Gabriela Sabatini

Gabriela Sabatini

Sabatini with her perfume in 2006
Country	Argentina
Residence	Buenos Aires and Boca Raton
Born	(1970-05-16) 16 May 1970 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)
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 Singles results
Australian Open	SF (1989, 1992, 1993, 1994)
French Open	SF (1985, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992)
Wimbledon	F (1991)
US Open	W (1990)
Other tournaments
Championships	W (1988, 1994)
Olympic Games	Silver medal (1988)
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, 1996)
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 Year-End 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.

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 three 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. 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". 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.

1990 US Open: Sabatini upsets Steffi Graf

Sabatini's next Grand Slam singles final came in 1990, where she again faced Steffi Graf in the final of the US Open. This time, Sabatini beat Steffi 6–2, 7–6. She also beat Steffi 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.

1991

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 Steffi Graf. Steffi 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 Steffi Graf and then by Monica Seles. All three players' rankings were within a few points of each other for much of the year.

1992: A mixed bag

Although winning 5 tournaments in 1992, Sabatini failed to reach a Grand Slam Final. At the 1992 Australian Open, Sabatini lost to Mary Joe Fernandez in the semifinals, 6–1, 6–4. Playing fine tennis at the 1992 French Open, Sabatini dropped a tight match against Monica Seles in the semifinals. In the third and decisive set, Sabatini was leading 4–2, but Monica rallied to beat Sabatini 6–3, 4–6, 6–4. At Wimbledon of that year, Sabatini looked to reach a second consecutive Wimbledon Final. And, just as the previous year, Sabatini found Steffi Graf standing in her way, this time in the ladies semifinals. But, unlike their 1991 Championship match, Steffi disposed of Sabatini easily, beating Sabatini 6–3, 6–3. And finally, at the 1992 US Open, Sabatini lost once again to Mary Joe Fernandez in the Quarterfinals, 2–6, 6–1, 4–6.

1993

At the start of the 1993 season, Sabatini continued to advance deep into Grand Slam singles events. At the Australian Open of that year, she reached the semifinals but lost to eventual champion Monica Seles 2–6, 1–6. Later that year, at the French Open, Sabatini was defeated by Mary Joe Fernandez in a Quarterfinal clash. Sabatini had raced out to a commanding 6–1, 5–1 lead and appeared poised for the easy victory. However, Mary Joe saved five match points en route to winning a second set tiebreak. Finally, after 3 and a half hours, Mary Joe eliminated Sabatini by a final score of 1–6, 7–6(7–4), 10–8. Despite the setback at the French Open, Sabatini reached the Quarterfinals at 1993 Wimbledon, facing Jana Novotna, a player she had beaten in 6 consecutive matches. But this time Jana got rid of Sabatini in straight sets 6–4, 6–3. At the 1993 US Open, Sabatini had hoped to end the year on a high note, but she would first have to get past Steffi Graf in the Quarterfinals. In their 4 previous meetings, Steffi had gotten the best of Sabatini, but Sabatini looked to change those recent results. After losing the first set 2–6, Sabatini raised the level of her game in the second set, winning 7–5 to even the match at one set apiece. However, in the third and deciding set, Steffi dismantled Sabatini 6–1 to win the match.

1994

After winning five tournaments in 1992, Sabatini had a 29-month drought in which she failed to win a title. At the 1994 Bausch & Lomb Championships in Amelia Island, Florida, Sabatini reached her first singles final in nearly a year, as she faced Arantxa Sanchez Vicario. It was also a rematch of the 1993 Bausch & Lomb final, where Arantxa disposed of Sabatini 6–2, 5–7, 6–2. Now, one year later, both players were looking to end streaks without a singles title: Sabatini was winless in 32 consecutive tournaments while Arantxa's streak had reached 15 tournaments. This time around Arantxa beat Sabatini in convincing fashion 6–1, 6–4 for the sixth time in their last seven meetings.

Sabatini finally brought her winless streak 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 1994, the Great American Doll Company created a doll in Sabatini's likeness, dressed in tennis clothes. 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. In 2001 she won the Diamond Konex Award as the most relevant Sportman of the decade in Argentina. Sabatini was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame on July 15, 2006.

Major finals

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner–ups)

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

Women's doubles: 4 (1 title, 3 runner–ups)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1986	French Open	Clay	Steffi Graf	Martina Navratilova Andrea Temesvári	6–1, 6–2
Runner-up	1987	French Open	Clay	Steffi Graf	Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver	6–2, 6–1
Winner	1988	Wimbledon	Grass	Steffi Graf	Larisa Savchenko Natasha Zvereva	6–3, 1–6, 12–10
Runner-up	1989	French Open	Clay	Steffi Graf	Larisa Savchenko Natasha Zvereva	6–4, 6–4

Olympics

Singles: 1 (1 silver medal)

Outcome	Year	Location	Surface	Opponent	Score
Silver medal	1988	Seoul	Hard	Steffi Graf	6–3, 6–3

Year-End Championships finals

Singles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner–ups)

Outcome	Year	Location	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1987	New York City	Carpet (I)	Steffi Graf	4–6, 6–4, 6–0, 6–4
Winner	1988	New York City	Carpet (I)	Pam Shriver	7–5, 6–2, 6–2
Runner-up	1990	New York City	Carpet (I)	Monica Seles	6–4, 5–7, 3–6, 6–4, 6–2
Winner	1994	New York City	Carpet (I)	Lindsay Davenport	6–3, 6–2, 6–4

WTA Career Finals

Singles: 55 (27–28)

Winner — Legend Grand Slam tournaments (1–2) WTA Tour Championships (2–2) Olympic Games (0–1) Tier I (6–5) Tier II (10–12) Tier III (2–1) Tier IV (1–1) Tier V (1–0) Virginia Slims (4–4)

Titles by Surface Hard (9–7) Grass (0–1) Clay (11–13) Carpet (7–7)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1.	8 April 1985	Hilton Head Island	Clay	Chris Evert-Lloyd	4–6, 2–6
Winner	1.	14 October 1985	Tokyo	Hard	Linda Gates	6–3, 6–4
Runner-up	2.	4 November 1985	Tampa	Hard	Stephanie Rehe	4–6, 7–6(4), 5–7
Runner-up	3.	28 April 1986	Indianapolis	Clay	Steffi Graf	6–2, 6–7(5), 4–6
Winner	2.	1 December 1986	Buenos Aires	Clay	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–1, 6–1
Runner-up	4.	4 May 1987	Rome	Clay	Steffi Graf	5–7, 6–4, 0–6
Winner	3.	14 September 1987	Tokyo	Carpet (I)	Manuela Maleeva	6–4, 7–6(6)
Winner	4.	19 October 1987	Brighton	Carpet (I)	Pam Shriver	7–5, 6–4
Runner-up	5.	16 November 1987	Virginia Slims Championships	Carpet (I)	Steffi Graf	6–4, 4–6, 0–6, 4–6
Winner	5.	30 November 1987	Buenos Aires	Clay	Isabel Cueto	6–0, 6–2
Winner	6.	7 March 1988	Boca Raton	Hard	Steffi Graf	2–6, 6–3, 6–1
Runner-up	6.	4 April 1988	Hilton Head Island	Clay	Martina Navratilova	1–6, 6–4, 4–6
Runner-up	7.	11 April 1988	Amelia Island	Clay	Martina Navratilova	0–6, 2–6
Winner	7.	2 May 1988	Rome	Clay	Helen Kelesi	6–1, 6–7(4), 6–1
Runner-up	8.	8 August 1988	Los Angeles	Hard	Chris Evert	6–2, 1–6, 1–6
Winner	8.	15 August 1988	Montreal	Hard	Natasha Zvereva	6–1, 6–2
Runner-up	9.	29 August 1988	US Open	Hard	Steffi Graf	3–6, 6–3, 1–6
Runner-up	10.	19 September 1988	Seoul	Hard	Steffi Graf	3–6, 3–6
Winner	9.	14 November 1988	Virginia Slims Championships	Carpet (I)	Pam Shriver	7–5, 6–2, 6–2
Winner	10.	20 March 1989	Key Biscayne	Hard	Chris Evert	6–1, 4–6, 6–2
Winner	11.	10 April 1989	Amelia Island	Clay	Steffi Graf	3–6, 6–3, 7–5
Runner-up	11.	17 April 1989	Tampa	Clay	Conchita Martínez	3–6, 2–6
Winner	12.	8 May 1989	Rome	Clay	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–2, 5–7, 6–4
Runner-up	12.	15 May 1989	Berlin	Clay	Steffi Graf	3–6, 1–6
Runner-up	13.	7 August 1989	Los Angeles	Hard	Martina Navratilova	0–6, 2–6
Winner	13.	9 October 1989	Filderstadt	Carpet (I)	Mary Joe Fernández	7–6(5), 6–4
Winner	14.	5 March 1990	Boca Raton	Hard	Jennifer Capriati	6–4, 7–5
Winner	15.	27 August 1990	US Open	Hard	Steffi Graf	6–2, 7–6(4)
Runner-up	14.	8 October 1990	Zürich	Carpet (I)	Steffi Graf	3–6, 2–6
Runner-up	15.	5 November 1990	Worcester	Carpet (I)	Steffi Graf	6–7(5), 3–6
Runner-up	16.	12 November 1990	Virginia Slims Championships	Carpet (I)	Monica Seles	4–6, 7–5, 6–3, 4–6, 2–6
Winner	16.	28 January 1991	Tokyo	Carpet (I)	Martina Navratilova	2–6, 6–2, 6–4
Winner	17.	4 March 1991	Boca Raton	Hard	Steffi Graf	6–4, 7–6(6)
Runner-up	17.	15 March 1991	Key Biscayne	Hard	Monica Seles	3–6, 5–7
Winner	18.	1 April 1991	Hilton Head Island	Clay	Leila Meskhi	6–1, 6–1
Winner	19.	8 April 1991	Amelia Island	Clay	Steffi Graf	7–5, 7–6(3)
Winner	20.	6 May 1991	Rome	Clay	Monica Seles	6–3, 6–2
Runner-up	18.	24 June 1991	Wimbledon	Grass	Steffi Graf	4–6, 6–3, 6–8
Winner	21.	6 January 1992	Sydney	Hard	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–1, 6–1
Winner	22.	27 January 1992	Tokyo	Carpet (I)	Martina Navratilova	6–2, 4–6, 6–2
Runner-up	19.	16 March 1992	Key Biscayne	Hard	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	1–6, 4–6
Winner	23.	30 March 1992	Hilton Head Island	Clay	Conchita Martínez	6–1, 6–4
Winner	24.	6 April 1992	Amelia Island	Clay	Steffi Graf	6–2, 1–6, 6–3
Winner	25.	4 May 1992	Rome	Clay	Monica Seles	7–5, 6–4
Runner-up	20.	21 September 1992	Tokyo	Carpet (I)	Monica Seles	2–6, 0–6
Runner-up	21.	12 October 1992	Filderstadt	Carpet (I)	Martina Navratilova	6–7(1), 3–6
Runner-up	22.	5 April 1993	Amelia Island	Clay	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	2–6, 7–5, 2–6
Runner-up	23.	3 May 1993	Rome	Clay	Conchita Martínez	5–7, 1–6
Runner-up	24.	10 May 1993	Berlin	Clay	Steffi Graf	6–7(3), 6–2, 4–6
Runner-up	25.	4 April 1994	Amelia Island	Clay	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	1–6, 4–6
Runner-up	26.	16 May 1994	Strasbourg	Clay	Mary Joe Fernández	6–2, 4–6, 0–6
Winner	26.	14 November 1994	Virginia Slims Championships	Carpet (I)	Lindsay Davenport	6–3, 6–2, 6–4
Winner	27.	9 January 1995	Sydney	Hard	Lindsay Davenport	6–3, 6–4
Runner-up	27.	3 April 1995	Amelia Island	Clay	Conchita Martínez	1–6, 4–6
Runner-up	28.	9 October 1995	Filderstadt	Carpet (I)	Iva Majoli	4–6, 6–7(4)

Doubles: 30 (14–16)

Winner — Legend Grand Slam tournaments (1–3) WTA Tour Championships (0–0) Tier I (3–3) Tier II (1–5) Tier III (0–0) Tier IV (0–0) Tier V (1–0) Virginia Slims (8–5)

Titles by Surface Hard (6–2) Grass (1–0) Clay (5–8) Carpet (2–6)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Winner	1.	18 March 1985	São Paulo	Clay	Mercedes Paz	Csilla Bartos Neige Dias	7–5, 6–4
Runner-up	1.	25 March 1985	Palm Beach Gardens	Clay	Laura Gildemeister	JoAnne Russell Anne Smith	6–1, 1–6, 6–7(4)
Winner	2.	19 August 1985	Monticello	Hard	Mercedes Paz	Andrea Holíková Kateřina Skronská	5–7, 6–4, 6–3
Winner	3.	4 November 1985	Tampa	Hard	Carling Bassett	Lisa Bonder Laura Gildemeister	6–0, 6–0
Runner-up	2.	14 April 1986	Amelia Island	Clay	Catherine Tanvier	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Helena Suková	2–6, 7–5, 6–7(7)
Winner	4.	28 April 1986	Indianapolis	Clay	Steffi Graf	Gigi Fernández Robin White	6–2, 6–0
Runner-up	3.	26 May 1986	French Open	Clay	Steffi Graf	Martina Navratilova Andrea Temesvári	1–6, 2–6
Winner	5.	4 August 1986	Montreal	Hard	Zina Garrison	Pam Shriver Helena Suková	7–6(2), 5–7, 6–4
Winner	6.	6 October 1986	Zürich	Carpet (I)	Steffi Graf	Lori McNeil Alycia Moulton	1–6, 6–4, 6–4
Runner-up	4.	13 October 1986	Filderstadt	Carpet (I)	Zina Garrison	Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver	6–7(5), 4–6
Runner-up	5.	10 November 1986	Chicago	Carpet (I)	Steffi Graf	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Helena Suková	7–6(5), 6–7(5), 3–6
Runner-up	6.	9 February 1987	San Francisco	Carpet (I)	Zina Garrison	Hana Mandlíková Wendy Turnbull	4–6, 6–7(4)
Winner	7.	13 April 1987	Amelia Island	Clay	Steffi Graf	Hana Mandlíková Wendy Turnbull	3–6, 6–3, 7–5
Winner	8.	4 May 1987	Rome	Clay	Martina Navratilova	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Helena Suková	6–4), 6–1
Runner-up	7.	25 May 1987	French Open	Clay	Steffi Graf	Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver	2–6, 1–6
Winner	9.	30 November 1987	Buenos Aires	Clay	Mercedes Paz	Jill Hetherington Christiane Jolissaint	6–2, 6–2
Runner-up	8.	22 February 1988	Washington	Carpet (I)	Helena Suková	Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver	3–6, 4–6
Winner	10.	14 March 1988	Key Biscayne	Hard	Steffi Graf	Gigi Fernández Zina Garrison	7–6(3), 6–3
Runner-up	9.	4 April 1988	Hilton Head Island	Clay	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	Martina Navratilova Lori McNeil	4–6, 3–6
Winner	11.	20 June 1988	Wimbledon	Grass	Steffi Graf	Larisa Savchenko Natasha Zvereva	6–3, 1–6, 12–10
Runner-up	10.	31 October 1988	Worcester	Carpet (I)	Helena Suková	Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver	3–6, 6–3, 5–7
Runner-up	11.	29 May 1989	French Open	Clay	Steffi Graf	Laris Savchenko Natasha Zvereva	4–6, 4–6
Winner	12.	30 July 1990	Montreal	Hard	Betsy Nagelsen	Helen Kelesi Raffaella Reggi	3–6, 6–2, 6–2
Runner-up	12.	13 August 1990	Los Angeles	Hard	Mercedes Paz	Gigi Fernández Jana Novotná	3–6, 5–7
Runner-up	13.	2 May 1994	Rome	Clay	Brenda Schultz	Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva	1–6, 3–6
Runner-up	14.	7 November 1994	Philadelphia	Carpet (I)	Brenda Schultz	Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva	6–4, 4–6, 2–6
Winner	13.	6 February 1995	Chicago	Carpet (I)	Brenda Schultz	Marianne Werdel Tami Whitlinger	5–7, 7–6(4), 6–4
Runner-up	15.	15 May 1995	Berlin	Clay	Larisa Neiland	Amanda Coetzer Inés Gorrochategui	6–4, 6–7(3), 2–6
Runner-up	16.	7 August 1995	Los Angeles	Hard	Larisa Neiland	Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva	5–7, 7–6(2), 5–7
Winner	14.	14 August 1995	Toronto	Hard	Brenda Schultz	Martina Hingis Iva Majoli	4–6, 6–0, 6–3

Grand Slam performance timelines

Singles

Tournament	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	Career SR
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
Career Statistics
Year End Ranking	74	12	9	6	4	3	5	3	3	5	7	7	NR

Doubles

Tournament	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	Career SR
Australian Open	A	A	NH	A	A	SF	2R	3R	A	A	A	2R	QF	0 / 5
French Open	A	1R	F	F	SF	F	A	SF	A	A	3R	3R	A	0 / 8
Wimbledon	A	2R	A	3R	W	QF	QF	A	A	A	1R	SF	A	1 / 7
US Open	A	1R	SF	SF	SF	SF	3R	A	A	A	SF	2R	SF	0 / 9
Grand Slam SR	0 / 0	0 / 3	0 / 2	0 / 3	1 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 2	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 2	1 / 29
Career Statistics
Year End Ranking	128	54	9	5	3	19	29	55	NR	NR	14	13	NR

• 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.

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

See also

• Performance timelines for all female tennis players who reached at least one Grand Slam final
• Graf–Sabatini rivalry

External links

• Gabriela Sabatini at the Women's Tennis Association
• Gabriela Sabatini at the International Tennis Federation
• Gabriela Sabatini at the Fed Cup
• Gabriela Sabatini at the International Tennis Hall of Fame

Awards
Preceded by Diego Maradona	Olimpia de Oro 1987 – 1988	Succeeded by Eduardo Romero
Olympic Games
Preceded by Ricardo Ibarra	Flagbearer for Argentina Seoul 1988	Succeeded by Marcelo Garraffo