I'm saying that if you say that Seles had the toughest competition, Graf was equal in competition. While I'll grant you Sanchez, I don't grant you a 14 year old Capriati or Sabatini as fierce rivals.
From 1991-1993 Capriati was 15 to 17, not 14. Still Capriati's 2 primes as a player were clearly 1991-1993 and 2001-2003. Anyone who followed her career would find that obvious.
Sabatini is probably the greatest player ever to win only 1 slam title. She has a horde of tier 1 titles, 18 slam semis, twice won the WTA Championships which is the biggest non slam event She was just unlucky to be in the era of multiple superior players: Graf and Navratilova early on, then Graf, Seles, and Sanchez Vicario in the 90s. Can you name another player without atleast 3 slams with her overall credentials.
However the main point to note is this. Seles had GRAF as competition. You expect anyone to agree to Martina and Chris having the toughest competition only since they had each other. Well by your logic Seles had Graf, so if having Martina or Chris as your competition is enough, then having Graf should be enough to. By contrast Graf did NOT have Seles. Gunther Parche made sure of that. So Seles had Graf as her competition, Graf did not have Seles as her competition. That is already the biggest difference in the competition they faced.
You talk about Court having Goolagong as a rival? And count Martina as a rival to Seles? Fine. Goolagong is also a rival for Evert, as is King, Court, Martina, Hana, Tracy, and Steffi. Then you penalize Chris for beating Jausevec, Turnbull and Morozova?
I only mentioned Martina in the context she was aging since if you were going to bring her up as competition for Graf in the late 80s despite her being aged (and thus diminished competition) the same would hold true for Seles in the early 90s. That is all. King faced Evert at only 1 slam event in 74-75, a loss to 31 year old King at Wimbledon. King then returned to tour in 77 at 33. A near prime King was never part of Evert's "competition" atleast while she was actually winning. Court didnt play Evert until after Evert's first slam until 1975 when she was also already 33. So again an anywhere near prime Court was not part of Evert's "competition".
A prime Tracy lasted only 3 years- 1979 to 1981. After 1981 she was done, she played some part time tennis in 1982 and 1983 already a huge shadow of her old self. She didnt even play the French Open any of those 3 years, and she and Evert didnt play at any slam outside the U.S Open. Not much of a contemporary rival.
Hana yes is competition, although one of the most inconsistent players to win 3-4 slams in history.
Steffi won her first slam a full year after Evert's last. They are far from contemporaries or "competition" for each other. Anyway if you are really insistent on counting a 15 and 16 year old Graf as major competition for Evert, than even an early 30s Evert would have to qualify as legit competition for Graf by the same standards.
Who did Court beat at her Slams? Aside from 64 to 65, when she dealt with an aging Bueno and King, and then 71-73 when she dealt with an Evert and Goolagong who were both just starting to make their marks, no one of consequence. Four of her Slam wins came over Jan Lehane. Two were over Lesley Turner. Two over Nancy Richey, one of which was by walkover. Ann Jones, Kerry Reid, Helga Masthoff and Rosemary Casals. Yeah, those are names to strike fear into the hearts of players everywhere. They were solid players, just like Turnbull and Morozova, but no more.
Most of Court's weak final opponents you refer to were at the Australian Open which as noted wasnt truly valued as a slam back then. So much of the weaker final opponents you refer to has more to do with the Australian Opens status then, and Court's insistence on playing it each year due to being Australian, than the actual field. If the Australian Open had been a valued slam then she probably would have won 5-7 times and beaten similar caliber opponents as she beat at Wimbledon and the U.S Open. Of her 5 French Opens her final opponents included Lesley Turner, a clay court specialist who won the French twice, was in 4 French open finals, and had multiple wins over Court in her career on clay. Maria Bueno, a top 15 player all time. Ann Jones, a clay court specialist who won the French twice, was in 5 French finals that decade, and yet who was even good enough to win Wimbledon on grass in her career. Gourlay in the 71 final, so yes a weaker final opponent there. Then in 1973 at nearly 31 downing an 18 year old Evert in the French Open final. Of her 3 Wimbledons she beat Bueno in 1 final and King in two others. Of her 5 U.S Opens she beat King, Ann Jones, Goolagong, Richey, and Casals. Casals is obviously the weakest of those, Jones and Richey are still multiple slam winners who have beaten the best on multiple occasions in slams. At the Australian Open she still did beat Bueno, King, and Goolagong twice.
Lastly you say an aging Bueno?!? Bueno is less than 3 years older than Court. Bueno was also only 26 years when Court played her in the last of their slam finals. Their rivalry was strong from 1960 to 1966 when Bueno was only 20 to 27 years old. Yet you are talking about Court and King in their 30s when Evert finally started winning her slams with them in the field as competition while Bueno is somehow aging when Court faced her. :lol:
Evert beat Goolagong for three of her Slams, Hana for two of her Slams, and Martina for four of her Slams. She lost to Martina in 10 Slam finals, mostly at Wimbledon, and Graf in one, Court in one, and King in one.
So Evert beat Martina and Goolagong for only 7 of her slams. Court beat King, Bueno, Goolagong, and Evert for 11 of her slams. Hana is barely more accomplished than someone like Ann Jones, and Ann Jones beating prime King and prime Court back to back to win Wimbledon is equally impressive to Hana's career high moment at the 85 U.S Open. I see Court beating more tough opponents in finals than Evert did.
Sorry, Evert and Martina had the toughest competition, again, because they had to go through each other for pretty much their whole careers, plus they had excellent players who could threaten, like King, Goolagong, Hana, and Steffi.
Sorry but the aging King is no more an Evert contemporary during the Evert reign than say Navratilova or the aging Evert would be a Graf contemporary during the Graf reign, or Martina during the Seles reign. Likewise young Graf is just as little a contemporary of Martina during the tail end of her reign (or the tail end of Evert's wins) as Evert was for Court and King during the tail end of theirs. Goolagong was a legit opponent for both Court and Evert as I already explained, having half her prime during the Court reign and half during the Evert, and playing Court in multiple slam finals during her best years just like Evert.
