Gabriela Sabatini looked back on her professional career before her 50th anniversary in an interview to Newspaper La Nacion.
The Argentine player was one of the best players in the early 1990s and won the biggest title of her career at the 1990 US Open at the age of 20 beating her German rival Steffi Graf 6-2 7-6 after dropping one set in the whole tournament against Mary Joe Fernandez.
In 1985 Sabatini became one of the youngest ever players to reach the semifinals of the French Open, where she lost to US legend Chris Evert at the age of 15. Sabatini won her maiden top-level singles title later that year in Tokyo.
“It was an incredible feeling to play on Centre Court at Roland Garros at the age of 15. I did not even realize who my rival was, even though Chris Evert was one of the best players in the world, when I started playing tennis. I enjoyed playing a semifinal at Roland Garros and I did not fully realize what really meant to play against such a big player”
Sabatini also won the women’s doubles title at Wimbledon in 1988, two WTA Finals crowns in 1988 and 1994 and lost the Olympic singles final against Graf in Seoul 1988. With her Olympic gold medal in the South Korean capital the German legend won the Golden Grand Slam. In the same year Graf and Sabatini won the doubles title at Wimbledon.
“The Olympic Games were a unique experience, because tennis players do not have many opportunities to play for their country. At that time the Olympic tournament did not give points for the WTA Eanking, but it was rewarding to represent Argentina and share this experience with other players. We were in the same family and we ate together, This gave me a lot of energy. I was more motivated than ever when I came back from this experience. At the Olympic Games you really breathe the true spirit of sport”.
In 1991 Sabatini came two points away from winning the Wimbledon title before Graf won the third set 8-6.
Gabriela reached her first US Open final in 1988 as a teenager losing to Graf in three sets. The German became the third player in history to win all Grand Slam titles in the same year after Maureen Connolly in 1953 and Margaret Smith Court in 1970. Sabatini won 37 WTA titles and reached a career-high of world number 3. Her career also included eleven Grand Slam singles semifinals.
Sabatini and Graf met 40 times from 1985 to 1995. Graf beat her South American player 29 times.
Sabatini won four trophies at the Internazionali d’Italia in Rome in 1988, 1989, 1991 and 1992. The Argentine player had a special relationship to the Rome tournament and Italian crowd, also thanks to her Italian origin. Her grandfather David Sabbatini was born in Potenza Picena in the Marche region and immigrated to Argentina at the end of 19th century.
In 1987 she lost to Graf in the final of the Rome tournament in three sets before winning four of the next five editions and 23 of her 24 matches at the Foro Italico. In 1990 Sabatini lost to Martina Navratilova in the semifinal. In 1991 and 1992 Sabatini beat then world number 1 Monica Seles in straight sets.
“I felt at home in New York and Rome. There are places where I feel very well, even outside the tennis court. In these cities the crowd is very supportive and this gave me a lot of energy. My relatives came to Rome to attend my matches. I went to town of origin of my grandfather. It was nice to visit the home of my father’s grandmother”.
Sabatini played her last singles match on 14th October 1996, when she lost in straight sets to Jennifer Capriati in the first round of the European Indoors.
She has dedicated her years after the end of her tennis career to her perfume line since retiring at the age of 26. She has become a successful businesswoman. She has had a place in the Hall of Fame in Newport since 2006.
“I am happy to be where I am today, to have experienced what I have experienced. Tennis gave me a lot more than it took away. It gave me the opportunity to travel, get to know the world, meet the world. I was an introverted and scared person. I was paralyzed by the fear of having to speak publicly as a tournament winner and speak to the press. I could not play freely any more. My head was completely closed. Tennis helped me express myself. This sport gave me the chance to travel around the world. ”, said Sabatini to Sebastian Torok, a tennis writer for the Argentine Newspaper La Nacion.
Sabatini was planning to celebrate her 50th birthday in Zurich but she has been forced to stay in Miami after the outbreak of the coronavirus.
“I am spending these days in Miami. It’s difficult to get through this strange period. I cannot complain. I stay in Miami in a comfortable place, where we can practice sport outdoors. I am here waiting the period, when I can return to Switzerland. My thoughts go to those, who are getting through a difficult period because of the economic crisis”.
Sabatini said that tennis must face other priorities before restarting the international calendar. She cast her dubts that the tennis season will resume this year.
. “In the coming months I think it will be difficult to hold any sporting event. I have my doubts that something can be done this year in tennis”, concluded Sabatini.
