martinezownsclay
Hall of Fame
I believe winning this match, or even say the 91 Australian Open final vs Seles which she was close to possibly winning in the 2nd set, but 93 Wimbledon is the big choke in a match she totally should have won. How good a career might she have had if she got winning a slam out of the way sooner, particularly at Wimbledon, which was always her most likely venue for potential slams even in a best case scenario.
Obviously we presume her atleast winning the 98 Wimbledon she already won had she won Wimbledon 93, so 2 Wimbledons minimum, but might she have won 3, 4, or even 5? Wimbledons 94 and 97 would be huge opportunities, she came close as it was in 97 but a combination of an injury, a bit of nerves (not a full fledged choke like Wimbledon 93), an inspired Hingis, and as Evert said somehow not reading Hingis's backdown down the line pass she hit continously cost her narrowly losing there. 94 needless to say was wide open, particularly as she might have a higher seed and no longer meet her personal mental nemisis countrywoman Navratilova in the quarters. She probably easily beats anyone else in the draw once Graf went out, including Martinez who Navratilova lost to in the final. And maybe with the confidence of winning 93 she can win the close match she had vs Graf in 95 (either still in the semis or in another round possibly now). Was never beating Graf in 96 where she got smoked.
And maybe has a chance at a US Open too in a year like 94, 98, or 97 if she has the past confidence of a slam winner, or even an outside shot at a French one of those years, as surprisingly she played well at the French and on clay in general in the 96-98 period, despite never reaching a final. Australia she rarely played again, and didn't play well at all even when she did after 91.
Or maybe she just winds up with Wimbledon 93 and 98, and at best maybe a 3rd Wimbledon, but that is it. It is hard to guage exactly how winning Wimbledon 93 would have impacted the rest of her career, if much at all.
Another thing potentially in her favor if she had a bit more confidence, consistency, and mental strength stemming from a Wimbledon title in 93 is she did decently vs all the top players minus Graf and to some extent Sabatini, but Sabatini was done after mid 93 so that is moot for her really. She did reasonably over the years against Seles, particularly post stabbing, played reasonably well vs Hingis even though the head to head is a bit more one sided due to choked away matches by Jana (Lipton 97, US Open 98, to a lesser extent Wimbledon 97), decently vs Sanchez, well vs Martinez. Did horribly vs Davenport, so that is another one, maybe with the confidence of a slam winner earlier she could do a bit better there but Lindsay would always be a horrible match up for her. And her rivalry with Graf was actualy taking off in the 91-mid 93 period, she had a few wins, and a lot of close losses, but the 93 Wimbledon final itself was the death of that rivalry forever, almost entirely one way traffic for Graf for the rest of their careers, but maybe she is able to do semi reasonably vs Graf too had she won that final.
Obviously we presume her atleast winning the 98 Wimbledon she already won had she won Wimbledon 93, so 2 Wimbledons minimum, but might she have won 3, 4, or even 5? Wimbledons 94 and 97 would be huge opportunities, she came close as it was in 97 but a combination of an injury, a bit of nerves (not a full fledged choke like Wimbledon 93), an inspired Hingis, and as Evert said somehow not reading Hingis's backdown down the line pass she hit continously cost her narrowly losing there. 94 needless to say was wide open, particularly as she might have a higher seed and no longer meet her personal mental nemisis countrywoman Navratilova in the quarters. She probably easily beats anyone else in the draw once Graf went out, including Martinez who Navratilova lost to in the final. And maybe with the confidence of winning 93 she can win the close match she had vs Graf in 95 (either still in the semis or in another round possibly now). Was never beating Graf in 96 where she got smoked.
And maybe has a chance at a US Open too in a year like 94, 98, or 97 if she has the past confidence of a slam winner, or even an outside shot at a French one of those years, as surprisingly she played well at the French and on clay in general in the 96-98 period, despite never reaching a final. Australia she rarely played again, and didn't play well at all even when she did after 91.
Or maybe she just winds up with Wimbledon 93 and 98, and at best maybe a 3rd Wimbledon, but that is it. It is hard to guage exactly how winning Wimbledon 93 would have impacted the rest of her career, if much at all.
Another thing potentially in her favor if she had a bit more confidence, consistency, and mental strength stemming from a Wimbledon title in 93 is she did decently vs all the top players minus Graf and to some extent Sabatini, but Sabatini was done after mid 93 so that is moot for her really. She did reasonably over the years against Seles, particularly post stabbing, played reasonably well vs Hingis even though the head to head is a bit more one sided due to choked away matches by Jana (Lipton 97, US Open 98, to a lesser extent Wimbledon 97), decently vs Sanchez, well vs Martinez. Did horribly vs Davenport, so that is another one, maybe with the confidence of a slam winner earlier she could do a bit better there but Lindsay would always be a horrible match up for her. And her rivalry with Graf was actualy taking off in the 91-mid 93 period, she had a few wins, and a lot of close losses, but the 93 Wimbledon final itself was the death of that rivalry forever, almost entirely one way traffic for Graf for the rest of their careers, but maybe she is able to do semi reasonably vs Graf too had she won that final.
