Moose Malloy
G.O.A.T.
Sukova d Navratilova 1-6, 6-3, 7-5
This ended Martina's 74 match win streak, her 46 match win streak on grass, her streak of 6 consecutive majors(which included a 45 match win streak in majors), & her quest for the Calendar Grand Slam of 1984(but the public address announcer did introduce her by saying she completed the 'Grand Slam' by winning the French Open earlier that year, her 4th consecutive major)
Navratilova was 3-0 vs Sukova going into this match, not having lost a set to her. She finished with a 26-6 edge in the rivalry.
During the 1987 AO Womens Final on ESPN, Cliff Drysdale referred to this match as "the best women's match I have ever seen."
my stats:
Navratilova won 52 of 76 points on 1st serve(68%) & 15 of 38 on 2nd(39%)
She made 76 of 114 1st serves(67%)
Sukova won 34 of 54 points on 1st serve(63%) & 22 of 44 on 2nd(50%)
She made 54 of 98 1st serves(55%)
Navratilova won 109 pts, Sukova 103.
Navratilova had 4 aces, 5 df's
Sukova had 5 aces, 3 df's
Navratilova had 39 winners: 11 fh, 7 bh, 6 fhv, 8 bhv, 7 ov
winners by set: 16, 6, 17
Sukova had 47: 14 fh, 18 bh, 4 fhv, 6 bhv, 5 ov
winners by set: 17, 14, 16
Navratilova had 15 passing shot winners(9 fh, 6 bh)
Sukova had 29(11 fh, 18 bh)
Navratilova had 13 unforced errors, Sukova 9(none in the 3rd set)
Navratilova was 4 of 12 on break points
Sukova was 4 of 13
Navrtailova had 26 unreturned serve, 1 I judged a service winner
Sukova had 18, 2 I judged a service winner
Navratilova was 70 of 118 at net(59%)
Sukova was 39 of 60(65%)
The first set score is misleading, there were more points played in that set(80) than either the 2nd or 3rd sets. 6 of the 7 games went to deuce, & Martina faced break point in 3 of her 4 service games(7 in all)
Very impressive for Sukova to shrug off that 1st set loss & continue to play well.
The last game of the match was pretty amazing. 12 points played, 8 clean winners. No unforced errors. Martina saved 5 match points, 4 with fh winners. Sukova made 1st serves on all 5 match points. Not sure if I've ever seen Martina hit her fh as hard as she she did in this game, what a gutsy performance in defeat.
from SI:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1122953/3/index.htm
This ended Martina's 74 match win streak, her 46 match win streak on grass, her streak of 6 consecutive majors(which included a 45 match win streak in majors), & her quest for the Calendar Grand Slam of 1984(but the public address announcer did introduce her by saying she completed the 'Grand Slam' by winning the French Open earlier that year, her 4th consecutive major)
Navratilova was 3-0 vs Sukova going into this match, not having lost a set to her. She finished with a 26-6 edge in the rivalry.
During the 1987 AO Womens Final on ESPN, Cliff Drysdale referred to this match as "the best women's match I have ever seen."
my stats:
Navratilova won 52 of 76 points on 1st serve(68%) & 15 of 38 on 2nd(39%)
She made 76 of 114 1st serves(67%)
Sukova won 34 of 54 points on 1st serve(63%) & 22 of 44 on 2nd(50%)
She made 54 of 98 1st serves(55%)
Navratilova won 109 pts, Sukova 103.
Navratilova had 4 aces, 5 df's
Sukova had 5 aces, 3 df's
Navratilova had 39 winners: 11 fh, 7 bh, 6 fhv, 8 bhv, 7 ov
winners by set: 16, 6, 17
Sukova had 47: 14 fh, 18 bh, 4 fhv, 6 bhv, 5 ov
winners by set: 17, 14, 16
Navratilova had 15 passing shot winners(9 fh, 6 bh)
Sukova had 29(11 fh, 18 bh)
Navratilova had 13 unforced errors, Sukova 9(none in the 3rd set)
Navratilova was 4 of 12 on break points
Sukova was 4 of 13
Navrtailova had 26 unreturned serve, 1 I judged a service winner
Sukova had 18, 2 I judged a service winner
Navratilova was 70 of 118 at net(59%)
Sukova was 39 of 60(65%)
The first set score is misleading, there were more points played in that set(80) than either the 2nd or 3rd sets. 6 of the 7 games went to deuce, & Martina faced break point in 3 of her 4 service games(7 in all)
Very impressive for Sukova to shrug off that 1st set loss & continue to play well.
The last game of the match was pretty amazing. 12 points played, 8 clean winners. No unforced errors. Martina saved 5 match points, 4 with fh winners. Sukova made 1st serves on all 5 match points. Not sure if I've ever seen Martina hit her fh as hard as she she did in this game, what a gutsy performance in defeat.
from SI:
Although Navratilova had lost but once in the past 18 months—on Jan. 15 to Hana Mandlikova—there was a growing feeling on the tour that she was ripe for the taking, that the sheer weight of numbers pressed on her. "For months now, Martina's been playing not to lose, rather than to win," said Don Candy, Pam Shriver's coach. Navratilova's volleys had become more jabs than punches, her attacking slice backhand short and choppy. Also, since she'd started working on a new high-kick serve late last year, her wide and wonderful lefty delivery into the ad court often seemed to have been missing in action.
Only in doubles, where Navratilova's numbers are every bit as impressive but where onlookers don't count out loud, did her game remain in full flower. At Kooyong, not only would she and Shriver become the first women's team ever to win a Calendar Slam, but they also would win their seventh straight Grand Slam championship and an unprecedented 83rd match in a row.
The Navratilova-Sukova semifinal will be remembered as one of the most exciting matches ever played at Kooyong Stadium. Navratilova won the first set at one, but Sukova was marionette-loose, and the score was deceptive. Six of the seven games went to deuce. Certainly, at home in Perth, Margaret Court, the last Calendar Slammer, had no business leaving her TV to go shopping at that point, which is exactly, what Court did.
Sukova pulled on a blue sweater early in the second set and got a break for 4-2. When she held serve for a 5-2 lead, she looked over to Kurz and gestured mischievously that maybe she should walk off now,-because the modest goal they'd set was for her to win five games in a set. Sukova was simply having a dandy time, and she held again to win the set 6-3.
Almost nonchalantly, she powered her way to a two-break 3-0 in the third. Navratilova was volleying shakily and foolishly coming in behind all of her many shallow second serves, which were duck soup for Sukova's accurate artillery. In the women's locker room, the players began to cluster about a TV. Little Carling Bassett, at 17� a whole year and a half younger than the doddering Sukova, sighed, "Oh, if you can just beat her, Helena, you'll be my idol for life." Hoots, catcalls.
Instead, Navratilova came back to tie the set at 4-4. But Sukova wasn't cowed. "When I lost a point, I'd just say, 'Let's try another one and forget that,' " she said later. "I wasn't nervous or anything." Then, to the astonishment of the 12,000 spectators, Sukova got the next break. After Sukova made a sharp volley and Navratilova botched an easier one, Navratilova twice failed to serve wide enough to the ad court. Sukova passed her both times to go ahead 6-5.
Quickly, Sukova went up triple match point. On the practice courts, men laid down their rackets to read history on the scoreboard high on the stadium's rim. In the women's locker room, bedlam reigned. Sukova hit three sterling serves. Navratilova responded with three forehand winners. Sukova earned two more advantages, and Navratilova slugged two more forehand winners. The kid had banged in five excellent first balls, but the champion had saved five match points, streak points, Slam points, history points.
Yet Sukova kept peppering the Navratilova forehand. If that's advertised as being Martina's better wing, she swoops in more naturally off her slice backhand. When, at the next deuce, Sukova finally missed a first serve, to the forehand, she had the audacity to deliver a second to the same side. Shocked, Navratilova pushed the return wide. Match point No. 6. "Dammit," Navratilova muttered. In the mad locker room, if one voice called it out, half a dozen did: The backhand, Helena.... Spin it, three-quarters.... Kick it three-quarters to the bloody backhand. And that, at last, is what Sukova did. The return feathered wide. The streak was over. Mo Connolly and Court are still the only Calendar Girls.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1122953/3/index.htm
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