Chris Evert d. Gabriela Sabatini - 1985 Family Circle Cup (Tennis Birth of Sabatini)

[@garyeeds5851]

Love to watch these old videos Chris evert was a true champion

[@oza801]

Chris evert’s accuracy was amazing.

[@vincenthannah6556]

I remember this match well. Ahhh,this is the day i fell in love with La Bella Gabriela.

[@shihlin1]

Still can't believe Sabatini never won a French Open. Her game is perfectly built for the red clay of Paris. Such a shame!!

[@lkfrostad]

shihlin1 me too!!!!!

[@grantdesjardins764]

One problem she had was the Paris clay was faster than the Rome clay and the Florida clay tournaments. Hence why she often beat Graf and Seles at those but always lost to both at the French.

[@kidpagronprimsank05]

@@grantdesjardins764 I don't think clay speed are dissimilar, except Har-Tru and whatever blue clay they used in Madrid many years ago. Clay speed are, IMO, about general conditions of the day. Dry and hot speed is fast. Cold and wet speed is slow.

[@Morgana3781]

I remember when Navratilova mentioned that it was watching Seles that helped her with her tactics against Sabatini. Martina said that she learned to take the ball early - otherwise she'd need stand with the fans in their seats if not. Every ball seemed to hit the court and bounce up over her comfort zone. To let the ball come down she was past the baseline and her shoulders would ache from taking the ball so high. Seles and Agassi learned at Nick Bolliterie's camp to get to the ball as soon as it hit the court on the rise. Other's followed suit and began beating Sabatini a little more often.

[@BTURNER1961]

+J Gregory Your are right of course. Evert said that one of the problems with playing Gabby, was finding a hitting partner to practice with the day before. She said, "I can find a lefty before I play Martina, but nobody hits the ball quite like Gabriella does'

[@MrFeheto]

J Gregory witty remark

[@zeddeka]

Absolutely - and it was one of the major problems Chris Evert had with Sabatini in later years. Chris had learned her tennis in the 60s with wooden racquets. Her stroke mechanics involved backing off the ball, letting it drop to waist height and planting her feet. That's suicide against high bouncing, heavy topspin. In some of their later matches you can see Gabi drag Chris all round the court and way behind it, because Chris cannot step in and take the ball on the rise before the topspin bites. There was one famous point too at the US open when Monica Seles hit a high bouncing, topspin shot and Chris moved so far back that she ended up against the stands and the ball bounced over her head.

[@nocomment5778]

Sabatini hasn't changed a bit, if so.....she's more beautiful than ever!

[@lenwelch2195]

S abating was so good at this age. Her play became more consistent but her serve never improved with that trophy pose of a serve- with that form her serve would never had a chance to get better. Her match against graf at open for the win was her finest match and I’ve always wondered why she didn’t stick with the net rushing plan when playing Graf after that.

[@asksimonwhy]

Thanks for posting. Very interesting historical clip. Not only the promising start of Gabby's career but to hear how they used to play two & three matches in a day!

[@kljMN2]

Thanks! I really like seeing these clips from the early '80s. I didn't start watching tennis a lot until the late part of the '80s.

[@kljMN2]

Just from watching this clip of Gaby at 14, she had so much game. Who would have thought she'd only win one major?

[@8020Alive]

Steffi Graf would have 🎉

[@GottdieEhre]

​@@8020Alive 😉🤗

[@vosharap]

Great match from Evert, and the arrival of Sabatini

[@6u4p0AR]

Muchas gracias por la subida !

[@romania4712]

They keep saying this is unprecedented. But just the year before Maleeva (who Gaby beat in this SF) did the same at the Italian Open except she actually beat Chris in the final 6-3 6-3. She played 3 matches in one day while Chris played 2.

[@ezequielcarrion9006]

Gaby sos grande!

[@fromanotherstar]

i never realize how fast Chris was around the court.....Gabby was cranking some hard shots and I was surprised to see Chris get to so many....amazing player

[@kljMN2]

I miss the days of Seles and Sabatini.....

[@spartyutube2020]

Aaah- Gaby makes her pro splash at 14! I remember watching this on tv!

[@LiamForeman]

I remember watching this like it was yesterday. I forgot how effusive in their praise of Sabatini they were!! It makes me sad, considering I really thought Sabatini was going to have a much bigger career. But if I had all the talent she did, there is just NO WAY I would not have changed my service motion. Her serve cost her dearly, it was always a liability. She had every other shot, why couldn't she have worked on her serve, she lost a Wimbledon because all she could do was roll the serves in. Depressing.

[@AzoreanZionist]

@William Felton I completely agree. I think that Wimbledon Final in 1991, against Graf, where she twice served for the match, and couldn't close it out......I think that "damaged" her psychologically, from thus, she never quite fully recovered (in my humble opinion), and her confidence, from then on, was always "shaky". She never again reached a Grand Slam Final after that. She had an amazing and complete repertoire of shots, but she would have benefitted greatly from having a sports psychologist, as do many female players have today. Her shots were not the problem, but her psyche was.

[@zeddeka]

​@@AzoreanZionist She'd had quite a history before that of losing big matches when ahead. For example, she lost to Graf in the 1987 French semi after being up 5-3 in the final set. At the 1989 Canadian Open, she lost to Arantxa Sanchez Vicario after being up 6-3, 5-1 and match point. For me, the match that really killed Gabby's attempt to get to the top was her loss to Seles at the 1992 French open after serving for 5-2 in the final set. She was never a challenger at the grand slams again after that. After she retired, it came to light that she suffered from a specific kind of anaemia that often left her debilitated. She also she said that she was so shy and introverted that she deliberately threw some matches because she hated being in the limelight so much. I think she was also hampered by not having a really big weapon to win points with. A lot of her game was based around inducing errors from her opponents, and when she really needed to take control, she didn't have the weapons to do it.

[@AzoreanZionist]

@@zeddeka I agree. Very good breakdown of Gaby's game. Her serve, especially her second serve was a big liability in her game. At times, her second serve, clocked in at less than 60 mph. I remember once, Bud Collins was commentating at one of her matches, and he said that it was a "cream puff". Another memorable match that her game "broke down" was at the '93 Roland Garros, where she had a seemingly commandable lead, up 6-1, 5-1, on Mary Joe Fernández, but somehow managed to lose the match. It must have been torture for her, to put in almost 4 hours on the terre battue de Paris, and lose it. It was defintely a heartbreaker for Sabatini fans.

[@jpeyton62]

Sabatini played a finished a third set against Shriver that morning and then played Maleeva and won in two sets. Evert played Graf that morning as well and played two sets. The announcers make it sound as if Sabatini had to play two full matches-that is not the case. If memory serves, Evert was still playing doubles each day as well and lost in the finals later the day of the singles final.

[@JSmith-zr2ve]

Chrissie had to play Steffi that AM in the semi.

[@osdafranco29]

I love Gaby🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷

[@BTURNER1961]

Chris Evert is not the player you want to play on a clay court if you are tired.

[@carlosvalverdi2590]

Gaby Sabatini ,año después tuvo su revancha gano varias veces el torneo. Una adolescente frente a Evert .💟💟💟

[@k.ravishankar5063]

Awesome sabatini.

[@tataso]

si fue una gran jugadora esta en el "hall of fame" del tenis

[@jm7804]

Gabby had the deck stacked against her here... 14 yrs old, having played 2 matches already that day, against the chessmaster on clay. Not great odds.

[@jdmgrh]

what is unprecedented in that Gaby played 3 matches in a single day and beat 3 ranked players along the way. the commentator mentions that there have been other 14 year olds in finals and all that but not this.

[@NOTHEOTHERGUY]

Sabatini looks the same now as then.

[@spacecolt]

@karrtt1234 Yes, finished the QF then played SF & final, Chris played semi against Graf & then the final. Then Chris played doubles with Bassett after this match. It was a mess.

[@oscarcastellino1554]

GABY....simple the best...

[@goliathsparrow1082]

Gabby was always bigger than tennis IMO- gorgeous looking game- she achieved much and wow shes such a glamour looking young lady here - that backhand. That topspin. The little oomph she does as she hits the ball....you cant not look at her: so her serve was a liability- but if she had of made it 'bigger '- it may have changed her game- just like if Graf had hit more topsin backhands rather than her 'bad' slice would of affected her forehand etc....she was a amazing consistent player- what an era of tennis- Sabbatini, Graf, Evert, Navratilova and Seles bullying in....just fantastic. Not to forget Pierce; Vicario, Novotna (RIPsweetheart), Mcneil, Garrisson- great variety of players. Also loved Sukova . And whilst I love the Williams sisters (have seen both live)- tennis now is boring. No variety sadly

[@MARKBPHARM]

Gabby was so talented, though once she encountered the crisp-hitting, supremely cunning and utterly relentless clay-court virtuoso, Chris Evert, she was tamed, (but no disgrace to lose this match)!

[@zeddeka]

Worth noting too that this was actually Sabatini's third match she had played that day due to rain delays affecting the tournament earlier in the week and creating a backlog in matches. She was absolutely exhausted.

[@zeddeka]

I wonder how the Sabatini at her peak in 1991 would have done in this match.

[@Paglia444]

The real story that day was how pinpoint Chrissie was with her groundies.

[@hydrolito]

@vlovesrafa She won in two majors. Doubles at Wimbledon in 1988, and singles at U.S. Open in 1990. She made it to one other grandslam final, and 9 sf in singles and also to 3 grandslam finals and 6 semifinals in doubles, she made it to #3 in singles and also #3 in doubles. 27 tiles singles, 14 doubles titles. According to Wikipedia.

[@GottdieEhre]

And she won the WTA Championship ("Masters") two times!

[@lenwelch2195]

If she had thrown out that back scratching service motion she would’ve challenged Graf on more occasions

[@johnblacklovesmar]

I expected the commentators after the match to go give flowers to Sabatini. A little overkill in their comments imo.

[@camousjoel1661]

Gabriela avait une beauté de gitane ...

[@karrtt1234]

@thadxxx Steffi actually lost to Chris here in the semi-final, and in the quaters at the French in 85, so the round before Sabatini in both cases.

[@blahkayonaFriday]

lmao the point at 5:30. "oh. ohh. oohhhhh!"

[@user-jv9qz2bu1r]

Bud is always creaming in his pants haha but yes that point is really good - signature point by GS

[@karrtt1234]

I thought that Sabatini finished her quater-final which was in progress from the previous day, and then play the semi and the final, as did Chris play the semi and the final ?

[@JordanjamesX]

this video is sad because Gabriela never lived up to her potential. She choked a lot of matches.

[@roter13]

sabatini's serve was a lot better when she was younger

[@deewells4259]

So at the Time of the Final,Gabby had more Potential than Graf???

[@sangeetaroy7559]

Gabriella had lots of potential but she only won one major coz she got choked in big matches

[@RedTopBear]

Sabatini does NOT look 14 here - she looked older like maybe 17.

[@user-jv9qz2bu1r]

my daughter and all her friends are 14 - not one looks like or is built like this - you may have something here

[@noobzrule]

RedTopBear are u implying she is lying

[@noobzrule]

J no country lies about their age in professional sports ever so why would Gabby....What is to gain from it?!?!?

[@danguee1]

Those Argies also lie about the earth being round... She totally looks 14 to me. My dark-haired daughter at 14 didn't look dissimilar. Amazing that you can suggest, with no evidence whatsoever, she lied about her age for no obvious benefit.

[@marcos86ize]

How fast was Chris Serve?... 70mph?...

[@jonathangianguzzo1043]

How can a 14 year old be so incredibly gorgeous?

[@spacecolt]

@grafgirl27 well, mostly early.... not the 5 in a row Gaby won in 1990/91? I mean after that, a LOT of people had gaby's number, she kind of collapsed.

[@jonienglish3231]

looks like slow motion !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@NOTHEOTHERGUY]

Did JoAnn leave the booth? Bud was being a bit snippy with her early on.

[@andresrush440]

Quien le habra cambiado el saque, se veia bastante natural y fluida la tecnica

[@trent8002003]

Manuela was once no.5. That says more about the sorriness of women tennis then than the Bulgarian girls' calibre.

[@NOTHEOTHERGUY]

I think during 1985 (1986?) she got to #4 during the year...never finished that high, though.

[@azimut767]

Gaby for ever!

[@hairbrush81]

@chrissen1 she also could have used more power too. Graf and Seles flat out overpowered her in big matches over the years.

[@soevjaanoemar2761]

This is Mom vs Doughter

[@youngchool]

5:28 - 6:40 love it!

[@JSmith-zr2ve]

Could the announcers make a bigger deal about Gabby? I like her and all, but she was overrated.

[@beaglesrfun5896]

too bad Gabriela never learned to serve well.

[@colinbaker3916]

Gabby had a huge male fanbase, as did Chrissy. The difference is that Gabby seemed to realise she could make money from her looks, and in the end she won just one slam (1990 US Open) while launching her own lines in things like perfumes, and couldn't compete with Graf and Seles. Chris more than held her own against Court, King and Navratilova, winning many titles. Fast forward a few years, and you had the same thing with Anna Kournikova, a very talented player who also knew she was beautiful, so zero singles titles, a lot of fun in doubles with Martina Hingis, and millions from her looks. Maria Sharapova followed, and despite the considerable dominance from the Williams sisters and even dropping out of the top 100, her fighting qualities have garnered five singles slams. Now if she only dropped all that stupid Sugapova nonsense...

[@quiddy]

I wouldn't liken Sabatini to Kournikova. Sabatini is head and shoulders above Kournikova. She's always been serious about her game. Kournikova had 0 title, Sabatini had 27 Singles Titles, Sabatini also won most of the highest level regular events on the women's tour including Miami and Rome (four times), in both 1991 and 1992, she won 5 tournaments for the first half of the year beating Seles and Graf in the finals. If those, or the drastic game change she took to win at the net to beat graf at the 1990 US Open, do not show serious commitment to the game, I dont know what does.

[@oza801]

I am so annoyed when the opponent says ‘yeah’ to my winners - evert, Navratilova used to that a lot. Am i the only one who is irritatedwith that.

[@natsolog]

@chrissen1 Do you know her girlfriend??

[@hairbrush81]

@karrtt1234 yeah but if they played one another Graf would have still beaten Gaby. Gaby was always Graf's doormat, especialy in big matches.

[@jokerwildest]

@trent8002003 Manuela was once number 3

[@jonienglish3231]

Sabatini never married

[@Nanciverse]

I thought it is well known by now that she is a lesbian.