Thanks for this post! A lot of people talk about how poorly Martina was playing the first part of '89. When I look at this match and the match where she beat Sabatini a year later at the Italian (also on clay, albeit red), I don't see a lot of difference. The fact is, if Martina could have won any of those break points she had at 3-5, she would have been right back in this match. But, her confidence was shaky during this period and once she lost the first set after having chances to even it up, she deflated.
Really interesting point. I think one of the differences is that in the first half of 1990 it was Gabi who was at a real low. She was sick of tennis, her game had become stale and her heart wasn't in it. It culminated with tears after her loss to Novotna at the 1990 french open. That's when it was decided to bring in Carlos Kirmayr to revitalise her game. As for Martina in early 1989, she was having a crisis of confidence. She spoke some years later about how she had actually been burnt out from tennis since the end of 1986 but hadn't realised it until 1989, which is when she asked Billie Jean King to help her. Billie Jean said that Martina called her out of the blue one day and said "Help! I don't know whether to play or to quit." Once BJK had decided to work with Martina, she would regularly ask her what her "GQ" was, her "gut quotient". In this particular match, Gabi was playing with a fair amount of confidence. Green clay was always her best surface, and she seems to have had many of her best results in spring. I always thought the barometer of her form was how well she moved her feet. She's noticeably quicker off the mark here than she was in their Rome 1990 match.
Sabatini will always be my #1 & favorite player of all times!!!!
Thanks for this post! A lot of people talk about how poorly Martina was playing the first part of '89. When I look at this match and the match where she beat Sabatini a year later at the Italian (also on clay, albeit red), I don't see a lot of difference. The fact is, if Martina could have won any of those break points she had at 3-5, she would have been right back in this match. But, her confidence was shaky during this period and once she lost the first set after having chances to even it up, she deflated.
Really interesting point. I think one of the differences is that in the first half of 1990 it was Gabi who was at a real low. She was sick of tennis, her game had become stale and her heart wasn't in it. It culminated with tears after her loss to Novotna at the 1990 french open. That's when it was decided to bring in Carlos Kirmayr to revitalise her game. As for Martina in early 1989, she was having a crisis of confidence. She spoke some years later about how she had actually been burnt out from tennis since the end of 1986 but hadn't realised it until 1989, which is when she asked Billie Jean King to help her. Billie Jean said that Martina called her out of the blue one day and said "Help! I don't know whether to play or to quit." Once BJK had decided to work with Martina, she would regularly ask her what her "GQ" was, her "gut quotient". In this particular match, Gabi was playing with a fair amount of confidence. Green clay was always her best surface, and she seems to have had many of her best results in spring. I always thought the barometer of her form was how well she moved her feet. She's noticeably quicker off the mark here than she was in their Rome 1990 match.
Gran partido de la genial Gaby sabatini!!!!
Gaby, my n.1 a true talent!!
GRAN, GRAN PARTIDO DE LA GENIAL GABY, PODRIAS RESUBIR LAS FINALES AMELIA ISLAND 89 CONTRA GRAF Y LA SEMIFINAL DE AMELIA ISLAND 88 CONTRA GRAF?
Sabatini was the best player at Amelia Island. Beat Graf 4 times. Navratilova once. Sanchez. Won 1989, 1991,1992. Finalist 1993 1994 1995.
And finalist in 1988 also.😊
RE UPLOAD SEMIFINAL AMELIA ISLAND 88 SABATINI VS GRAF AND AMELIA FINAL 89 SABATINI VS GRAF PLEASE?