Thank you for this rare Steffi Graf video at the 1985 US Open! At just 16, you can tell just how much potential Steffi had at such a young age. Two years later, she would refine her game enough to win her first FO grand slam. In the following year, Steffi would famously win her 1988 calendar year golden grand slam winning all four GS and Olympic gold entering into 2 years of dominance as her first peak years. As a tennis player, more so for those on the pro tour, any small changes can alter your game significantly. In this USO match, Steffi has still not fully grown into her athletic body and her tennis skills. Her repertoire of shots were not as deadly. If you observe carefully, she was executing her backhand slice swing in such a neutral position meaning her stance was slightly open with both her arms moving up and out wide, similar to a bird spreading their wings. Mostly arm movement with with very little aggressive forward-moving momentum and weight transfer. I’m glad her team refined her backhand to that best ever vicious and deceptively knifing slice. Of course her legendary iconic forehand would be on full display 2-3 years later. Watching this video versus her later matches, her forehand would evolve to less of a ‘wind-mill’ swing meaning from high to low and back to high. It would become more of a hybrid flat-topspin drive with deadly accuracy and consistency. Her serve, backhand topspin (mostly used for passing shots against net rushers), net volleys including her strength, speed, and agility/footwork, all executed with such grace, would be so much better than what we see in this USO match. Steffi would enter into her second peak years from ‘95-96 mainly attributed to her change from Dunlop 85 to Wilson 95 racquet. Though I won’t go into technical details, she also further refined her game thanks to racquet and string innovations. Roger Federer and his team also refined his game even further by making a switch to a larger racquet. Incredible that both those iconic tennis greats, in Steffi and Roger, became an even greater version of themselves at a later age!!!
Think I watched this match live on tv back in the day. Pam was so kind to Steffi despite the lost being very painful. Wonderful stroll down memory lane. Thanks.
Thanks Kev for pulling this one out of the blessed archives of video tape. It's one of those matches I'd 'heard of' and never got a chance to see at the time. Now that I'm way beyond freshman year, this was a thrilling bit of nostalgia. I laughed every time that long, and super hard, "A" was added to Steffi's last name - ah, the memories.
A star was born and she is still a star 🔥the first match with three sets which are all decided in tie-break. Beside of the 99 French Open final, one of the longest matches of Stefanie Graf.
Never saw this match. Thanks for uploading. I didn't know the outcome, so it was exciting to watch. Pam had the greasiest forehand in history. All she did was slide it somewhere and get in. Her side to side movement is so flatfooted. This is before Steffi got rid of that rocking back hitch in her serve and stopped holding the second ball when serving. She already had that tremendous forehand and footspeed.
I’ve been searching for this one forever. I remember the old grandstand seeing a lot of action back in the day and this match in particular was a real battle. Graf wanted to get revenge after losing to Shriver earlier at Wimbledon. Graf here reminds me of Hayley Mills from The Parent Trap.
In the Tennis magazine year end issue/yearbook...they called this one of the year's best matches and the caption began, 'when equals like Shriver and Graf play...' Pam probably framed that years later and has it on her wall.
Wow. Never seen this-a gem- Pam is such a dag- gotta love her. And Steffi- well shes so cute here. Love to see the next match with her against Martina too if you have it please-
I get what you’re saying though after 1985 Pam would only beat Steffi once more (88 Virginia Slims) though Steffi was sick with flu. However, with a big serve and decent volley she was able to finish her career with a 3-9 record against Steffi.
@@Menexpert also, Shriver held a match point against Graf in another match in early 1988. Shriver one of those net rushers that Steffi didn't really enjoy playing when she wasn't at her best.
One of the best ways to trouble Steffi was to catch her off-guard at the net. Navratilova did so very effectively. So could Lori McNeil, Mariaan de Swardt, Jana Novotna, and sometimes Gabriela Sabatini. Shriver also applied those tactics in her matches against Graf and she had some reasonable success.
Shriver was pretty good at taking Steffi out of her comfort zone. Hitting really short slice approach shots, pulling Steffi from baseline into no man's land and making her stretch.
@@tobilinooo No, WTA tournament qualies and ITF tournaments usually are not counted. So the 902:115 career win/loss stats (not 900:115) for Steffi you can often read about is not accurate. Because those numbers include 5:4 win/loss in 4 ITF tournaments and 10:4 in qualies in 1983. And 2:1 in 1984 qualies. So actually 885:106 win/loss is Steffi‘s exact win/loss career stats (and not the 888:107 I claimed). A 89.30 winning percentage. Would have been clearly over 90 % if Steffi hadn‘t played and lost a lot of matches as a 13/14-year-old.
@@carrerau7138 The WTA gives this statistic officially, so it is true! You certainly do NOT know better, because what counts, determines the WTA! You can save yourself any further discussion!
What I’m saying is that the other adjectives you used may not be most peoples opinion either (including the person you replied to). But I think Steffi was quite lovely with a very fit figure.
Marion Bartoli is a way better Tennis player than Steffi Graf. Marion bartoli had belief in herself that Steffi Graff as a great tennis player doesn't have even being world no.1 to win Wimbledon. Wimbledon is a grass court tournament and therefore amongst the medium surfaces. which means medium rallies dictated by serve and therefore less exertion of energy during a point and shorter matches in general. you get value for your shot! fat and short or tall and thin! when you play 3 sets against 5 sets for men, it is always an advantage. Marion Bartoli played a more strategic than a grind type of tennis in tournaments. good volleying skills as compared to Steffi Graff even in execution. Marion Bartoli had the belief that she could win and in contrast to Steffi Graff who believed that Bartoli would wear herself down and just lose(not that they don't have to play, just that they had to hang in there long enough for her to break down). Most of them slightly underestimated what she was doing in tournaments. She was an inexperienced player by that point who had proven herself as a former top 10 player. Her winning was really a surprise i.e out of the blue with already having made the finals twice but her consistency was questionable. She had unique two handed forehands and backhands. That was easy to replicate and master but once mastered it was going to be lethal. That was what spectators saw in tournaments of Marion Bartoli to a great extent. at Wimbledon 2013 she had some luck from the draw as 15th seed. she never played a top 10 player en route to her victory. the finalist she played: Venus Williams had already beaten Agnieszka Radwańska en route to the final. Venus Williams was playing her best but was probably worn out a lot by her battles with Agnieszka Radwańska and others. Venus Williams was in the form of her life but Bartoli had the luck of the draw. Regardless of whether your fat or not, if you make your shots even Steffi Graff may not be able to return it at Wimbledon. so if you are playing near perfection and having consistency with your shots then you are playing on a level field. then speaking of fat, technically Marion Bartoli may be classified as fat, yet she was the most successful female tennis player. Bartoli wasn’t really playing a specific style and really had weakness in tournaments and most of her shots had some vigor in it that Steffi Graf generally doesn't necessarily have. Here return games were spot on and had more errors and more importantly she can get Steffi Graff to errors first. all in all, this was a victory that was easily replicable or Bartoli after this mediocre run. She had belief and luck along with inexperience that allowed her to win her only Grand Slam. Marion Bartoli was dubbed as unfit and fat. She still made it to Grand Slam finals. Even in her Wembdon win 2013 she wasn’t fit. Marion Bartoli is an inspiration. It was really a fluke because Bartoli won by dropping sets and beat a few top 20 players along the way. Winning by dropping a set means you played really close to perfection along with dropping the level enough that allowed anyone to comeback and take a set from you. being fat may seem a hindrance, but is a limitation if you want it to be one. Honestly calling her fat in tournaments is really justifiable because she wasn’t thin but fat is really appropriate. And yes, tall and lanky players like Steffi Graf don’t always win , especially in the topsy turvy women’s tour. slightly fatter players can generate more power than extremely thin and tall players like Steffi Graff.
Graf was hated by all her fellow players during her entire time on the tour. She was unfriendly, disrespectful and a known diva yet Seles put her in her place.
Steffi was liked and well respected by all players on the tour even though she was a very private and shy person. A**holes all over the world hated her because of this. No wonder since they are a**holes. The world would be a better one without that human trash.
Horsesqueeze, Graf was feared and respected by her fellow players, just ask Rennae Stubbs....this is the kind of garbage comment that nuttier Seles fans stoop low to. It doesn't honor Seles, it just makes you appear petty and unhinged and out of touch with what really happened.
Totally not true. She had some good friends on the tour, and Gabriela Sabatini was (and still is) a very close friend of her, despite their fierce rivalry in court. They knew each other back from junior tennis, and were friends back from then.But they were great professionals, and very nice young women, similar in several respects(both pretty shy, for example), perfectly able to keep these two things (friendship and rivalry) well separated.
Though she was super successful, Graf had the most unattractive playing style, none of her strokes were classically pretty. Her backhand always looked like she was hacking down shrubs and her forehand looked like she was digging a trench. Pam lost this match more than Graf won it and considering this was a gutting loss for Pammy, she was super gracious in her loss and Steffi showed her forthcoming and renowned classless win/lose demeanor at the net.
Graf was nowhere near her prime here and Shriver at the peak of her career which is the only reason Pam even had a chance to win. Prime to prime Graf destroys her atleast 9 times out of 10, like she did at Wimbledons 87 and 88. Pam did have one of the finest and best wins of her whole career over Graf in the 88 YEC, Graf's Grand Slam year, but most of the time she was just fodder for Graf once both were top 5 together, just like she had been for Chris, Martina, and even Tracy years before. Remember Tracy won their first 9 matches, Pam only got 2 wins when Tracy's career began to fizzle out and soon would with serious illness/injury, and both were still on grass which Tracy sucked on. And if you think Graf's game is ugly which I agree with to a degree, what the heck can you say about Shriver's game, LOL! That forehand, the movement, the return of serve, some of the ugliest strokes ever in tennis. She looks like an old nanny trying to play tennis, credit to her for being a top 5 player so long with that fugly mess of a game. The only player I ever saw with almost as ugly a game is Kimiko Date, and Pam still has her beat there.
Graf’s game was always graceful. Her forehand was otherworldly and her backhand was so consistent. I think she had a beautiful style of play. Loved to watch her graceful service motion. She moved beautifully around the court with amazing foot speed. Say what you want about her, but she was graceful and beautiful.
Who is the lunatic to see Graf that way. Only the people who watched the tennis of the lunatics say failures are the best shots, failures are the best players, failures are the role tennis models. Come on only you seem to be stupid. All the rest ,of the world sing in Steffi Graf's forehand drive , dance in Steffi Graf's winning shots , rejoice in Steffi Graf's trophy holding pictures. Come on guy , don't expose your own personality flaw to the world. The world understand you this way---- either you are "Pessimistic Person " or you are " Extremely Jealous of Steffi Graf ".
Thank you for this rare Steffi Graf video at the 1985 US Open! At just 16, you can tell just how much potential Steffi had at such a young age. Two years later, she would refine her game enough to win her first FO grand slam. In the following year, Steffi would famously win her 1988 calendar year golden grand slam winning all four GS and Olympic gold entering into 2 years of dominance as her first peak years.
As a tennis player, more so for those on the pro tour, any small changes can alter your game significantly. In this USO match, Steffi has still not fully grown into her athletic body and her tennis skills. Her repertoire of shots were not as deadly. If you observe carefully, she was executing her backhand slice swing in such a neutral position meaning her stance was slightly open with both her arms moving up and out wide, similar to a bird spreading their wings. Mostly arm movement with with very little aggressive forward-moving momentum and weight transfer. I’m glad her team refined her backhand to that best ever vicious and deceptively knifing slice.
Of course her legendary iconic forehand would be on full display 2-3 years later. Watching this video versus her later matches, her forehand would evolve to less of a ‘wind-mill’ swing meaning from high to low and back to high. It would become more of a hybrid flat-topspin drive with deadly accuracy and consistency.
Her serve, backhand topspin (mostly used for passing shots against net rushers), net volleys including her strength, speed, and agility/footwork, all executed with such grace, would be so much better than what we see in this USO match.
Steffi would enter into her second peak years from ‘95-96 mainly attributed to her change from Dunlop 85 to Wilson 95 racquet. Though I won’t go into technical details, she also further refined her game thanks to racquet and string innovations. Roger Federer and his team also refined his game even further by making a switch to a larger racquet.
Incredible that both those iconic tennis greats, in Steffi and Roger, became an even greater version of themselves at a later age!!!
@Max E You’re right! Thanks will edit my comment.
She would have been 15 not 16. How do I know? Beause me and Steffi were born the same year 1970 and we were both 15 in 1985
Thank you for these treasures!
Think I watched this match live on tv back in the day.
Pam was so kind to Steffi despite the lost being very painful.
Wonderful stroll down memory lane. Thanks.
Thanks Kev for pulling this one out of the blessed archives of video tape. It's one of those matches I'd 'heard of' and never got a chance to see at the time. Now that I'm way beyond freshman year, this was a thrilling bit of nostalgia. I laughed every time that long, and super hard, "A" was added to Steffi's last name - ah, the memories.
You’re welcome. Tennis in the 80’s was amazing. So many different styles.
A star was born and she is still a star 🔥the first match with three sets which are all decided in tie-break. Beside of the 99 French Open final, one of the longest matches of Stefanie Graf.
@Max E what about French final of 1992?
The 1989 and 1996 french open finals also very long
Never saw this match. Thanks for uploading. I didn't know the outcome, so it was exciting to watch. Pam had the greasiest forehand in history. All she did was slide it somewhere and get in. Her side to side movement is so flatfooted. This is before Steffi got rid of that rocking back hitch in her serve and stopped holding the second ball when serving. She already had that tremendous forehand and footspeed.
Awesome chip n charge game and volleys though.
I’ve been searching for this one forever. I remember the old grandstand seeing a lot of action back in the day and this match in particular was a real battle. Graf wanted to get revenge after losing to Shriver earlier at Wimbledon. Graf here reminds me of Hayley Mills from The Parent Trap.
Graf Wimbledon 84 so much more so.
missed this old grandstand court. always a packed crown on grandstand...
Did get to see this match. Thanks for uploading. Steffi is so small here. Short. She still beat Shriver
Shriver is close to 6'2 so Graf wasn't too far under her final height.
In the Tennis magazine year end issue/yearbook...they called this one of the year's best matches and the caption began, 'when equals like Shriver and Graf play...' Pam probably framed that years later and has it on her wall.
That is the last time anyone would ever call them equals, LOL!
Thank you
Poor Players -towels on ground -nothing against sun !
Thank you!!!
Wow. Never seen this-a gem- Pam is such a dag- gotta love her. And Steffi- well shes so cute here. Love to see the next match with her against Martina too if you have it please-
Cutee steffi🥰
Wow thankyou!
I am consistently amazed by how much Shriver could trouble Graf despite her limited game and movement even when Graf was at her prime circa 88.
I get what you’re saying though after 1985 Pam would only beat Steffi once more (88 Virginia Slims) though Steffi was sick with flu. However, with a big serve and decent volley she was able to finish her career with a 3-9 record against Steffi.
@@Menexpert also, Shriver held a match point against Graf in another match in early 1988. Shriver one of those net rushers that Steffi didn't really enjoy playing when she wasn't at her best.
One of the best ways to trouble Steffi was to catch her off-guard at the net. Navratilova did so very effectively. So could Lori McNeil, Mariaan de Swardt, Jana Novotna, and sometimes Gabriela Sabatini. Shriver also applied those tactics in her matches against Graf and she had some reasonable success.
Shriver was pretty good at taking Steffi out of her comfort zone. Hitting really short slice approach shots, pulling Steffi from baseline into no man's land and making her stretch.
PS was tricky with her slices, decent volleys, height and huge reach. Not someone to trifle with 🤭
Pam is Funny!🥰🥰Steffi ♥️♥️♥️
Good stuff. Was Pam crying or screaming into her towel at the end?
What an arm wrestle. Same score in every single set!
Always liked Pam Shriver , one of my favorites .
I don‘t like her even though she is a Republican.
The chair umpire sounds like a commander
In the next round, Graf lost to Navratilova, just as in 1986 and 1987. Is that 1985 match available somewhere?
But what about the handshake?
Was it long enough?
Yes, Graf is always gracious when she wins 😉
@@jamesr2164 Steffi was more often a gracious winner than a gracious loser.
888-107 win/loss.
@@carrerau7138 900:115
@@tobilinooo No, WTA tournament qualies and ITF tournaments usually are not counted.
So the 902:115 career win/loss stats (not 900:115) for Steffi you can often read about is not accurate.
Because those numbers include 5:4 win/loss in 4 ITF tournaments and 10:4 in qualies in 1983.
And 2:1 in 1984 qualies.
So actually 885:106 win/loss is Steffi‘s exact win/loss career stats (and not the 888:107 I claimed).
A 89.30 winning percentage.
Would have been clearly over 90 % if Steffi hadn‘t played and lost a lot of matches as a 13/14-year-old.
@@carrerau7138 The WTA gives this statistic officially, so it is true! You certainly do NOT know better, because what counts, determines the WTA! You can save yourself any further discussion!
Born a super star
Steffi Graf: I am 16 going on 17.
Steffi Graf & Alexander Zverev could be long lost brother/sister 😂😆😜
I don't think so. Alexander is too handsome.
@@edgarcayce2.02 Yes, Steffi not handsome, she is more the beautiful, sexy, hot type.
@@carrerau7138That’s absolutely not what he meant.
Zverev actually looks facially more like Hingis.
@@FlabbyTitmuss I would never call Steffi “handsome“, that simply would not be the right word for a woman like her.
What I’m saying is that the other adjectives you used may not be most peoples opinion either (including the person you replied to). But I think Steffi was quite lovely with a very fit figure.
💓NOVAK DJOKOVIC💓
🎾
💓MONIKA SELES💓
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
BEST TENIS PLAYERS
ALL TIMES 🙏RESPECT🙏💕
Grüsse aus 🇨🇭 Schweiz 🇨🇭
Definitely 2 of the best players I’ve ever seen.
Carillo obviously a fan of Graf.
Most people back then were.
What a strange backhand Shriver had.
Des transgenres!
Braindead comment!
Marion Bartoli is a way better Tennis player than Steffi Graf.
Marion bartoli had belief in herself that Steffi Graff as a great tennis player doesn't have even being world no.1 to win Wimbledon.
Wimbledon is a grass court tournament and therefore amongst the medium surfaces. which means medium rallies dictated by serve and therefore less exertion of energy during a point and shorter matches in general. you get value for your shot! fat and short or tall and thin!
when you play 3 sets against 5 sets for men, it is always an advantage.
Marion Bartoli played a more strategic than a grind type of tennis in tournaments. good volleying skills as compared to Steffi Graff even in execution.
Marion Bartoli had the belief that she could win and in contrast to Steffi Graff who believed that Bartoli would wear herself down and just lose(not that they don't have to play, just that they had to hang in there long enough for her to break down). Most of them slightly underestimated what she was doing in tournaments. She was an inexperienced player by that point who had proven herself as a former top 10 player.
Her winning was really a surprise i.e out of the blue with already having made the finals twice but her consistency was questionable.
She had unique two handed forehands and backhands. That was easy to replicate and master but once mastered it was going to be lethal. That was what spectators saw in tournaments of Marion Bartoli to a great extent.
at Wimbledon 2013 she had some luck from the draw as 15th seed. she never played a top 10 player en route to her victory. the finalist she played: Venus Williams had already beaten Agnieszka Radwańska en route to the final.
Venus Williams was playing her best but was probably worn out a lot by her battles with Agnieszka Radwańska and others. Venus Williams was in the form of her life but Bartoli had the luck of the draw.
Regardless of whether your fat or not, if you make your shots even Steffi Graff may not be able to return it at Wimbledon. so if you are playing near perfection and having consistency with your shots then you are playing on a level field.
then speaking of fat, technically Marion Bartoli may be classified as fat, yet she was the most successful female tennis player.
Bartoli wasn’t really playing a specific style and really had weakness in tournaments and most of her shots had some vigor in it that Steffi Graf generally doesn't necessarily have. Here return games were spot on and had more errors and more importantly she can get Steffi Graff to errors first.
all in all, this was a victory that was easily replicable or Bartoli after this mediocre run. She had belief and luck along with inexperience that allowed her to win her only Grand Slam. Marion Bartoli was dubbed as unfit and fat. She still made it to Grand Slam finals. Even in her Wembdon win 2013 she wasn’t fit. Marion Bartoli is an inspiration.
It was really a fluke because Bartoli won by dropping sets and beat a few top 20 players along the way.
Winning by dropping a set means you played really close to perfection along with dropping the level enough that allowed anyone to comeback and take a set from you.
being fat may seem a hindrance, but is a limitation if you want it to be one.
Honestly calling her fat in tournaments is really justifiable because she wasn’t thin but fat is really appropriate.
And yes, tall and lanky players like Steffi Graf don’t always win , especially in the topsy turvy women’s tour. slightly fatter players can generate more power than extremely thin and tall players like Steffi Graff.
And you’re still seeking out Steffi Graf matches to comment on 😂 Very sad!!
@Kevmcg Gotta love those Graf haters a few on here they are hilarious 🤣😆😂
Who?
Lol. Sure
Graf was hated by all her fellow players during her entire time on the tour. She was unfriendly, disrespectful and a known diva yet Seles put her in her place.
That's not true, hated maybe because she was so dominant. She and Sabatini were good friends.
Steffi was liked and well respected by all players on the tour even though she was a very private and shy person.
A**holes all over the world hated her because of this. No wonder since they are a**holes. The world would be a better one without that human trash.
Horsesqueeze, Graf was feared and respected by her fellow players, just ask Rennae Stubbs....this is the kind of garbage comment that nuttier Seles fans stoop low to. It doesn't honor Seles, it just makes you appear petty and unhinged and out of touch with what really happened.
What? 🤔
Totally not true. She had some good friends on the tour, and Gabriela Sabatini was (and still is) a very close friend of her, despite their fierce rivalry in court. They knew each other back from junior tennis, and were friends back from then.But they were great professionals, and very nice young women, similar in several respects(both pretty shy, for example), perfectly able to keep these two things (friendship and rivalry) well separated.
No reason to stop play just because there's a bird flying around. Good grief.
Pam is spam
Though she was super successful, Graf had the most unattractive playing style, none of her strokes were classically pretty. Her backhand always looked like she was hacking down shrubs and her forehand looked like she was digging a trench. Pam lost this match more than Graf won it and considering this was a gutting loss for Pammy, she was super gracious in her loss and Steffi showed her forthcoming and renowned classless win/lose demeanor at the net.
Graf was nowhere near her prime here and Shriver at the peak of her career which is the only reason Pam even had a chance to win. Prime to prime Graf destroys her atleast 9 times out of 10, like she did at Wimbledons 87 and 88. Pam did have one of the finest and best wins of her whole career over Graf in the 88 YEC, Graf's Grand Slam year, but most of the time she was just fodder for Graf once both were top 5 together, just like she had been for Chris, Martina, and even Tracy years before. Remember Tracy won their first 9 matches, Pam only got 2 wins when Tracy's career began to fizzle out and soon would with serious illness/injury, and both were still on grass which Tracy sucked on.
And if you think Graf's game is ugly which I agree with to a degree, what the heck can you say about Shriver's game, LOL! That forehand, the movement, the return of serve, some of the ugliest strokes ever in tennis. She looks like an old nanny trying to play tennis, credit to her for being a top 5 player so long with that fugly mess of a game. The only player I ever saw with almost as ugly a game is Kimiko Date, and Pam still has her beat there.
Graf’s game was always graceful. Her forehand was otherworldly and her backhand was so consistent. I think she had a beautiful style of play. Loved to watch her graceful service motion. She moved beautifully around the court with amazing foot speed. Say what you want about her, but she was graceful and beautiful.
Who is the lunatic to see Graf that way. Only the people who watched the tennis of the lunatics say failures are the best shots, failures are the best players, failures are the role tennis models. Come on only you seem to be stupid. All the rest ,of the world sing in Steffi Graf's forehand drive , dance in Steffi Graf's winning shots , rejoice in Steffi Graf's trophy holding pictures. Come on guy , don't expose your own personality flaw to the world. The world understand you this way---- either you are "Pessimistic Person " or you are " Extremely Jealous of Steffi Graf ".
@@deepkiranraigurung7226 very well said
@Ilya Kuryakin undoubtedly the most elegant and graceful player of all time ilya...almost flawless computerised shots..