Graf vs Sanchez-Vicario 1996 Women's final | Roland-Garros Classic Match
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ก.พ. 2021
- Welcome to the official Roland-Garros TH-cam channel!
Follow us on social media!
Facebook: / rolandgarros
X: / rolandgarros
Instagram: / rolandgarros
TikTok: / rolandgarros
WhatsApp: bit.ly/WhatsAppRolandGarros
Threads: www.threads.net/@rolandgarros
Find out more on rolandgarros.com
#RolandGarros - กีฬา
Strangely, i feel this is better and higher level tennis than today's women matches. The guys are obviously hitting harder and faster but this match was quite something else!
The stress should be on "I feel".
Look at her footwork. I've never seen a player with more perfect steps than her.
This is the tennis match that got me into the sport when I was a kid. One of the best finals in female tennis history!
I don't know if i should comment on Steffi's forehands or backhands! she's out of this world.
Man, I never get tired of watching steffi's classic matches. SOMETIMES, I just focus on her footwork alone. IT'S LIKE POETRY IN MOTION.
Plus, she rarely did the top spin backhand but when she did it, it was a thing of beauty.
What a sharp knife was Graf's slice. Can't stop watching.
“Knife” is a very bad word in the context of Steffis career. And you know why
@@LinusFeynstein should have used a cleaver.
@Max E I guess because the person who stabbed Monica was obsessed with Steffi Graf and did it for her.
That Graf footwork at 3:44. The little pitter patter shuffle. A thing of beauty.
as a spanish boy growing up in germany this was one of the best tennis games ever for me. i loved the arantxa - steffi rivalry on the tennis court and the cameradery outside the tennis court.
Love 'em both 🥰
She said at the end "A few years ago I lost 10-8 to Monica, so next time, your time" and in 1998 Aranxia did beat Monica in the final.
The best BH slice I've ever seen: So fast and consistent. I love it.
Graf is such a talented tennis player. It was always a joy to watch her matches.
Brilliant tennis, all kinds of shots, volleys, slices, lobs and the drama too. I wish more of the modern players played a one handed backhand, only the men seem to use it. Arantxa had one of the best defenses I've seen, very underrated player, she was a great player too.
Those shots same also to Chris Evert too except volley and a great defense shots too like Arantxa
My God... Stefi's footwork is spectacular. She is constantly on the balls of her feet, balanced and moving to the right position. I love listening to the tiny steps. No wonder she has the most athletic legs in women's tennis.
Like a boxer
No, her oponents were playing badly, not forcing graff to move too much, slow balls, playing in the middle of the court or where graf was standing...
I think many critics and game viewers underestimate how Steffi’s techniques evolved during 93-96.She could start her attack at any point on the court with that forehand and caused many hard return ball with her slice. Also her footwork was more efficient.93-96 is her real prime time,at which she proved her potential with her persistence and humble heart.
Happy Birthday to the greatest! Danke Steffi
Everyone talks about Justine Henin's flawless backhand or Serena's power game but I think Steffi's forehand is the most lethal. It is a thing of absolute beauty !
I never heard Juju being called “Miss Backhand“ or Serena “Miss Serve“.
Her forehand is really one of a kind! Absolutely crazy, first time I saw her play.. I am too young
Henin, Graf yes. The world is vast - the usa is just one country.
@@carrerau7138 Yet those are the shots each are best known for.
@@broncoguy4862 And Navratilova for her volley. Seles for her double-handed forehand.
gosh, graf even in 1996 looks faster than current players despite the (presumed) improvement in technology and training.
Graf was a amazing athlete. Her footwork showed how athletic she was. It was natural. She couldn't stop moving and that is innate in a passionate athlete. None of these girls today could move around the court like her. She was awesome to watch.
@@urbansetter1 She was the GOAT??
Todays wta is god awful.
can you imagine steffi using modern wilson raquets. They would customize it for her game...the Graf Autograph!
Just look at those forehands!!!! 😍😍😍😍
Graf, what a champion !! Those two break points saved at 4-2 down in the 3rd set 💪
Yes amazing stamina and mental strength 💪👏
what a choke by Sanchez Vicario
@@mathewhorodner2000 Look up the word “choke“ in a dictionary.
Too bad we don't get finals like this in today's game....the women just don't seem to have the same grit, fight and class....these two were made of something very special!!!
Great athletes (ok Graf has been a phenomenal one/GOAT) and good friends these two outside the courts.
Beautiful match: Steffi could have won in two sets but she could also have lost to third. Not only Graf- Sabatini and Graf-Seles were rivality very thrilling, but also Graf- Sanchez: the class against the tenacity. Futhermore was Arantxa the opponent against which Steffi played the highest number of final Slam.
Not truly a Graf fan here but she was a tremendous athlete. Still the best mover I've seen in tennis.
@bigray1999 venus on all surfaces? Nope.
@bigray1999 all the players you mentioned never won the majors at least 4 times. One never even won Wimbledon. So the best mover is Steffi.
@@markdecena4559 You can be the best mover and still win less majors. There are other skills involved in tennis.
@@markdecena4559 did u compare steffi movement to nadal?
this was a total choke by Sanchez Vicario in the 3rd set
Graf is just fun to watch on clay just the way she slides or rather glides tru the surface is beautiful.
Making 670 love to watch Steffi all over again! ❤
Thank you for giving tennis fans such a high quality video of the 1996 French Open final! Incredible match between the great Steffi Graf vs. the tenacious Arantxa Sanchez Vicario. Both amazing fighters. Steffi with her legendary iconic forehand and Arantxa with her outstanding retrieval skills. This was Steffi’s 5th FO 🏆 and her 19th grand slam win at that point in time!!!
For Steffi, her all-court power game was just a sight to behold which was complemented with her speed and athleticism, fierce mental fortitude, and graceful shotmaking. She is the most versatile tennis player that dominated across all surfaces (winning 4 or more slams on clay, grass, hardcourts, outdoor or indoor). I also love the still picture of Steffi’s best ever backhand slice used in the video. Great example of how gracefully balletic yet athletically powerful Steffi was... an extremely rare combination.
Roger Federer is the only tennis athlete that has uncanny similarities with Steffi. When Roger retires, will we ever see another tennis player like Steffi or Roger? Time will tell ...
I agree I can really see similarities between the two especially when he dances round the ball to hit an inside out forehand. He is quoted as saying he watched her matches a lot growing up so suppose it makes sence
@@gavinjohnson5505 Another indicator how amazing Steffi and Roger both are is how fluid they look when hitting a difficult and awkward shot. For Steffi, a really good example starts at 5:55 especially during the slow motion moment at the net. Graceful execution for a very athletically powerful player.
There are so many tennis greats of today that when you see them respond to a difficult shot from their opponent, it just looks so awkward. They may win the point but either their arms are flailing around, legs stumbling to almost tripping, etc. plus the grunting/shouting makes their shotmaking image look worse.
Steffi and Roger are the most balanced tennis athletes ever so as tennis players in this era opted for more power, they lost that balanced combination of athletic and fluid execution. Still nice to watch current tennis players compete just hoping for the next Steffi! I do hope Roger stays with us fans for 1-2 more years.
@@ytangel7263 I just love everything about her from her footwork, to her beautiful slice to her jump forehand especially her inside out!no woman on the tour plays like that anymore like you say Roger is the only similar player. love how they both shout “kom jetzt” as well after a big point
@@ytangel7263 g
I play tennis and I tried keeping my feet moving constantly like Steffi did and I couldn’t even last a set. She had great stamina and her mental toughness was legendary. Have you seen points when Steffi would hit a huge forehand wide to her opponents deuce side of the court and when they managed to return the shot back to her backhand side; she would execute the most graceful and elegant slice cross court approach shot I have ever seen. It happened in the 93 and 99 FO finals and some finals at Wimbledon.
This was an EPIC match. Both fought tooth and nail. Ultimately sheer willpower prevailed. Why isn't this as famous as for example 1992 final or 1999 final. Just came across this randomly.
I *easily* prefer this one over the 1999 Graf-Hingis drama. The latter was certainly of high quality, and contained some stunning points, but most of its drama was in Hingis’ meltdown, while I greatly prefer my tennis dramas to be about, well, tennis. Which is what this match - and the 1992 final - delivers in spades! And that final set of the 1999 final was just a letdown, while those of the other two could hardly have been more tense and exciting.
Those were the days. Women's tennis was much more fun to watch (even more so than men's tennis in my opinion). This rivalry made me a tennis fan when I was a kid. Then followed Hingis domination, which was a delight to watch as well. After that, ball-bashing became the norm and killed it for me unfortunately..
My opinion exactly. Except the rivalry between Mauresmo and Henin, and Henin was a pleasure to watch play, less than Graf, but a pleasure though.
@@thomasmaze9156 Henin definitely was a rare gem. I loved watching her too.
@@jeanmon9267 Henin's backhand was truly a thing of beauty.
Ball bashing and more athleticism in women overall is what made women players get equal money but I do wish there were more styles today
True...I stopped watching tennis when Steffi retired
Classic match at its best. Graf was so talented.
If Seles not injured she can be better than Graf’s record
@@sho9214 Well, not really. I mean as much as I love Seles, the finals of slams would be unpredictable. They both were getting better. Seles was getting better especially with the serve, but so was Graf's forehand with the changing of racket. The slams titles would have seesawed between those two. A decade of wonderful rivalry that coulda been.
@@chrato74 Graf would have won around 17-18slams not 22 with seles
They both would have split them, Seles Australian and French , Graf Wimbledon and us open, overall Sreffi was fitter and would have stayed more in shape than seles.
@@benchick1157 if Seles wasn’t stabbed situation would be different
The 1989 Final between these 2 Champs was epic too.
That one was better.
What a fantastic match, two tennis legends battling it out! Loved watching these two play one another. Thank you Roland Garros for the lovely memories 🙂🎾
Footwork amazing and huge forhand. I loved her. Beautiful to watch. Great athlete.
I’ve never understood why this match always seems to be overlooked when people talk about epic grand slam finals. It’s superb! Also the Graf-Sanchez rivalry has never been given much recognition. Not like Graf-Seles or Graf-Navratilova. Again don’t understand. This match, 1989 French Open Final and 1995 Wimbledon Final are probably the highlights.
I agree but it’s most likely that Graf was favoured in all their matches where as she wasn’t against Seles (except for grass).
Well there was not much off the court beef between the two players. Venus versus Hingis was another rivalry totally under the radar in comparison to the so called Serena Sharapova one...
That being said Graf vs. Sanchez was probably the most fun of all of them. There was not really that much chemistry between Graf-Seles or Sabatini. Graf vs. Navratilova was great though.
I agree! The fianls are fantastic
@@CJJAK37 Outside of 92 and 93 I don't think Seles was ever favored going into matches with Graf on any surface.
Agreed .. Glad some one else pointed it out
This is a real treat...both great players in a chess match. Graf is a wizard with that slice!
Yes that slice was a beauty with velocity when she was on her A game. Her backhand always sliced Hingis' spirit when they met. Even though Hingis was a brat I have a soft spot for her as she was my age peer and I had only started following tennis in 95. I remember watching Graf play back in those days, didn't matter if her opponent was up a break in the third, you always felt she could kick it up another gear when needed.
@@cbcluckyii4042 I liked that its not just a standard slice...it knifes through the court and opens the door to alot of variety. dropshot, lob, short angle. I'm in Hingis age group also and didn't appreciate her game of graf until the last few years. Also marveled at navratilova battles against graf
Great WTA player of all times- SG
Ah the 90’s. When the best players shined at every major .
When rivalries existed and skill talent and mental strength was at its best .
Grafs 8th French open final and Arantxa’s 5th.
CONSISTENCY
she would get destroyed today with that slice backhand. With the rackets&string technology playing slice only is no longer an option. Fantastic movement nevertheless, Steffi was a machine.
@@cristianconstantinescu7264 Federer plays a lot of slice, and Nadal and Djokovic play a lot more than you might think too.What about Ash Barty - I seem to recall she played a lot of slice when she won the French.
@@cristianconstantinescu7264 with the improved technology in terms of racket and hawkeye advantage hahahahahaha I doubt Steffi Graf would be at a disadvantage. All power and brute force will not win everything especially if the slice, footwork and forehand were as fantastic and great as Steffi’s. Even an archaic, shriveled and dehydrated Vinci made SW look silly..
@cristianconstantinescu7264 Ash Barty has entered the chat and says your a fool! 😂
I loved watching these ladies compete. Of course Steffi got the better of most of their matchups, but you could tell that they both had a huge respect for each other in every matchup. It’s awesome coming back and watching their matches now. I miss this kind of tennis.
Blessed are those who were able to see this kind of game live.
Currently the only women's tennis matches I watch are Muguruza, Osaka and Barty. Also, the matches of femeale olympic tennis.
Graf was the greatest period.
If she played in today’s ERA she would be #1. Serena just has muscle and has had trouble beating a player with shot variety like Graf.
Imagine Graf retired with 22 slams at the young age of 30 to start a family.
@Max E Take the number of slams (22), and then consider the number of years she was an active WTA player (17), and Graf had the most number of slams in the shortest period of active playing. Serena comes second. At 23 slams, but with 26 years actively playing (so far, as she has not yet retired), Serena has one more slam but she has also played 9 more years than Graf.
@@anthonydecastro6938yes but Serena reached her 23rd at the start of her 20th year on the tour. She didn’t need the 26 seasons to surpass Graf, nor did she benefit from the sudden disappearing of her main competitor.
@@jujumusique1305 that may be so, but Graf won her 22 slams in the space of 12 YEARS, from the first to her last slam. Serena won her 23 slams in the space of 17 YEARS, from her first to her last, 5 YEARS MORE PLAYING.
@@anthonydecastro6938 and Graf needed 5 seasons on tour before winning one while Serena won one after less than 2 years on tour. This can be looked at from many angles. But in the end 23 is higher than 22 and Serena had an amazing doubles career in slams while Graf’s is non existent.
Que deleite por favor, pensar que todavía ni nacía. Graf es y siempre será una GOAT. Implacable.
Remarkable champions, superb final, outstanding fight/tactics/heart from both ladies... wish all the finals had this quality, this was a classic
From 1989 to 1996 ASV played 52 clay tournaments. Won 14. R/U 13 and SF in 17.
That’s semis or better in 44 of 52 events .
She also won 24 tournaments in doubles and was R/U 9 times during this time span
Such consistency at her peak
WHO Is RU
@@sujanyadebnath4622 Runner Up
I don‘t want to take anything away from ASV - she was indeed a great clay courter.
But here are Steffi Graf‘s clay stats of the 1987-96 decade:
38 tournaments played - 25 titles, 10 RU, 3 SF
4 losses to Sabatini, 4 to Sanchez, 3 to Seles, one to Pierce, one to Hingis.
Such talented players! Although I'm such a huge Steffi Graf fan, I also have to give Sanchez-Vicario credit.
Steffi's slice is sick.
One of the forgotten classics. Very underrated as an epic match. ASV was a warrior who just loved a fist fight, and she so nearly had that match it was heart breaking if you were rooting for her as I was, but Graf had just too many big shots for her in the end. Steffi's legs were just amazing.
My childhood. I was watching that match with my father…and I was deliberately supporting Arantxa)))
In many of Graf's victories, she came out from the verge of defeat to snatch victory. Displaying the best during most critical time is hallmark of a champion. The only person who could match her in this was Seles before the stabbing.
Steffi won 4 slam finals even though her opponent had served for the match.
She also beat Navratilova in the Wimbledon 88 and the USO 89 finals after having trailed her 57 02 and 36 24 respectively.
And she came back against Novotna in the Wimbledon 93 final from 76 16 14.
This is one of my favorite matches of all time with their wimbledon 1995 final.
Steffi seems to be always in position to strike that return, excellent movement.............best foot work in the ladies game..... Arantxa was tough, very gutsy.......
Steffi such a graceful champion
this match had everything...so much angles, variety, momentum shifts. A Special treat for the fans of both
These are the matches I miss. The drama was all in the game and not fighting with the umpire
Fantastic! Always great to watched Steffi and Arantxa
I always thought arantza played boring tennis but now after so many years I admire her tenacity and how much more she did with her 5'5" frame.
she always had a tendency to choke as she showed here; she could never finish off the major opponent like Graff
I never found her game boring since she played so many variations. Changing pace, being good at the net, tight angled passing shots, volley lops, amazing retrieves. People tend to measure it against standard power tennis where players simply shoot towards the free corner.
ASV was in more all-time classic slam finals than Serena for instance.
FO 89, Wim 95, FO 96 come to mind.
@@mathewhorodner2000 Sanchez had no tendency to choke.
Sanchez finished Steffi off in 8 matches.
And it is Graf, not Graff.
@@carrerau7138 And Graf finished ASV off in 28 matches. 28-8 H2H. Utter dominance, similar to how Serena owned Sharapova.
I am more afraid of Graf's slice backhand. Such an unpredictable, sharp, knife-like shot that skids through the court.
This match is so underrated.
*Arantxa Sánchez Vicario*
*Barcelona 1992* :
- Individual: Bronze.
- Doubles: Silver.
*Atlanta 1996* :
- Individual: Silver.
- Doubles: Silver.
Amazing Player.
This was their last match at the French Open. And their next meeting a month later in the Wimbledon final was their last match ever. So they never did meet next year.
What a wonderfull match to c it nowadays..thx for the 2 players ..LEGEND
God Graf's forehand is a thing of beauty. Best forehand I've ever seen.
Also her slice. Jesus what a shot.
@@Madferit91 Tremendous weapon. Even Agassi describes it as being "Like a knife."
I do not agree that the French public destroyed Arantxa and was sick against her. I watched this match several times. The applause after the successful actions of Steffi and Aranta is about the same throughout the game. The names of Steffi and Arantxa sound about the same throughout the game. The feeling that the crowd was rooting for Steffi was created only when the score was 7-8. It is logical that her fans became very active when Steffi again played the serve for the match. I'm sure if Arantxa played matchballs and came out ahead, we would only hear her fans.
But Arantxa had a certain inferiority complex in relation to Steffi, who for several years in a row left her second and did not allow her to become the main queen.
Arantxa really wanted more attention. These complexes made her think that the crowd was against her. This led to defeat and such a heartbreaking cry after the game.
Steffi was better than Arancha, that is indisputable. She was also more fun to watch, so it stands to reason that the public would root for her more. What must be pondered about Arancha is that without a definitive blow in her repertoire, she left her life in each game. She was a kind of Nadal with 19 years but without her right.
@@lacoronasl Many people worried about Aranta more than anyone else and more than Steffi: England, Canada and a number of other countries. As a girl, Aranta is much more interesting than Steffi, she is very emotional and lively, which is what the audience likes. Their tennis achievements are incomparable, but in 1994 it seemed that Aranta was better than Steffi in tennis and had an advantage in head-to-head matches. But in 1995 and 1996, she lacked millimeters to continue this trend.
Steffi the GOAT !!!!
Lmao what GOAT? She would get blown off the court 6-0 6-0 by Barty, Osaka and Andreescu. Tennis has evolved a lot. Players today are much stronger, faster and more athletic.
Amazing match. Aranxta the gladiator vs Graf the dominator
3:39 great slow motion footage of two Graf forehands, first at chest height and then immediately at shoulder/head height for a clean winner. I always felt that for a player with an eastern grip, Graf handled the high forehand so well. Usually the high forehand is handled best with a semi-western or western grip, but she had great success with her eastern grip. Please comment if you have any thoughts, opinions or insights on that.
Arantxa defense skill put Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki to shame!
Arantxa was a great great retriever. Never say die.
Don't forget Chris Evert too,she is also had a great defense skill
@@thomastagle5760 oh yes that’s very true. And her backhand passing shots are just magical. She could do it from anywhere on the court.
@@Mark9208p Chris Evert is a top great retriever indeed,few erros,few winners but a consistent baseliner,queen of passing shots in both forehand and backhand my friend esp.on clay.
@@thomastagle5760 yup I loved her double backhand passes. She drove MN mad at the net. She wore her opponents down with her consistency.
One of the best moment in my life !!
I'm not sure how a 93-94 Graf would have fared against Seles (had she not been attacked), but I feel confident in saying a 95-96 Graf would have her number. I think this Graf era is right up there with her 88-89 years.
Steffi was 80-2 win/loss in the 12 months after the stabbing.
Seles never had a run like that.
@@carrerau7138 Sure, but her chief rival was out of the game so you could argue those numbers are misleading. Seles was a bit like Serena to me, in the sense that she prioritized the slams over other tournaments.
@@deedledave9826 No, Seles had the luck that both Steffi (temporarily) and Sabatini (almost always) were head cases in slam tournaments.
It's interesting but you could sense and see the statistics of the tour back in 92/93 that more players on the tour were posting wins or getting closer against Monica. Every player goes through that: they're new and on fire, but they are not known and their game is still mysterious. After a while, that player is focused on, targeted and ultimately adapted to. You can see this happening by 92/93 to Monica. That's why Steffi, Martina N., Chris, Arantxa are simply at another level because for a very long time, long careers, they were able to fend off the rest of the tour who've already figured out their games and adapted to it. Here's a line that known American coach/businessman Nick Bolittieri once said about Monica back in the early 90s that was quite telling: paraphrased: "Monica is so talented but she doesn't do anything besides tennis. It drives me crazy! Nothing outside of the court, not much going on to help her tennis and conditioning." Nick was right, and if Monica wasn't attacked, she may have just been surpassed naturally as the tour was catching up.
Absolute classic!
サンチェスの後半の粘りが凄すぎる。これは名試合。
Un clásico en R.G ,la historia hubiese sido diferente si Seles no la hubiesen atacado en 1993 ella era la reina !!
Sanchez vicario played strong. She was close to beating Steffi
she choked
@@mathewhorodner2000 Troll.
@@carrerau7138 not a troll, and I don't have to look anything up...I type from personal experience......choking on the tennis court is not fun at all; I'm certainly not fond of those days when I was on the court when I was much younger
@@mathewhorodner2000 What makes you think ASV choked?
@@carrerau7138 I watched this match a long time ago. Let me re-watch the whole part. It seems that the whole match is in parts online, unfortunately. Here is the link to the first part. I think when you finish the first, it takes you to the second, then to the third, etc.
th-cam.com/video/c_jUXtPy0Kk/w-d-xo.html
Graf: what an incredibile pair of legs!
Thanks for sharing - also the two players´ so wonderfully respecful mutual credit speeches at the end
They say that Serena is now the GOAT. That makes Graf the Shepherd!
Graf is the goat then it's martina then serena.
Pur chef d'œuvre. pour moi, la plus grande finale de Roland Garros. 3h04 !!! un combat jusqu'au bout.
1992 Seles Graf 🙏🏻
Wimbledon
So incredible!!
Very Close Match with lucky end for Steffi. Love watching her powerful forehand which became so famous in the Tennis circle...amazing !
That was not luck Steffi fought hard and proved as she has many times. How mentally strong she was luck had nothing to do with it. Grow up !
When these two players came on court same as seles was as if the court was burning...what a court presence.Never seen it unlike for muguruza and williams a sense of something legendary
This is beautiful tennis.
It was the time when women tennis were on the same level with men’s except the power, everything from shot selection, mind clarity, balance and footwork are just as efficient as men’s. Not any more thou
Yeah. Actually, the only match of WTA that I watch are those of Osaka, Swiatek and sometimes Muguruza. I just watched 10 minutes of this match and regardless of the amount of Grand Slam, Graff was better than Serena.
@@claudioburgosgonzalez2844 Steffi was nowhere near Serena’s level. Serena would easily overpower Steffi
@@amandacerny8145 nope. They played when Serena was young and Graf beat serena and venus. It showed the same powerful flat forehand she is known for and backahnd slices keeping the sisters off balance
@@user-be5qg7mr1s lmao. Serena beat Steffi too. The Williams sisters weren’t even near their prime. While Steffi was in her prime, Serena dusted her in a final. She wasn’t even in her 30s when this happened. Serena in the other hand was a teenager. Serena in her prime would demolish steffi
@@amandacerny8145 Serena is the greatest at getting fined and losing her cool.
steffi is a machineee, love you!
The two legendary tennis players
What happened to Women's tennis these days? It has detoriated into a baseline screamfest.
@Ying Kai Weng haha. You don't know what you're talking about. Davenport and Seles both said how underrated the shot was. But I'm sure you know more than they do.
@Ying Kai Weng You know what, you're right. I mean, this player only won 90% of the matches she played in her life, won the Golden Grand Slam, and doesn't have a losing record against any significant player ever. I'm sure you can accomplish all that having a weak shot.
The key to Graf’s success against players like Seles, Pierce, Davenport, Capriati, Venus, etc was her slice backhand, calling it a weak shot shows just how little you know about tennis.
@@franciscolaprida2133 Yes. Serena would have hated it.
@Ying Kai Weng Nowadays, Serena moves like an "elephant" and she is still making Slam semi's and finals. Is that the key to Osaka's success? ... As to the real key to Graf's success, it was her forehand. She played like the men play today (e.g., Djokovic, Nadal, Federer) --- big serve and big forehand from all corners of the court, specifically the backhand corner. Why don't more women play like this today? Why don't Serena or Osaka play like this? Because it requires exceptional agility and quickness. Because it requires special technique on the forehand. The women's game regressed after Graf because the women that followed lacked the athleticism and technique to play like the men.
Everyone say about graff is footwork ..forehand ..exct.. but most important stuff
. steffi play with her brain and skill..
So Good Match . It's was a Pitty to Arantxa... She had the victory in her hands. Good players at the Time. Congrats.
The best of the all time.
One of few all court players Steffi Graf and arantxa Sanchez vicario
Je me souviens de ce match avec beaucoup de souffrance, Arantxa s'est battu jusqu'à la finale mais Luck était aux côtés de Graf. 🎾
Arantxa was not the same player after this. But her 1996 season was already shaky by this point, losing to Likhovtseva, Habsudova, Coetzer, and Maleeva prior to this one. Of course the crowd did not help at this time when Spanish players were despised upon in FO in general.
This lack of support basically lasted till the match against Serena in 98' when Arantxa turned things, as well as crowd popularity, around.
But little would we know this would be Graf's last good year too. Except a surprise win in 98' and 99' for each player, respectively.
Yes I remember watching this on bbc , Arantxa couldn't quite close it out. She ran miles around the court iin the final. I think it must have hurt her confidence losing this one .
Arantxa lost 3 grand slam finals in 1995 (with another nail biter against Graf at Wimbledon). And in 1996 she not only lost this final but again lost Wimbledon final to Graf and then the Olympic final to Davenport (which imo she wasn’t the same since then). It was too many losses for her to take. The 1998 French open final was another good one where I wanted both Arantxa and Seles to win and ultimately Arantxa ended up taking it ❤️
I think after this French open win, Steffi also won two more slams, Wimbledon and us open to finish out the year of 1996..
Yes she did. Played through injury and she managed to win. Imagine if she won the AO that year.
One of the all time great women’s major finals. Graf stayed so strong to win even though Aranxta got tougher as the match went on. I think Steffi really enjoyed this one.
Wow all those chances for ASV point from 5 - 2 serving for it. This match mirrors their other blockbuster where Graf was up in the 3rd and served for it. Tennis is fun
Steffi 💕
Good match 🎾🎾
''...next time, your time...''
Yes, Sánchez Vicario would go on to win 1 more in 1998. Way to go.
Poor vicario. She was up 4-2. She should have won. She gave it her all. But Graf had her all over the court and exhausted. So sad for her. She was such a relentless fighter.
No poor why? Was one of the best player ever in clay and had an amazing career any player can dream off, a legend in tenis
Pourquoi est-ce que la chaîne YT de RG n'est pas en français ?
Steffi is all class.
For Arantxa fans this is a nightmare match. Watching your favorite tennis player cry, humiliated and crushed was very difficult