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Gabriela Sabatini

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Gabriela Sabatini
Country  Argentina
Residence Buenos Aires and Boca Raton
Born 16 May 1970 (1970-05-16) (age 41)
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight 59 kg (130 lb)
Turned pro January 1985
Retired 1996
Plays Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Career prize money $8,785,850
Int. Tennis HOF 2006 (member page)
Singles
Career record 632–189
Career titles 27
Highest ranking No. 3 (27 February 1989)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open SF (1989, 1992, 1993, 1994)
French Open SF (1985, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992)
Wimbledon F (1991)
US Open W (1990)
Doubles
Career record 252–96
Career titles 14
Highest ranking No. 3 (6 November 1988)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open SF (1989)
French Open F (1986, 1987, 1989)
Wimbledon W (1988)
US Open SF (1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1994)
Last updated on: 4 February 2009.
Olympic medal record
Women's Tennis
Silver 1988 Seoul Singles

Gabriela Beatriz Sabatini (born 16 May 1970 in Buenos Aires, Argentina) is a former professional Argentine tennis player. She was one of the leading players on the women's circuit in the late-1980s and early-1990s. She won the women's singles title at the US Open in 1990, the women's doubles title at Wimbledon in 1988, two WTA Tour Championships in 1988 and 1994, and a silver medal at the 1988 Olympic Games.

Sabatini also won most of the highest level regular events on the women's tour, including Miami and Rome (four times), and she scored a total 10 wins over every reigning number one player she faced during her career. Known affectionately as the Pearl of the Pampas, also as The Divine Argentine, her versatile stylish game and attractive Latin looks brought her a wide following, making her one of the most popular players ever on the women's tour.

Contents

[edit] Career

Sabatini first came to the tennis world's attention as a junior. She started playing tennis at the age of 6, and won her first tournament at age 8. In 1983, age 13, she became the youngest player to win the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. She won six major international junior titles, including the French Open girls' singles, and was ranked the World No. 1 junior player in 1984.

In 1985, aged 15 years and 3 weeks, Sabatini became the youngest-ever player to reach the semifinals at the French Open, where she lost to Chris Evert. She won her first top-level singles title later that year in Tokyo.

In 1988, Sabatini reached her first Grand Slam singles final at the US Open. She faced Germany's Steffi Graf, who had won the three previous Grand Slam singles events that year and was looking to win a fourth. Graf won the match 6–3, 3–6, 6–1.[1] Sabatini was selected to represent Argentina in the 1988 Summer Olympics held in Seoul. (She also carried the country's flag in the opening ceremony.) She went on to win the silver medal in the women's singles competition. In the final, she again faced Graf, who was bidding to turn her Grand Slam into what the media had dubbed a "Golden Slam".[2] Graf won 6–3, 6–3. Sabatini teamed-up with Graf to win the women's doubles title at Wimbledon that year. She also won 1988's year-end WTA Tour Championships.

Sabatini's next Grand Slam singles final came in 1990, where she again faced Graf in the final of the US Open. This time, Sabatini beat Graf 6–2, 7–6. She also beat Graf in a semifinal of the WTA Tour Championships but lost the final to Monica Seles in the event's first-ever five-set final 6–4, 5–7, 3–6, 6–4, 6–2.

Sabatini had a strong start to 1991, winning five tournaments in the first half of the year. She reached her third Grand Slam singles final at Wimbledon and yet again faced Graf. Graf prevailed 6–4, 3–6, 8–6, despite the fact that Sabatini served for the match on more than one occasion. Sabatini came close to attaining the World No. 1 ranking in 1991 but was narrowly denied by Graf and then by Seles. All three players' rankings were within a few points of each other for much of the year.

After winning five tournaments in 1992, Sabatini had a 29-month drought in which she failed to win a title. She brought this run to an end at the WTA Tour Championships in 1994 and then won her first tournament of 1995 at Sydney (defeating Lindsay Davenport in the final of both events). But that proved to be the last singles title of Sabatini's career. In 1988 she was voted the hottest tennis player alive by Tennis Watchers of North Carolina. In 1989, she launched her own perfume, simply named "Gabriela Sabatini". Since retiring from competitive tennis, she has launched several other perfume lines. In 1992, a red-orange fiery rose was named the "Gabriela Sabatini Rose" in her honor.

In 1994, the Great American Doll Company created a doll in Sabatini's likeness, dressed in tennis clothes.[3] That same year, Sabatini published a motivational book entitled My Story (ISBN 1-886612-00-5) [1], providing a look at her background and the inspirations that led her to become a tennis player.

Sabatini retired from the professional tour in 1996, having won 27 singles titles and 14 doubles titles. She reached her highest ranking of World No. 3 in 1989. Her last professional singles match was on October 14, 1996, when she lost to Jennifer Capriati 6-3, 6-4. (Capriati's first loss on the WTA tour was to Sabatini in 1990.) Sabatini played her last professional match on October 19, 1996, in the doubles semifinals in Zürich with Lori McNeil. Sabatini was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame on July 15, 2006.

[edit] Major finals

[edit] Grand Slam finals

[edit] Singles: 3 (1-2)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Opponent in the final Score in the final
Runner-up 1988 US Open Hard Germany Steffi Graf 6–3, 3–6, 6–1
Winner 1990 US Open Hard Germany Steffi Graf 6–2, 7–6
Runner-up 1991 Wimbledon Grass Germany Steffi Graf 6–4, 3–6, 8–6

[edit] Doubles: 4 (1-3)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents in the final Score in the final
Runner-up 1986 French Open Clay Germany Steffi Graf United States Martina Navratilova
Hungary Andrea Temesvári		 6–1, 6–2
Runner-up 1987 French Open (2) Clay Germany Steffi Graf United States Martina Navratilova
United States Pam Shriver		 6–2, 6–1
Winner 1988 Wimbledon Grass Germany Steffi Graf Soviet Union Larisa Savchenko
Soviet Union Natasha Zvereva		 6–3, 1–6, 12–10
Runner-up 1989 French Open (3) Clay Germany Steffi Graf Soviet Union Larisa Savchenko
Soviet Union Natasha Zvereva		 6–4, 6–4

[edit] Olympic finals

[edit] Singles: 1 (1 silver medal)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Opponent in the final Score in the final
Silver medal 1988 Seoul Hard West Germany Steffi Graf 6–3, 6–3

[edit] Year-End Championships finals

[edit] Singles: 4 (2-2)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Opponent in the final Score in the final
Runner-up 1987 New York City Carpet (i) West Germany Steffi Graf 4–6, 6–4, 6–0, 6–4
Winner 1988 New York City Carpet (i) United States Pam Shriver 7–5, 6–2, 6–2
Runner-up 1990 New York City Carpet (i) Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Monica Seles 6–4, 5–7, 3–6, 6–4, 6–2
Winner 1994 New York City Carpet (i) United States Lindsay Davenport 6–3, 6–2, 6–4

[edit] Titles (41)

[edit] Singles (27)

No. Event Date Location Surface Opponent in Final Score in Final
1 VS 14 October 1985 Tokyo, Japan (Japan Open) Hard United States Linda Gates 6–3, 6–4
2 VS 1 December 1986 Buenos Aires, Argentina Clay Spain Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 6–1, 6–1
3 VS 14 September 1987 Tokyo, Japan (Pan Pacific Open) Carpet (i) Bulgaria Manuela Maleeva 6–4, 7–6(6)
4 VS 19 October 1987 Brighton, UK Carpet (i) United States Pam Shriver 7–5, 6–4
5 VS 30 November 1987 Buenos Aires, Argentina Clay Germany Isabel Cueto 6–0, 6–2
6 Tier II 7 March 1988 Boca Raton, USA Hard Germany Steffi Graf 2–6, 6–3, 6–1
7 Tier IV 2 May 1988 Rome, Italy Clay Canada Helen Kelesi 6–1, 6–7(4), 6–1
8 Tier II 15 August 1988 Montreal, Canada Hard Soviet Union Natasha Zvereva 6–1, 6–2
9 WTA Championships 14 November 1988 Virginia Slims Championships, New York City Carpet (i) United States Pam Shriver 7–5, 6–3, 6–2
10 Tier I 27 March 1989 Key Biscayne, USA Hard United States Chris Evert 6–1, 4–6, 6–2
11 Tier II 10 April 1989 Amelia Island, USA Clay Germany Steffi Graf 3–6, 6–3, 7–5
12 Tier II 8 May 1989 Rome, Italy Clay Spain Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 6–2, 5–7, 6–4
13 Tier III 9 October 1989 Filderstadt, Germany Carpet (i) United States Mary Joe Fernandez 7–6(5), 6–4
14 Tier II 5 March 1990 Boca Raton, USA Hard United States Jennifer Capriati 6–4, 7–5
15 Grand Slam 27 August 1990 US Open, New York City Hard Germany Steffi Graf 6–2, 7–6(4)
16 Tier II 28 January 1991 Tokyo, Japan (Pan Pacific Open) Carpet (i) United States Martina Navratilova 2–6, 6–2, 6–4
17 Tier I 4 March 1991 Boca Raton, USA Hard Germany Steffi Graf 6–4, 7–6(6)
18 Tier I 1 April 1991 Hilton Head Island, USA Clay Soviet Union Leila Meskhi 6–1, 6–1
19 Tier II 8 April 1991 Amelia Island, USA Clay Germany Steffi Graf 7–5, 7–6(3)
20 Tier I 6 May 1991 Rome, Italy Clay Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Monica Seles 6–3, 6–2
21 Tier III 6 January 1992 Sydney, Australia Hard Spain Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 6–1, 6–1
22 Tier II 27 January 1992 Tokyo, Japan (Pan Pacific Open) Carpet (i) United States Martina Navratilova 6–2, 4–6, 6–2
23 Tier I 30 March 1992 Hilton Head Island, USA Clay Spain Conchita Martínez 6–1, 6–4
24 Tier II 6 April 1992 Amelia Island, USA Clay Germany Steffi Graf 6–2, 1–6, 6–3
25 Tier I 4 May 1992 Rome, Italy Clay Serbia and Montenegro Monica Seles 7–5, 6–4
26 WTA Championships 14 November 1994 Virginia Slims Championships, New York City Carpet (i) United States Lindsay Davenport 6–3, 6–2, 6–4
27 Tier II 9 January 1995 Sydney, Australia Hard United States Lindsay Davenport 6–3, 6–4

[edit] Doubles (14)

Grand slam events in boldface.

[edit] Runner-ups (44)

Grand slam events in boldface.

[edit] Singles (28)

[edit] Doubles (16)

[edit] Singles performance timeline

Tournament 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 Career SR
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open A A NH A A SF 3R QF SF SF SF 1R 4R 0 / 8
French Open A SF 4R SF SF 4R 4R SF SF QF 1R QF A 0 / 11
Wimbledon A 3R SF QF 4R 2R SF F SF QF 4R QF A 0 / 11
US Open 3R 1R 4R QF F SF W QF QF QF SF SF 3R 1 / 13
Grand Slam SR 0 / 1 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 4 1 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 2 1 / 43
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics NH F NH A NH 3R 0 / 2
Year-End Championship
WTA Tour Championships A A 1R 1R F W SF F SF SF 1R W QF A 2 / 11
Career Statistics
Tournaments Won 0 1 1 3 4 4 2 5 5 0 1 1 0 27
Year End Ranking 74 11 10 6 4 3 5 3 3 5 7 7 29 N/A
  • NH = tournament not held.
  • A = did not participate in the tournament.
  • SR = the ratio of the number of tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.

[edit] WTA Tour career earnings

Year Grand Slam
singles titles		 WTA
singles titles		 Total
singles titles		 Earnings ($) Money list rank
1984-85 0 1 1 398,784 n/a
1986 0 1 1 264,139 8
1987 0 3 3 465,933 6
1988 0 4 4 995,399 3
1989 0 4 4 580,801 3
1990 1 1 2 975,490 4
1991 0 5 5 1,168,561 3
1992 0 5 5 1,207,565 4
1993 0 0 0 957,680 5
1994 0 1 1 874,470 6
1995 0 1 1 718,978 6
1996 0 0 0 178,050 37
Career 1 26 27 8,785,850 24

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Miller, Stuart (2006). The 100 Greatest Days in New York Sports. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 305. ISBN 9780618574803. http://books.google.com/?id=gbStu-wg1dIC&pg=RA3-PA305. Retrieved 2009-07-21. 
  2. ^ Woolum, Janet (1998). Outstanding women athletes (2 ed.). Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 58. ISBN 9781573561204. http://books.google.com/?id=DWmCWO6SpsYC&pg=PA58. Retrieved 2009-07-21. 
  3. ^ New York Media, LLC (1992-11-09). "Why Sabatini Is Every Inch a Doll". New York Magazine 25 (44): 18. ISSN 0028-7369. http://books.google.com/?id=BeUCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA18. Retrieved 2009-07-21. 

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gabriela Sabatini
Awards
Preceded by
Argentina Diego Maradona		 Olimpia de Oro
1987 – 1988		 Succeeded by
Argentina Eduardo Romero
Olympic Games
Preceded by
Ricardo Ibarra		 Flagbearer for  Argentina
Seoul 1988		 Succeeded by
Marcelo Garrafo
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