1990 Virginia Slims of Los Angeles SF Seles vs Fernandez

[@javierperojo6362]

Great video! Thanks a lot. Probably one on the best on KZbin for watching Monica´s game closer. I’d love to watch the final from same camera position. Again many many thanks.

[@NOTHEOTHERGUY]

I loved reading in Monica's book about how she and Mary Jo became great friends, and how Mary Jo helped her through her over-eating addiction. I wish American television would tell us these days which racket a player uses and what string tension. That kind of stuff is interesting to the average player.

[@zeddeka]

Really interesting in Monica's case back then. It seems the racquet change and string tension were a big factor in her defeat at the 1990 US Open to Fernando. In that match, Monica's racquet was visibly cracked, implying that she'd been stringing it way too tight.

[@MStar14]

A Star was born......

[@adar601278]

Hi Robert, that is such a great match, fantastic quality. Please keep them coming

[@rattata30]

No one will ever be as different as my Monica!❤

[@erese1335]

Monica was unstoppable.

[@poussinhamzah4013]

Mary Joe was a shrewd tactician on court but I think she was not able for the power players like Seles and Graf.

[@zeddeka]

You can see here that Monica had just recently switched to the Yonex racquet and hadn't quite fully found her game with it yet. She's not hitting here with anywhere near the power or penetration she had using her Prince racquet earlier in 1990, and it seems likely that she was still experimenting to find the right string tension, or perhaps she was using a prototype that was later tweaked. It seems that perhaps she had her racquet strung too tightly which would account for the relative loss in power. Of course, many people blamed her loss at the US Open for the change of racquet so close to a grand slam. During her loss to Ferrando, Billie Jean King who was commentating noticed that the racquet Monica was using was clearly cracked. That implies that she had it strung way tighter than its recommended limits and the frame had popped. It's interesting that Monica didn't seem to have noticed it. it's interesting that they mention here that Monica had asked for her racquets to be strung at 80 lbs (about 36 kg) and that two of her racquets had snapped as a result, so she had to go down to 75 lbs (about 34 kg)

[@FlabbyTitmuss]

And yet she beat Fernandez (a top 5 player at that time) 1 and 0 in 40 something minutes. Doesn’t say much for the depth of women’s tennis then, does it?

[@ΝτίναΔρένου-ω5ψ]

Monica!

[@Volker7578]

Hi Robert, Thanks so much for uploading this match. Is there a way to get it on DVD?

[@mima167]

i just have to say how disappointed I am in Mary Joe Fernandez, she hit that net judge right in the face with the ball and didn't appear to apologize or stop and ask her if she was ok

[@johnmoo8868]

Hey there - love your channel and uploads!!! Do you happen to have the Date-Sabatini 1991 Los Angeles semifinal? I can't upload any of my due to copyright restrictions but if you are interested in trading, PM me (sent you my email there).

[@zeddeka]

Gaby had a chance to be #1 if she'd done well in LA too.

[@trent8002003]

I really hate it when the commentators kept saying Monica didn't come to the net. It really only exposed that they had nothing meaningful to say and therefore just kept harping on some moot point countless times. Why should Monica come to the net when she was winning so well from the back of the court? Coming to the net is for winning not for doing something glamorous. If you're already winning with your groundstrokes, you DONT come to the net.

[@richardross4677]

Actually she probably could have been even more successful if she finished some points at the net. Like some floaters she let bounce and her opponent get back in the point rather than finishing at the net. She probably would have won a Wimbledon if she had done that.

[@Skirne]

@@richardross4677 I agree. It takes years to add a major element to your game. You can't wait until you need it to start adding it - by then it's already too late. At this point in her career Monica's aversion to the net didn't really hurt her. 6-10 years later, though, she would have enjoyed greater success if she'd developed an all-court game.

[@richardross4677]

@@Skirne Very well explained. And even at this point in her career if Seles were able to finish more points at the net she would have had a much better shot at winning Wimbledon in 90, 91, or 92. The women who win their normally are Navratilova who is of course an all out serve and volleyer and Graf who is mostly a baseliner but willing to finish a decent number of points at net when she plays on grass.

[@Skirne]

@@richardross4677Again, complete agreement. Ironically enough, Monica's groundstrokes would have made for ideal approach shots. She already hit hard with minimal topspin, and she had the ability to hit really tight topspin shots that dipped precipitously just after they'd cleared the net. She was so good off the ground she didn't even need to be phenomenal at the net, merely competent. But in Monica's defense, in early 1993 I think it's pretty clear she was consciously developing an all court game. Her serve had improved tremendously, at the '93 Aussie Open Monica was hitting her groundstrokes consistently harder than even Steffi's forehand - and Monica was serving and volleying with real success. The stabbing derailed everything.

[@richardross4677]

@@Skirne Yes agreed on all that. And Mary Carillo put it best "when you have great groundstrokes you don't need to be a great volleyer, just a good one." That should be a slogan for all top baseliners who don't want to finish points at the net.

[@fjosephgonzales6870]

I guess the Prime Ticket network couldn't afford the few extra letters on the screen to let us know what round this was! Gee! ;)

[@JordanjamesX]

Mary Joe lacked power being consistent not enough. Monica always dominated Mary Joe.

[@cush6827]

Does MJF have a positive stat against any player?

[@richardross4677]

@@cush6827 She has winning records vs people like Coetzer and Date, but you mean a winning record against a player more successful than her (or any slam winner). I cant think of a single one. She has a winning record vs Sabatini in slams but a losing one overall, so that is the closest.

[@tracyhunter1843]

@@richardross4677 m

[@zeddeka]

Her manager, Ion Tiriac, thought that she used much too light a racquet and would have really benefited from using something heavier that would give extra power.

[@zeddeka]

​@@richardross4677Mary Joe was 1-0 against Serena Williams (their only meeting being at the 1999 French Open)

[@rattata30]

Fernandez, always looked frail.

[@Ricky-mo6mv]

It’s because she was flat and had no booty.