Photo credit: USTA/US Open
Gabriela’s Glory
Gabriela Sabatini’s breakthrough US Open title victory still resonates 30 years later.
By Erik Gudris
T
he year was 1990. In women’s tennis, Steffi Graf still ruled the WTA tour. Monica Seles claimed her first major title at the French Open. Young American Jennifer Capriati was fast becoming a rising star. But there was still one player who had yet to enjoy success at the majors - Gabriela Sabatini. When the US Open rolled around in the late summer of 1990, the Argentinian star was not exactly top of mind to win the last Grand Slam event of that year. That despite Sabatini being a constant fixture of women’s tennis by that point. At age 15, she burst onto the scene by becoming the youngest player ever to reach the French Open semifinals. Sabatini quickly rose to a career-high No. 3 in the world a few years later. That climb included winning the WTA Championships in 1988 and also the silver medal at the Seoul Olympics earlier that year.
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2020 US OPEN PREVIEW
Nicknamed “ The Pearl of the Pampas” by famed tennis writer Bud Collins, she became a fan favorite with her extreme topspin backspin backhand and steady baseline game. But the consensus was that she might finally find Grand Slam success on the red clay of Paris. That prediction lingered despite Sabatini’s record of having reaching the US Open final in 1988 and the semifinals the next year. Despite that, very few thought Sabatini would be a factor in the final rounds once main draw play got underway in Flushing Meadows.
