Steffi Graf v. Serena Williams | Hong Kong 1999 SF Highlights
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- Опубліковано 20 жов 2024
- Highlights of the semifinal match between Steffi Graf and Serena Williams at Super-Power Challenge Cup (Hong Kong 1999).
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Thanks to Just Tennis Channel ua-cam.com/channels/iliKcVDamjkthjffSNRupw.html for giving me this match, a lot of credit to this mate for finding this gem. Subscribe his channel too for more rare matches!
is there any possibility to upload the complete match? the quality of that match is just unbelievably good..!
This was an amazing exhibition match up🤩❤️
Two of greatest movers of all time. Graf with her pinpoint footwork & Serena with her incredible footspeed!
Serena's speed is overrated because it was NOT sustainable. As she matured, she got heavier and slower.
@@LDVTennis Smoking crack I see.
@Max E Oh no! You really got me there!
Thanks. That was fun and amazing. Seeing Serena try new things to hone her game.
For me this was by far the best match they played. it gives a kind of impression how they would have battled against each other - if their careers would have more overlapped. its a for once fit steffi here who had just regained her form after a very very long injurie break - meeting the young serena who shows already all the qualities which will make here the dominant player of the future. short after this match, Graf had again another extended injury break.
its super interesting how a challenged steffi is forced to transform and rise the level of her usual game. Cause serena battles Grafs extraordinary power and speed with same speed and power. its so rare to see steffi using really all possible strokes existing - cause she just has to: topspin backhands (flat and high), chipped backhands, chipped forehands, forehand slice ( to keep the ball in he game), net attacs, extreme ancles, lobs and stops. real champions rise when they are challenged. both were. just wonderful to see.
I really wish Steffi were a decade younger and got to peak during the early-mid 00s because as accomplished as she is, I honestly feel as though she didn't reach her full potential as a player for what her talent was in some ways b/c of how easy things came for her. She wouldn't have been able to just sit back and dictate every rally from the baseline against the superior competition that followed her, but that would've just encouraged her to explore certain parts of her game that weren't unlocked in the 90s with no one (among many reasons why the Seles stabbing sucks) to really challenge her. I think she could've been just as effective playing more like Venus or Henin (different players obviously, but both all-courters who blended offence and defence beautifully) b/c she certainly had all the tools to. The thing about Steffi is that she was always adding wrinkles to her game, that's why she was able to replicate her late-80s dominance in the mid-90s, and why she was able to win matches against prime Davenport, young Williams sisters, etc in 98/99 despite being a shell of herself physically.
@@thb1091 i totally agreewhat you say about Steffi didnt reach her full potential cause a lack of a permanent strong rivalery (as she had first some years with Navratilova and later on with Monica).
where i disagree a little: that "things came so easy to her" . from a todays perspective things in fact might look so easy. but they looked so easy because young Steffi Graf broke into the scene like an unexpected thunderstorm on a beautiful summer day. nobody had ever played that way.the reason was Grafs excellence (whats certanly not her fault).
before Graf, there were two types of players: the aggressive and attacking serve and volleyers - represented best by almost unbeatable Martina Navratilova, by Mandlikova, Shriver, Sukova and others. they appeared being presence and the future of tennis.
and there was the deminishing group of old fashioned passive baseliners - represented best by Chris Evert (who was almost the only remaining baseliner with success). these baseliners built their game either on their pure consistancy and endurance (waiting for their opponent's mistakes) or they actied as "counter punchers" (by waiting for getting the chance to punch a winner here and there).
Graf put an end to this traditional understanding and revolutionized the game. Nobody ever had played that way. nobody ever had such a weapon as she had with her forehand. a stroke which literally frightened in 1988 /1989 her opponents the question wasnt if Graf would win a match. the only question was: how fast she would do so. and how many games she would alllow her opponents.
except Martina , Graf had put an universe between herself and her opponents. best to be seen with her 6:0 6:0 -winof the 1988 French Open in 34 minutes - the fastest Major win ever.
yes, she was still a kind of a basliner. but not a passive one who sticked to the baseline, just waiting for a chance to punch. Graf punched from the first stroke on, she dictated and dominated, she was putting all her body weight towards and into the ball - and was following their strokes deep intot he court.
Graf was the first aggressive "baseliner" and - as Monica Seles later on said: the first player to hit the ball already while rising. she was building the fundaments on which just some years later hard hitters like Monica Seles, Capriati, the Williams sisters or Davenport built their game on.
To close the circle: Grafs dominance wasnt a gift - falling into her hands by the weak oponents: Chris and Martina were dominating the game since years - ruling almost unchallenged. Martina was widely seen as almost unbeatable. Just the year before Graf made the Golden Slam, Martina had won 3 of 4 majors (defeated only by Graf at the French Open). Grafs dominance was caused by a breathtaking new way to play - and it pushed tennis into its future.
where i totall agree: Grafs early dominance and the the tragic interruption of the great rivalery with Seles prevented her to realize all of her potential - becoming the best she could have been. In a permant rivalery to Monica or with Serena, she wouldnt have only wising her game by adding more ancles ( yea, i absolutely agree here ! :-). )
Steffi would have had to use her longline backhand drive (which she played already really marvellous and so naturally in her early years). may be she would have re-invented also her agressive back hand return ( as topspin or just blocked or chipped)- which she used already masterly against Chris Evert ( Australian Open 1988) and Martina (Wimbledon / US Open) 1988/1989). And may be she would have used zhan also her brilliant net play consequently. This said: That all refers also to Serena who didnt have a serious opponent for many many years.
@@airmaxxxer
Oh, don't get me wrong - I absolutely agree with what you said about how Steffi changed the game and essentially invented the style of play that's ruled the sport since. By that things came easy for her, all I meant was that she could overpower just about every non-Seles (even then I feel that Steffi would've beaten her in Wimbledon + USO finals for years even if the stabbing had never happened but that's besides the point) player in her day, and that she would've theoretically been forced to improvise a bit more had she played in the 21st century where there are a lot more heavy hitters.
More to your point about how Steffi revolutionized the sport - people often credit Seles and Capriati for ushering in the power game as they hit with pace on both wings, and such credit is deserved, but they consequently overlook the impact Steffi had in that regard. I remember watching the 1988 RG final (when Graf infamously won 6-0, 6-0 in about half an hour), and one thing that got a chuckle out of me was the commentary - the broadcasters were wondering whether Steffi could pull off the grand slam (which she did!), and one of them said that she felt Navratilova would still have the edge at Wimbledon due to her serve and volley game. She implied Steffi wouldn't be able to win Wimbledon without developing a more S&V-centric style of play, and even frowned upon the idea of going for high-risk, high-reward winners lol. Of course, that foolishness was put to rest when Steffi obliterated Martina in the Wimbledon final that year - the dominant player of the early-mid 80s suddenly looked outdated as a 19 year old blasted her off the court. The rest was history.
Agree on her backhand and net play (basically what I was referring to with "aspects of her game that weren't unlocked). I think people who clown her sliced backhand don't understand the sport (you can't say such a forehand-dominant game wouldn't cut it in modern times because it would be demonstrably untrue. I've seen Steffi give fits to Seles, Pierce, Capriati, and young Venus with her knifing slices. All some of the most powerful players ever. Ash Barty was effectively a discount Steffi and was recently #1 in the world for 2+ years), but she probably would've needed to use her backhand more in the way Henin or Mauresmo did - they had even more variety and pace on their one-handers - if she were to compete with a prime Serena. Her topspin backhand as well as her volleys looked great whenever she went for them, so I have little doubt she would've made those adjustments if she were playing now :)
(Sidenote - the degree to which Steffi and Monica revolutionized the sport with their baseline power games is why I separate pre-1988 and post-1988 when ranking the greatest female tennis players. To be clear, every era is functionally better than the next, such is life, but if you provided Serena or Steffi or Monica or Venus with current day equipment and training methods, they'd still dominate the tour (even if 3 slams a year would be ambitious). You can't say that about Martina or Chrissie (much less anyone even older than them). You could argue they would be just as good in different ways had they been born in the 1996 instead of 1956, sure, but that still implies they'd have to transform their games dramatically to survive. That to me is why you can't rank them alongside the best players of the last 30 years)
Steffi saw the future.
It was an exhibition tournament I guess ? Which month it occurred in 1999 ?
Yes, you're right. It was an exhibition match
Jenuary just prior the AO
Serena just turned 17
@@eizyaws a few months before yes ☺️
@@cedrichapman Serena's outfit makes me believe it is some time after the AO. She rocked the white dress with black triangles at AO99. I'm guessing this is some time in February
If this was the SF, who did Graf play in the final and what was the result?
She played Venus and had to retire due injury at 2:2 (first set).
Graf almost 30 while Serena just 17...
She still beats her.