very boring at the Canadian Open the next week when they met in the semi-final. Sabatini beat Chris, but the court at the Canadian Open was medium-fast court in those days, so it help Sabatini's boring loopy shots to come off the court more.
Very interesting how Gaby only won TWO games after the first set...
kljMN2 that’s due to Everts serial. Killer instinct, when she found her groove, she was relentless unlike players of today. No one concentrated better than Chrissie.
I wish Chrissie had retired at the end of the 1990 season, instead of the 1989 season. Would have been interesting!
kljMN2 Nah she was done. Didn't win a single event in 1989. It was time for her to hang it up and start her family.
kljMN2 I’m glad she retired in 89 because Graf and Seles got much stronger and evert only played 3-4 great matches in 88-89 ( austr SF win over Martina , Houston win over Martina , Seles win at Open , sabatini here ) she did play well in losing to Graf at 89 Boca in 3 sets . 1990 - she was spent . Her last point at center court in 89 was a double fault - she had expired all of her potential . That’s when you walk away and she had the class and a great guy to go too to leave the game . Her sense of timing was always great except for Greg Norman . The shark bit in to a woman experiencing a mid life crisis that Chris contributed to , she says so herself and I know she regrets .
I think the end of the decade was a clean break for Chris (she had already played all through the '70s and '80s). Plus, I don't think she wanted to play Jennifer Capriati in 1990, when Jen turned pro at age 13 (wow), not because Jen would have beaten her (I seriously doubt that at such a young age); it was because Jen was/is very much like a daughter or niece to her.
@westfaner I guess you're profesional tennis players and commentators! :rolleyes:
👄 lips 2 the hips. Pure striker.! Rare.!
@natsolog You make absolutely no sense... amateur tennis followers ??? Have no idea why you are bothering me... none !!!
Sabatini's second serve ranks up (down?) there with Dementieva's. Had Gaby actually just totally reworked her service motion, she would have been more an A lister than a B+. You could read her serve in Braille it was so obvious and in slow motion. I was surprised Evert didn't annihilate her every time, but Evert just liked to push the ball back.
.And Gaby's predilection to do loopy moon balls only caused herself to get worn out. Never understood that strategy of hers. I was exhausted watching Gaby's moon balling.
Evert was hardly a “pusher”. 🙄 Nor was she a “counter-puncher.” She was *the* aggressive, probative baseliner of her era. She drove the ball hard, purposefully, and with merciless precision, given her day and the equipment used in her day. Her ability to use those booming drives to construct a point, open the court, and finish a point with put-away winners or passing shots was unequaled. It was called “playing tennis.”
@@jonathankieranwriter I think the key phrase there is "of her era". She may have been the only player like that in the 70s, but by the late 80s, her game and stroke mechanics were looking like the museum pieces they were. Her strokes were developed in the 1960s, with wooden racquets when nobody could hit with topspin. As the years went on and the game changed, those stroke mechanics became a liability. Apart from her serve, the main problem she had was how she had been taught to let the ball drop (rather than take it on the rise), move back and plant her feet. That was absolutely lethal against players who could hit with very heavy top spin.
Typo. Martina.
its braget hier
@westfaner I guess you're profesional tennis players and commentators! :rolleyes: So information and statistics make no sense to you?? What it doesn't make sense is to label Sabatini a mediocre player.
Natalia Soloaga she was a mediocre champion
Natalia Soloaga gabby was a champion because she won the Open against Graf at her peak . Gabby may not be of the same legend status as evert or Graf but she is a champion .She made it to Wfinal losing 8-6 in third and final of Open in88 - grafs grand slam year .
Sabatini always lost to Chris.
@zephyruk Gaby was 1-11 vs Steffi in grand slams. How is that matching up well?! Gaby is overrated. She didnt beat Martina or Chris until Martina was 30 and Chris was 32 . She was never a real rival to Graf. She was never ranked higher than #3 in the World and later was overshadowed by Seles and Sanchez Vicario too.