FULL VERSION 1989 - Navratilova vs Seles - WTA Tour Championships

[@Calicokit101]

Martina is such an astute and articulate observer of the game.

[@kewsiyehboah6058]

Bravo Upload.. Best 15 Year Old I ever saw.. In my top 10 WTA Player of All Time..

[@carrerau7138]

The best 15-year-old was Jennifer Capriati.

[@MrYonexguy63]

This was a FABULOUS match.

[@PertSnergleman]

One of many great Seles matches at the Garden! Enjoy :)

[@sz4092]

Thank you so much for posting. I remember watching this as a kid on TV in 1989. Seles' aggressive back game was breathtaking at the time. We had not seen anything like it in the women's game in those years. And, Navratilova was always so feisty and fun to watch. I love the camaraderie between the two with the compliments on good shots from both ends, albeit Nav could be a sore sport at times. Just her fiery nature. Fun to watch. Thanks again!

[@syrinx9196]

Jaeger could hit the ball hard but she flamed out.

[@juanantoniobl7550]

And Martina learned that day that tiny kid from Yugoeslavia was trouble.

[@stephanjiricek8533]

O M G !!! Finally!!! I waited sooo many years for somebody to upload this match. This was such an incredible match. Thank you so so so so so much!!!!

[@Skirne]

Thank you so much!

[@PertSnergleman]

Welcome... enjoy! :)

[@riotbunny]

Brilliant match between two absolute champions at very different stages of their careers. Exciting to watch. Thanks for uploading it.

[@chriskershaw4164]

Dang, that second set. Monica's return was off the chain.

[@leisurefarm]

That 5 3 game in the second set is out of the world good.

[@valentinodelpiero4861]

🔥

[@PertSnergleman]

Thanks Champ! Enjoy :)

[@jorgearturolopezparada9512]

What joy to watch

[@albertleung5449]

How silly is I've overlooked it. One of the greatest matches ever, both player at their very best, Martina gave her best performance of defend in this match.

[@Enjanginsaudiarabia]

Amazing Monica Seles. Anyway their height was swabbed. Martina was 5 ft 8” and Monica was 5 ft 7”. Monica increased 1” every year until she got stabbed

[@lenwelch2195]

Martina is 5 ‘7, Chris is 5’5.5 rounded up to 5’6. Monica is 5 ‘6 here.Martina liked to wear high top tennis shoes. Which prevented her from changing directions as easily. Martina liked being “ king” of the jungle adding height to her swagger. Appalling to many because girls are supposed to shrink to be feminine . Thank god 2022 these gender stereotypes are starting to get tossed. The way someone behaves is not related to one’s private parts.

[@syrinx9196]

@@lenwelch2195 Height helped her serve.

[@andreabistarelli939]

How can anybody loathe Navratilova as a tennis player? Her tennis era wasn't as boring as today's and she was by far the best player. I saw her play in Wimbledon: great stuff. Today's racquets and slower court services have made the sport half as entertaining as it used to be and too easy for baseliners to counter players with an attacking style, who, anyway, have become nearly extinct; so even Federer had to rally from the baseline way too much, ending up losing many a match that up to 2001 would have won, for ex. the 2008 Wimbledon final.

[@zeddeka]

I think it's Martina's personality and behaviour sometimes on and off court that have caused her problems. She was a notorious diva at times, with a deep sense of self entitlement and egotism and was famous for her petulant outburts. As Ted Tinling famously said of her "She goes from arrogance to panic with nothing in-between". That has all led her into some pretty bad behaviour at times, particularly to her rivals. Chris Evert spoke out about the bullying type behaviour she got from Martina in the early 80s. Martina and her then partner Nancy Lieberman would show up at Chris's practice sessions and start laughing at her, trying to intimidate her. When Steffi Graf took over as #1, Martina tried to arrange a "Stop Steffi" group in the locker room. During the 1988 Wimbledons final, Martina said to the crowd that they shouldn't be supporting Steffi because she was German. Then of course there was the famous complaint about Monica Seles's grunting at Wimbledon 1992 when in their many previous matches, Martina hadn't said a word. Finally, a few years ago, Martina was incredibly unpleasant about Conchita Martinez saying: "I won nine singles titles at Wimbledon but it should have been 10. Conchita never did it again. She never played that well again because she just doesn't care. And that's what bugs me. I would rather have beaten her and lost to Zina Garrison in 1990, because Zina was working her ass off and would have given anything to win. The girl (Martinez) took the money and ran." So easy to view that comment as sour grapes, and deeply egotistical. The basic fact was that Conchita had a great head to head against Martina and found her much easier to beat than Monica, Steffi, Jana or Arantxa. I suspect it's that bit that is what is bothering Martina. Finally, Martina's ex partner said she was "obsessed" about Chris Evert's record and would discuss how she could get the WTA to reclassify Chris's tournament wins to reduce the number. Martina is not a particularly likeable person at times.

[@zeddeka]

​@tobiasisback4605I get the impression "sad old queen" is a term you've heard a lot in your life

[@broncoguy4862]

@@zeddeka Have to correct you here: Navratilova was among of number of players who did complain about Seles' grunting long before 1992 Wimbledon. This was much talked about at the time because there weren't any players of note making so much noise when they hit the ball. Fans, commentators and fellow players alike didn't much like it, as it was viewed as a form of gamesmanship designed to distract her opponents. Some went so far as to call it cheating. Seles didn't do herself any favors by being arrogant when asked about it, then not grunting during that 1992 final versus Graf...she showed the tennis world she could turn it off like flipping a switch, lending weight to the gamesmanship opinions. As much as you criticize Navratilova's behavior, Monica Seles was no saint, either.

[@sbinsdca]

Seles at 15 was the more composed player.

[@peterdurkin1499]

Hello seles is 15 here

[@CarloChapelle]

Excuses, excuses!

[@CarloChapelle]

@@joeyconvery2055 But Martina beat her ip again in 1993 Paris Indoors! And she’s 36 and Monica’s number 1. Ha!

[@CarloChapelle]

@@joeyconvery2055 Yes. It’s been a back and forth results between them. But as I was saying, after that 91 US Open final lost and 92 semis lost at Wimbledon, she went ahead and beat Monica twice more. At 37 years old, Martina was past her prime and yet she was still competitive with Monica and Steffi.

[@stephanjiricek8533]

@@CarloChapelle Simply enjoy the match between 2 amazing champions. For me this was by far the most amazing time in womens tennis ever :)

[@CarloChapelle]

@@stephanjiricek8533 I am enjoying the match thank you. But I hate it when others try to devalue Martina just because their favorite is Monica or Steffi. Almost all the comments here were negative towards Martina. Well, she’s past her prime. But she was still competitive till the end of her career against players more than half her age.

[@helmutlitzbarski4022]

Ja so ist der Sport nur die Besten werden auch immer Siegen.

[@anthonydecastro6938]

Cocky Martina should have won it in two sets, but she got very nervous indeed, with a 15 year old Seles putting her to shame. Martina obviously should have realized that by this time, given that she was 33 years old with a rather predictable match play, that the youngsters were not going to be intimidated by her anymore.

[@carrerau7138]

Navratilova beat Seles FIVE times in 1990-93! Actually Seles struggled more against Martina in 1990-93 than the great Steffi did in 1987-90. Even though Martina was 3 years older. Yet another proof how much better peak Steffi was than peak Seles.

[@archangelmusic13]

@@carrerau7138 just showing your ignorance,. those wins over seles were in mall tournaments. seles stopped caring about winning small tournaments after 1990 and only cared about winning grand slams.an aging navratilova beat graf in 1991 when graf was in her prime.we all know why seles was stabbed by a graf fan except you, because she was better than graf

[@archangelmusic13]

@@carrerau7138 this match was proof seles would beat navratilova soon after. and she did, destroying her 6-1 6-1 in rome the next year and also beating her in oakland in the finals as well as beating her in los angeles.

[@ChicanoPhD]

Watching this makes me dislike navratilova more than I already do. Monica❤

[@PertSnergleman]

Oh come on... Martina ain't that bad! ;)

[@ChicanoPhD]

@@PertSnergleman She's whiny and she complained about Monica's grunt in 1992 after playing her so many times? But I do think they played the best matches of this era. Best serve and volleyer against the best groundstrokes. We'll never see this again.

[@cush6827]

We all know why someone named Omar would hate Navratilova.

[@MrYonexguy63]

By 1992 Seles was literally SCREAMING long after contact. The callout was long overdue. But fanatics gotta fanatic🤪

[@albertleung5449]

​@@MrYonexguy63 Get yourself some Halep then You gon know the meanings of 'literally SCREAMING long after contact'

[@zeddeka]

This was very nearly another one of the losses Martina put in after 1986 where she fell apart when ahead. She was famous for choking earlier in her career but it crept back in. She just couldnt finish some other matches. They included: 1987 french open final - served for the match and started double faulting left, right and centre. 1987 Eastbourne - up 5-0 (!!!) in the first set against Sukova on grass and somehow managed to lose in straight sets. 1988 Wimbledon final - up a set and a break, although steffi did play very well when down. 1988 tour finals - up a set and twice up a break in the second set against against Sukova and lost 1989 Australian Open - served for the match twice against Sukova and lost 1989 US Open final - up a set and a break against Steffi but started to get nervous and let Steffi back in

[@Pure_B]

It happens to all players as they get older and towards the end of their careers. Self doubt creeps in. Happened to Serena, Roger, Rafa and others. Happened to Djokovic also at Davis Cup when he had 3 MP's against Sinner.

[@zeddeka]

​@@Pure_B​​i think in Martina's case it stood out so much because she went from a massively dominant 5 years or so to not winning a single tournament in the first half of 1987. Her loss to Sukova at Eastbourne for example was bizarre. Up 5-0 in the first set and then somehow managing to lose in straight sets. Martina did an interesting interview in 1994 where she said that with hindsight, she'd been burnt out from the end of 1986 until mid 1989, but she never stood back to take stock. She said that during that period, she was trying to play as few tournaments as possible, but never stopped to think why. She also later said something else which was very interesting - that at times during that period she had sometimes been scared to play her best tennis against Steffi and to a lesser extent Gaby, in case her best tennis wasn't as good as theirs.

[@sebbyknight]

@@zeddekainsightful as always 🙏🙏

[@carrerau7138]

Don't forget that her opponent in the FO 87, Wim 88 and USO 89 final was the great Steffi. Steffi doesn't need an opponent to "choke", she simply needed only to elevate her game to GOAT level.

[@tobiast5908]

Good post but in wimbledon 88 and us open 89 graf slammed a foot into the door and broke it open. She raised her game. FO 1987 graf also outlasted navratilova but it was closer and navratilova double faulting seemed weird or a bit out of place. But with the other two examples graf turned those matches. Us open 1989 she handed navratilova a clinic in the third set

[@peterdurkin1499]

Martina jammed seles what a dirty player

[@CarloChapelle]

What dirty player? Be gone you troll!

[@ChicanoPhD]

If any match exemplifies why I love Monica and loathe Navratilova…

[@guyinsf]

Dude you already wrote this same comment 2 years ago and you're back again with the same comment. Give it a rest.

[@paologonzato5202]

Only three months later Martina would dominate Monica in Washington SF 63 60!

[@Andrea-xs4ks]

And???

[@jordanaus75]

Seles was 15. Lol. Not something to brag about really as her body was quite weak and undeveloped but you could see the incredible talent she possessed. I don't think Martina, or even Graf, were at the same level at that age.

[@Andrea-xs4ks]

Martina dominate Graf in 91 sf of Us

[@paologonzato5202]

@@Andrea-xs4ks 76 67 64 Is a very close victory,not at all"dominated"

[@Andrea-xs4ks]

@@paologonzato5202 yes but Monica was 15 , Steffy was 22 and super fit, and Martina dominate her cause she won the important point this victory was more shocking than the one against a teenager that was "heavy " like a butterfly.