We talk a lot about Evert missing chances of some easy majors at RG,extending her clay GOAT status, but how many Aussies could Martina have collected with more consistent attendance? Her actual record prior to '88, is 3 wins + 3 runner-ups + 2 semifinal finishes and zero earlier round losses in 8 attempts on the higher bouncing drier grass of Kooyung.
It looks like an Evertish kind of consistency record at a major except she did not play from 1976-1979, after reaching the final in 1975, losing to Goolagong. That is 4 years of potential add-ons to the 18 majors she has and irrefutable proof of her GOAT grass-court status.
let's look at the draws and finalists in those 4 events.
1976 8 seeds in order were: Goolagong, Melville, Niessen-Masthoff, Barker, Tomanova, Gourlay, Turner-Bowrey, Young. No one here is stopping even a young Martina from reaching the semis and finals in my view, and she a good chance of beating all but Evonne. Certainly the eventual finalist Tomanova isn't a shoe -in over Navratilova. Still, no doubt she loses to the same woman who beat her the year before.
1977 4 seeds (my source does not go lower this year) in order were: Fromholtz (1) Melville-Reid, Gourlay, Nagelson. other possibilities were Judy Tegart (lost in 1st round), Karen Krantzcke (semi) and '78 winner Chris O'Neil. Looks like easy fairly pickings for Martina a year before she won Wimbledon and a potential 19th major.
1978 7 seeds listed on the site: Barker (1), Tomanova, Beth Norton, Amanda Tobin, Rene Blount,Cynthia Doerner, Nagelson,The only other name I recognise is Chris O'Neil. I see Martina with a solid 20th major and 5 Aussies thus far.
1979 : 8 seeds listed but # 6 is somehow missing! Ruzici (#1 lost in first rd), Mandlikova (lost in the QF's)Tomanova,Sharon Walsh, Barbara Jordan, Janet Newberry Cynthia Doerner Hana wasn't a threat yet to Martina and had few big wins at this stage. I see a 21 st major championship here for Martina.
Of course this all begs the question of how much real importance to put on these tournaments, but we do forget that these actually were grapes sitting on a vine for Navratilova or for Evert who won her first Wimbledon in 1976 and reached the finals down here in 1974! Evert did not suffer a loss to Martina on Grass until 1978. They might have split them had they both come down. But I can't imagine either woman is defeating Goolagong in 1976
It looks like an Evertish kind of consistency record at a major except she did not play from 1976-1979, after reaching the final in 1975, losing to Goolagong. That is 4 years of potential add-ons to the 18 majors she has and irrefutable proof of her GOAT grass-court status.
let's look at the draws and finalists in those 4 events.
1976 8 seeds in order were: Goolagong, Melville, Niessen-Masthoff, Barker, Tomanova, Gourlay, Turner-Bowrey, Young. No one here is stopping even a young Martina from reaching the semis and finals in my view, and she a good chance of beating all but Evonne. Certainly the eventual finalist Tomanova isn't a shoe -in over Navratilova. Still, no doubt she loses to the same woman who beat her the year before.
1977 4 seeds (my source does not go lower this year) in order were: Fromholtz (1) Melville-Reid, Gourlay, Nagelson. other possibilities were Judy Tegart (lost in 1st round), Karen Krantzcke (semi) and '78 winner Chris O'Neil. Looks like easy fairly pickings for Martina a year before she won Wimbledon and a potential 19th major.
1978 7 seeds listed on the site: Barker (1), Tomanova, Beth Norton, Amanda Tobin, Rene Blount,Cynthia Doerner, Nagelson,The only other name I recognise is Chris O'Neil. I see Martina with a solid 20th major and 5 Aussies thus far.
1979 : 8 seeds listed but # 6 is somehow missing! Ruzici (#1 lost in first rd), Mandlikova (lost in the QF's)Tomanova,Sharon Walsh, Barbara Jordan, Janet Newberry Cynthia Doerner Hana wasn't a threat yet to Martina and had few big wins at this stage. I see a 21 st major championship here for Martina.
Of course this all begs the question of how much real importance to put on these tournaments, but we do forget that these actually were grapes sitting on a vine for Navratilova or for Evert who won her first Wimbledon in 1976 and reached the finals down here in 1974! Evert did not suffer a loss to Martina on Grass until 1978. They might have split them had they both come down. But I can't imagine either woman is defeating Goolagong in 1976
Last edited:
The fact that she worked harder on her fitness and developed a better mentality just shows how much she wanted to succeed so how on earth can you say she was fortunate? It almost sounds like you're intimating that she shouldn't have been awarded for trying to improve her career which is obviously ludicrous. She deserved every single one of her 18 Slams and no credit should be taken away from her extraordinary accomplishments, not by you or anybody.
