Its always soo hard with these Uber-intense baseline players because without a natural length career with a normal bell shaped curve, you have no idea how long that red hot competitive intensity could sustain those early win patterns. We do not know whether her career would have looked more like Connors or more like Wilander ,more like Evert or more like Jaeger. Its the same problem with Austin. Borg chose to quit because he knew he couldn't.
yes, we cant know ,,IF" ...
It has zero to do with 'in the sport', or 'out of the sport'. We can't read tea leaves. We don't know how long she would have maintained the same intensity and passion, had she not been stabbed. We also don't know how Austin's career would have turned out absent the back injuries. Some of these players maintain that intensity and competitive drive throughout a normal career, and some do not. We don't know if she would have had joint problems or injuries like Bueno, or Graf, or Mandlikova or burnout like Jaeger. Heck she might have become a party animal like McEnroe or Wilander or Hingis. these answers are going to affect the hardware collection.
I doubt that she would have beat any records of Martina's records on carpet, the carpet tour was beginning its decline not that long after Martina departed. The volume of the 'hardwear' was going to dry up.
Wow!! I didn’t realize that she reeled off another 72 straight. So if I’m reading this correctly, she went 197-1 on clay across a 198-match stretch.
Lol. Yes. I would agree that 197-1 across 7 years suggests competency on a surface.
I think she did win 4 Italian Titles, though
IF Steffi resented Sabatini, it probably was because Gabriella was more popular and much better looking than she was. Sabatini's main problem was mental, as she had an excellent all-court game.
I doubt Lenglen ever lost a match on clay. She only has 2 French titles because the French was not open to foreigners until 1925. She did win 4 World Hard Court titles, on clay in Paris, before 25. Wills probably only lost once, to Lenglen, the only time they played against each other.
Henin is too high and Wills too low, but otherwise this is about perfect. I would probably outright switch Wills and Henin, dropping Henin to 7th from 4th, and rising Wills to 4th from 7th.
One place where Graf was not popular, was in Italy, which is why she hardly ever played there.
why did the Italians dislike her so much?Yes that is true, 100% agree there. I saw the event once when she was there and the crowds hated her there. I bet they would have even rooted for pre stabbing Seles over her there. It is kind of ironic since her sort of disgusting nose is pretty classic Italian in a way, I would have thought that might win her some favor.
IMy guess is that they like 'beautiful play' with lots of variety, lots of touch, shot construction, graceful movement... They admire the art of tennis more than the science. They appreciate creativity more than power. I would never think Graf would be their favorite cup of tea. Players like Bueno, Goolagong, Sabatini, Hingis yes!
Actually that makes much more sense than my original guesstimation. I think it is that.
I think Martina won 48 consecutive matches on carpet.
I can confirm, 100%, that the Italians adored Maria Bueno. She told me herself that she was the only woman who played on the show court when both men and women played. The love was mutual. She much preferred Rome to Paris and, in her day, it was considered more prestigious.
Yeah, I just don't think Graf looked great at the WTA Finals in either 1993 or 1994. As you noted, there was the straight set loss to Pierce in 1994 when Graf was clearly less than 100% with her back injury. And, in 1993, I don't think Graf was that good in either the SF (against Huber) or the final (against ASV).
1993 seems so pivotal for me if Seles isn't stabbed. If Seles wins the French Open and the U.S. Open, followed by Graf having her physical struggles the following year, I'm just not sure Steffi ever gets off the mat and is able to elevate her game in 1995 like she did. But, if Graf is able to win the French Open or, likelier, the U.S. Open in addition to Wimbledon in 1993, I think it's game on in 1994 and beyond.
We DO know that she had one of the greatest peaks in tennis history, outplaying Steffi Graf when they were both in their primes.
Evert wanted to drown that defeat so deep, most would forget it ever even happened.
1 loss in 8 years. that's sick.Evert wanted to drown that defeat so deep, most would forget it ever even happened.
Austin said that she was very glad she did not even know about the streak at 16 years old before she broke it. Tracy said it would have made her way too nervous. Maybe Chris should have sent her a little note right before the match!!.
