And yet, Hingis is 17-17 vs. Williams, 11-10 vs. Venus, 6-7 vs. Serena, and she beat both of them at 2001 AO.
Yes. That 1999 French Open final felt like a long delayed big major final between them. Even in 1996 Hingis was already being hyped up as a new big rival to Graf (Hingis won their 1996 Rome match, Graf won their 1996 Wimbledon, 1996 US Open, and 1996 YEC matches, the latter a 5-setter), and then Graf was largely out of it in 1997 as Hingis dominated the year.
Facts are facts, Hingis has won 25 slams.^
Hingis did not win 25 majors. For example, no one is blurring the distinction by adding Serena's 14 doubles and 2 mixed doubles titles to her 23 singles (or she would be recognized for winning 39 majors), or John McEnroe's 9 doubles & 1 mixed double majors to his 7 singles majors (or he would be commonly referred to as the winner of 17), because that is not how a player's majors' count is considered.
Hingis only won 5 majors, as key members of the field were superior to her on either side of the chronology of her career, but the laughable attempts at padding her majors count is not new to threads where some are forever trying to play revisionist history to lift up players who did not live up to the unjustified hype.
It think she would swap 20 of those slams in a heart beat against a FO singles title (doesn't even need to be the 1999 one....).Facts are facts, Hingis has won 25 slams.
Its all there in black-and-white and always has been, no revisionist history necessary.
The hardest thing to do in tennis is win singles AND doubles slam titles, and Shriver has never done it.
I'm not convinced that Shriver had the game to win multiple majors in singles, but maybe she is really unlucky that she had Evert, Navratilova, Austin (and to some extent, Mandlikova) and then Graf always in her way. It's telling that her one final came at 16.
I think both felt they had a point to prove. Hence the obvious tension in each of their final 3 meetings. I don't blame Hingis for resenting people downplaying her 97 due to Grafs injuries. I don't blame Graf for resenting Hingis's references and dismissiveness to her, especially with almost no head to head wins (granted a lot of meetings when Hingis was only 14 or 15), and dismissing any idea her 97 dominance was in part due to Graf's injuries and absence. So I understand both perspectives. I wish they had many more meetings, it was like the great rivalry that never was since neither were healthy or prime together long enough, and not enough matches. Going into 97 it looked like it would be an amazing rivalry to come that would dominate the women's game for the next few years.
Graf did have Sabatini for a time. Admittedly not long in the scheme of things. But for that brief period it was competitive.
Well yes but fact is Sanchez and Sabaini are not in Graf's league. They were pretty good rivalries yes but not rivalries among equals. Kind of like the Serena vs Capriati, Wawrinka vs Djokovic, and Austin vs Evert rivalries. Very good rivalries but will never be cited as two ultimate heavyweights of tennis history going toe to toe.
As I wrote, for a brief period they were competitive:
Exactly, but we know Shiver's record is not viewed in that way, as singles and doubles are obviously considered different disciplines / categories within the sport.
Every multiple singles slam winner would be able to win doubles slams if she did care for that weird competition.
Capriati and Wawrinka are "heavy weights" of the game....?
I meant other examples of rivalries that were not among equals, or not between two historical heavyweights, just like Graf and Sanchez.
Sanchez has played 12 slam finals.
Nobody dragged her out of the locker room. She walked on the court, which means she was willing to take the win - or the loss.
And? Sabatini still the only one to beat healthy Graf in these years.
No She lost to Sanchez at RG in 1989, and to Shriver at YEC in 88. We know she was healthy because she walked on the court and ran around it whacking tennis balls for over an hour and we didn't see a doctor's note saying she wasn't.
It was about the 3 wins Sabatini had over Steffi in 1988/89.
It is not about excuses.
Sabatini was one of the only ones to push Graf in her Golden Slam year of '88, taking Graf to 3 sets at the US Open
Absolutely. Gabi was WHISKERS AWAY from winning that Wimbledon '91 Final. With the streak she was on against Graf at that point (including beating her in the 1990 US Open Final)...winning Wimbledon in '91 would've been HUGE
In the 1990s, there was still a certain respect for doubles, but it had been declining since the 1970s when Borg and Connors soon started opting out of it to focus on singles. Kafelnikov was one of the last throwbacks in regards to playing singles and doubles A LOT. He admitted that he was motivated by money.
It is true that Hingis was gracious in defeat in the USO 99 final against Serena. She smiled and congratulated in the after-speech and even said that she does not bother too much as she will win many more slams. Little did she know....Hingis beat Graf in 1996, and Graf claimed it was the worst she (Graf) ever played despite that clearly being untrue, so Hingis had no reason to respect Graf after that.
They were both competitive people, but Graf was cold and unapproachable, while Hingis was loved by almost everyone on tour, including rivals Jana Novotna, Monica Seles, Lindsay Davenport and Anna Kournikova.
Even Venus and Serena were commonly seen laughing and smiling with Hingis, even in trophy ceremonies, including when Hingis lost to Serena in the 1999 US Open Final and Hingis can be seen laughing and smiling with Serena.
Hingis was always a gracious loser, always reacted very well to being the runner-up, including those devastating AO Finals losses vs. Capriati (2001, 2002) and Davenport (2000).
The difference with Graf, is that Hingis had no way of becoming friends with Graf, because Graf wasn't approachable, so their relationship was only via the press.
With Sabatini it was more a thing of mental strength in big matches. Not about an allegedly bad serve or volley.
Steffi cold and unapproachable??
I don't think he's saying that. If I understand it correctly, it's a title won - in any discipline- is a title won. And counts towards their overall total.
That's fine.
Singles and doubles are both tennis, no matter how much it hurts the feelings of those who are fans of players who won less than 25 slams.
Great or greater are purely subjective terms, something I have no interest in.
Powerful and deadly accurate backhand winner against the GOAT en route to an epic win!! Queen Hingis.Great or greater are purely subjective terms, whereas I'm talking FACTS.
I never mentioned anything about a player being great or greater.
Its a fact Hingis has won 25 slams, no matter how much you cry about it.
