Gabriela Sabatini

Gabriela Beatriz Sabatini
Gabriela Sabatini, 2012
Nation:	Argentina
Birthday:	May 16, 1970
Size:	175 cm
1st professional season:	1985
Resignation:	1996
Playing hand:	Right
Prize money:	$ 8,683,232
singles
Career record:	632: 189
Career title:	27
Highest ranking:	3 (February 27 1989)
Grand Slam record
Double
Career record:	252: 96
Career title:	14th
Highest ranking:	3 (July 4 1988)
Grand Slam record
Olympic games
Sources: official player profiles at the ATP / WTA and ITF (see web links )

Gabriela Beatriz Sabatini (born May 16, 1970 in Buenos Aires ) is a former Argentine tennis player .

Career

In the late 1980s and 1990s, Sabatini was one of the best tennis players in the world. It stayed in the top ten in the world rankings for ten years. Between 1990 and 1994 she made it to the quarterfinals 15 times in a row at Grand Slam tournaments . In 1995 she climbed to 3rd place in the WTA world rankings . The highlight of her career was winning the title at the 1990 US Open , when she was able to defeat her long-time rival Steffi Graf in the final there . She also won the WTA Tour Championships twice . Overall, however, the South American's career was overshadowed by the Germans, with whom she won a double title at Wimbledon in 1988 . In the 1988 final at the Seoul Olympics , Sabatini lost to Graf and won the silver medal.

Beginnings as a professional

Sabatini started playing tennis at the age of six. Her first tournament victory followed two years later. In 1983, at the age of 13, she became the youngest winner of the traditional “Orange Bowl” for under 18s. In total, she won six Grand Slam titles among the juniors and in 1984 she was listed as number one.

In 1985, at the age of 15 and three weeks, Sabatini was the youngest player to have reached the semi-finals of the French Open. She was defeated by the eventual winner Chris Evert . In the same year Sabatini succeeded in Tokyo the first tournament victory on the WTA Tour .

Rivalry with Steffi Graf

Many experts saw Gabriela Sabatini as the great challenger of Steffi Graf in the fight for number 1 in women's tennis. In fact, the duel between the two developed into the tour's neo-classic after the rivalry between Martina Navrátilová and Evert. They met 40 times, with Graf 29 times and Sabatini only eleven times. No less than 21 encounters were only decided in the third set.

Even if it made Graf difficult at times and it sometimes looked as if Sabatini could turn things around - Graf almost always had the upper hand at major tournaments and thus stood in the way of a more successful career for Sabatini. Nine times the encounter with Graf in Grand Slam tournaments was synonymous with the end for the Argentine, seven times this happened in the semi-finals and twice she lost the final. Until 1987 Sabatini did not manage to win against Graf. In Graf's best years in 1988 and 1989, however, it was Sabatini who caused her some of the few defeats. In 1990 she won five times in a row and thus almost - at least for a while - became a feared opponent for Graf.

In 1988, the Argentine reached her first individual final in a Grand Slam tournament. At the US Open she met Graf, who had previously won the three most important tournaments of the year. As is so often the case, the game developed closely at times. But Graf finally won 6: 3, 3: 6 and 6: 1 and completed her Grand Slam . Also at the Olympic Games , which took place shortly afterwards , where she gold plated them, Graf prevented the South American from triumphing in the final. At the end of the year, Sabatini won the first of two titles at the WTA Tour Championships.

In 1987 and 1988 Sabatini was named Argentina's Sportsman of the Year with the Olimpia de Oro .

1990–1992: Playful reorientation and great success

The years 1990 to 1992 were the most successful in the Argentine's career. In 1990 she won two tournaments, six in 1991 and five in 1992.

To break Graf's dominance, Sabatini tried to change her game under her new coach Carlos Kiermayr; she wanted to advance to the net more often and attack the German on their backhand side. In 1990, when Sabatini moved into the final of the US Open again, she was successful. Sabatini was able to use her chance and defeat the Germans 6: 2 and 7: 6. She then defeated Graf in the semifinals of the WTA Tour Championships, but lost the final against Monica Seles , the first five-set match in women's tennis, with 4: 6, 7: 5, 6: 3, 4: 6 and 2: 6.

In 1991 Sabatini started strong too, winning five tournaments in a row in the first half of the year. In Miami and Amelia Island , she defeated her German opponent. In the final in Rome she even managed to win over the new world number one Monica Seles, who was playing at the height of her skills. In Wimbledon she moved into her third final at a Grand Slam tournament, in which she again faced Steffi Graf. It was the 30th meeting of the two players, who were almost the same age. This time, however, after five defeats in a row at the last clashes, Graf retained the upper hand after a hard-fought game with 6: 4, 3: 6 and 8: 6. Sabatini, who served several times to win the match in the third set, was only two points away from victory. When she reached the final she reached number 3 in the world rankings and was only a few points behind Graf and Seles for a short time.

The beginning of 1992 also initially confirmed its positive development. Sabatini started with a tournament victory in Sydney , won the Pan Pacific Open, Hilton Head , Amelia Island (against Graf) and repeated her victory over Monica Seles in Rome. But then the series of successes broke off after five tournament victories.

1992–1996: Mixed finish

In 29 months she did not win another title. In 1994 Sabatini won the WTA Tour Championships for the second time. In 1995 she defeated Lindsay Davenport in Sydney at the start of the year . This should be her last career success. In the quarter-finals of the French Open and in the semi-finals of Wimbledon there was another encounter with Graf, who clearly won both duels.

A persistent abdominal muscle injury gave Sabatini a month-long break in 1996. She missed Paris and Wimbledon and dropped out of the top ten for the first time since 1985. In July she returned to the court, but could not build on old successes. At the US Open, she was eliminated in the third round. Sabatini played her last match in October at the European Indoor Championships in Zurich. As number 26 in the world, she lost to returnee Jennifer Capriati 3: 6 and 4: 6 in round one .

On October 24, 1996, Sabatini announced her retirement from professional tennis on the sidelines of the Tour Championships in New York's Madison Square Garden . She had won 27 singles and 14 doubles and grossed over $ 8 million in prize money.

In 2006 Gabriela Sabatini was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame .

Tournament victories

singles

No.	date	Tournament location	category	Topping	Final opponent	Result
1.	October 1985	Tokyo	WTA World Tour	Hard court	Linda Gates	6: 3, 6: 4
2.	December 8, 1986	Buenos Aires	WTA World Tour	sand	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6: 1, 6: 1
3.	20th September 1987	Tokyo	WTA World Tour	Carpet (hall)	Manuela Maleeva	6: 4, 7: 6
4th	October 25, 1987	Brighton	WTA World Tour	Carpet (hall)	Pam Shriver	7: 5, 6: 4
5.	December 6, 1987	Buenos Aires	WTA World Tour	sand	Isabel Cueto	6-0, 6-2
6th	March 13, 1988	Boca Raton	WTA Tier II	Hard court	Steffi Graf	2: 6, 6: 3, 6: 1
7th	May 8, 1988	Rome	WTA Tier IV	sand	Helen Kelesi	6: 1, 6: 7, 6: 1
8th.	August 21, 1988	Montreal	WTA Tier II	Hard court	Natallja Sverava	6: 1, 6: 2
9.	November 20, 1988	new York	WTA Tour Championships	Carpet (hall)	Pam Shriver	7: 5, 6: 2, 6: 2
10.	April 2, 1989	Miami	WTA Tier I	Hard court	Chris Evert	6: 1, 4: 6, 6: 2
11.	April 16, 1989	Amelia Island	WTA Tier II	Hard court	Steffi Graf	3: 6, 6: 3, 7: 5
12.	May 14, 1989	Rome	WTA Tier II	sand	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6: 2, 5: 7, 6: 4
13.	October 15, 1989	Filderstadt	WTA Tier III	Carpet (hall)	Mary Joe Fernández	7: 6 5 , 6: 4
14th	March 11, 1990	Boca Raton	WTA Tier II	Hard court	Jennifer Capriati	6: 4, 7: 5
15th	October 8, 1990	US Open	Grand Slam	Hard court	Steffi Graf	6: 2, 7: 6
16.	3rd February 1991	Tokyo	WTA Tier II	Carpet (hall)	Martina Navrátilová	2: 6, 6: 2, 6: 4
17th	March 10, 1991	Boca Raton	WTA Tier I	Hard court	Steffi Graf	6: 4, 7: 6 6
18th	April 7, 1991	Hilton Head Island	WTA Tier I	sand	Leila Mes'chi	6: 1, 6: 1
19th	April 14, 1991	Amelia Island	WTA Tier II	sand	Steffi Graf	7: 5, 7: 6 3
20th	May 12, 1991	Rome	WTA Tier I	sand	Monica Seles	6: 3, 6: 2
21st	January 12, 1992	Sydney	WTA Tier III	Hard court	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6: 1, 6: 1
22nd	2nd February 1992	Tokyo	WTA Tier II	Carpet (hall)	Martina Navrátilová	6: 2, 4: 6, 6: 2
23.	April 5, 1992	Hilton Head Island	WTA Tier I	Hard court	Conchita Martínez	6: 1, 6: 4
24.	April 12, 1992	Amelia Island	WTA Tier II	Hard court	Steffi Graf	6: 2, 1: 6, 6: 3
25th	May 10, 1992	Rome	WTA Tier I	sand	Monica Seles	7: 5, 6: 4
26th	November 20, 1994	new York	WTA Tour Championships	Carpet (hall)	Lindsay Davenport	6: 3, 6: 2, 6: 4
27.	January 15, 1995	Sydney	WTA Tier II	Hard court	Lindsay Davenport	6: 3, 6: 4

Performing in Grand Slam tournaments

singles

competition	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	Career
Australian Open	-	-	-	-	-	HF	3	VF	HF	HF	HF	1	AF	HF
French Open	-	HF	AF	HF	HF	AF	AF	HF	HF	VF	1	VF	-	HF
Wimbledon	-	3	HF	VF	AF	2	HF	F.	HF	VF	AF	VF	-	F.
US Open	3	1	AF	VF	F.	HF	S.	VF	VF	VF	HF	HF	3	S.

Double

competition	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	Career
Australian Open	-	-	-	-	HF	2	AF	-	-	-	2	VF	HF
French Open	1	F.	F.	HF	F.	-	HF	-	-	AF	AF	-	F.
Wimbledon	2	-	AF	S.	VF	VF	-	-	-	1	HF	-	S.
US Open	1	HF	HF	HF	HF	AF	-	-	-	HF	2	HF	HF

Honors

• 1990: Premios Konex in the "Premio Konex de Platino" class
• 2000: Premios Konex in the “Premio Konex de Brillante” class for outstanding sporting achievements.

Businesswoman after professional career

After her tennis career, Sabatini established herself as a businesswoman. As early as 1989 she had given the German company Mülhens ( Kölnisch Wasser ; now owned by Wella / Cosmopolitan Cosmetics ) a license for a fragrance series under her name. Her first own perfume, Gabriela Sabatini , was a great success. In doing so, she laid the foundation for an international perfume brand that has produced a series of Sabatini fragrances for women and men in recent years.

A new rose cultivation also bears the name Gabriela Sabatini .

Sabatini has been living in Switzerland since the beginning of 2015 , in Pfäffikon in the canton of Schwyz .

Offered perfumes

• Gabriela Sabatini (1989)
• Magnetic (1992)
• Daylight (1992)
• Cascaya (1994)
• Bolero (1997)
• Cascaya Summer (1998)
• Wild Wind (1999)
• Wild Wind for Men (2000)
• Summer (2000)
• Dévotion (2001)
• Dévotion for Men (2001)
• Private Edition (2003)
• Temperament (2004)
• Elegance (2005)
• Ocean Sun (2006)
• Latin Dance (2008)
• Miss Gabriela (2013)
• Miss Gabriela Night (2014)

Others

In 2010 she was President of the Grand Jury of the Premium Konex of the Argentine Konex Foundation .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Olimpias de oro www.cpd.com.ar. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Gabriela Beatriz Sabatini. Konex Foundation , accessed October 30, 2019 (Spanish).  
3. ↑ Ex-tennis star Gabriela Sabatini now lives in the canton of Schwyz on srf.ch on February 10, 2015

Web links

Commons : Gabriela Sabatini  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• WTA profile of Gabriela Sabatini (English)
• ITF profile of Gabriela Sabatini (English)
• Fed Cup stats by Gabriela Sabatini (English)
• Gabriela Sabatini in the "International Tennis Hall of Fame" (English; with picture)