I miss Martina and Chris. Don’t miss Graf.

With a real backhand in topspin, Steffi could have been really unbeatable! Too much slice. Martina was complete, great great player. I was a Steffi 's fan, but great respect to Martina

Martina - Steffi head to head: 9-9. 5-4 at grand slams. Even though Martina was not at her best anymore, 12.5 years older than Graf. In her prime, she was better than Geaf

come on. this was tennis. two or three generations in a match. no comparisson.

Yes and the contrasting styles made it fascinating tennis 2 watch

Agreed!!

Chris Evert was also right up there in terms of mental toughness and skill.

Chris Evert & Billie Jean King have you ever heard of them or seen them play?

@@NotSettlingForSecondBest Chris Evert & Yonne Goolagong were baseline players. Martina Navratilova changed the face of tennis, Billie Jean started that change with her style.

She moved great

@sabueso32. Although Graf's footwork on a tennis court overall was excellent, her footwork on the rare times she hit a topspin backhand was not proper footwork because she almost invariably hit that shot from a semi-open stance instead of hitting it properly with a closed stance. The lightweight and powerful graphite rackets allowed her to still hit the topspin backhand effectively (e.g., against Navratilova when Navratilova came into the net) despite her improper footwork on that shot. The best footwork in women's pro tennis that I have ever seen was Chris Evert's and (after she got herself into outstanding physical fitness condition) Navratilova's.

@@michaelbarlow6610 Real pro comment . Bravo .🙂

@@aleksandarfrick2656 Thanks for the compliment!😀

Thanx . I love Navratilova winners on net - they are like cherry on ice cake. Little masterpieces . Love Steffi too but Seles scandal ( Graff fan stub Monica behind the back ) is a shadow on her career .

@@aleksandarfrick2656 pretty bad performance by Martina; she completely fell apart at the end of the second set

Martina Navratilova was a net & volley player whereas Chris Evert was a baseline player. My most memorable Wimbledon semi final was 1981 Jimmy Connor vs. John McEnroe, it was truly epic. You did not want either to lose. it was more like a final. John McEnroe went on to win & beat the 5 time Wimbledon winner Bjorn Borg 1976-1980.

Graf And Becker Made The Second Grand Slam Double After Wimbledon This Year.

@@M.EngelhART I know, I'm a big fun of Steffi👍👍👍

navratilova could win this match. a couple of shots. less emotional, and she could win.i tink it tells a lot about the entire story

@@francescobattisti9926 but she didn't win the match. Did she? She again chocked. Martina had the tendency to lose matches in third set. Mentally she was not as strong as Graf, Seles & Serena.

@@rajusaha855 and she was not that young

@@francescobattisti9926 and she was not too old to win another Grand Slam as she did it 10 months later at Wimbledon. She was lucky Zina beat Steffi that year. Can u imagine if Steffi didn’t exist Martina would have 22 GS under her belt, but we’re not living in shoulda coulda woulda isn’t?

@@MachoDefeaters shoulda coulda don't work at all. You are right.

For many people criteria like elegance, class and humility are not a part of greatness. Sad!

If only Seles wouldn't have been stabbed by a crazy fan of Graff......there wouldn't be any debate on who is /was the female GOAT. At the same time, I have always been a great admirer of Steffi, Navratilova, and Serena. They have set standards that every tennis player would want to achieve !

@@ranajungbahadur7733 I agree. If Selles had been playing in the mid-90s when Graf peaked again (and won 10 slams) even the most fanatical Serenna supporters wouldn’t be able to deny that Steffi is the GOAT.

@@carrerau7138 but then again...Steffi ain't winning 10 majors with Monica around without the stabbing. We all know this.

@@nursondewind6227 Steffi won only 6 slams in Monica‘s absence.

And all Martina could do was watch the ball fly past her as she shouted “too good”!

I think it is safe to say that the players from today would beat the players from the past if they would play with the same equipment. It is just that the techniques and training methods have advanced. If you look at football from the 70's it is much slower and less body contact than today. However Martina and Steffi have been heros of their times and have played remarkable tennis. Their successes speak for themselves. That meaning if Steffi and Martin would have been born in the 90's they would be dominating women's tennis today for sure because of their talent, dedication and mentality.

​@@Xm-zp1fwI would disagree. I've played with Steffi's Dunlop racquet and it is far harder to wield than the modern racquets of today. It's heavy, less spin, racquet preparation has to be early and perfect, and you have to be extremely fit. Most players today would have to resort to crafting point than hacking winners which requires a lot more skill. How many of today's players can volley like Navratilova or hit a knife like slice BH like Steffi?

You must be having a laugh mate!!! No way are you comparing the technicality of modern players with this. Just say you hate the groaning and that's it.

@@williamjimmie6781No one would compare the technical abilities of Navratilova/Graf with today‘s players. It would be cruel towards today‘s players.

You actually see more technical perfection, footwork and athleticism in today’s tennis. It’s because everyone nowadays is getting the exact same training and plays the exact same way, resulting in very boring tennis. There was more variation in style back in the day; way more entertaining.

@@paigeloomisWho of today‘s players has a footwork that comes close to Steffi‘s? Who of today‘s players can volley like Martina?

@@carrerau7138 I never said that today’s players are better than the likes of Martina and Steffi. I’m just making a general point about the physical ability of today’s players. I’d rather watch Steffi and Martina any day- not boring.

But whenMartina lost it was always close . Two open finals 7-6 in third three French finals - lost by one service break.lost 3 open matches 7-6 or 7-5 in last two sets ( Austin 7-5,7-5 in 1979, mandlikova 1980~ 7-5,6-4,19787-6,7-6,82 shriver,1-6,7-6,6-2,, capriati 7-5,6-4 Wimbledon 91. Mandlikova 7-5,7-6 Australian 1987. List goes on. Very seldom that when Martina loses , loses big in straight sets. Never really happened. Evert beat Navratilova in Los Angelo’s 6-1,6-2 but there is no tape of the match.

@@lenwelch2195 that's not the point I was making. The matches I listed were ones where she specifically threw away a match winning lead, and from 1987 onwards. Years later, Martina said that she had been burnt out from tennis after 1986. This most probably affected her results.

@@th8257 I don’t think Navratilova ever threw away a match against Steffi. Steffi always wrestled it out of Martina‘s hands.

@@lenwelch2195Good point. Martina won more sets and games than she lost against Graf. She won more sets and games than she lost against Evert even at the FO. That's because she tended to win easily in straight sets and lose closely in three sets.

​@@carrerau7138I think the 1987 French Open was a good example. Martina started throwing in double faults all over the place as she started to choke, famously on match point down. Even in this match, the commentators were waiting for Martina to choke when ahead, which she did. He game definitely did go off as she got nearer victory in the second set.

There must be some weird men in your family… 😂

And body..i would've licked it🎉

Bullshit, Graf is the most overrated WTA champ I ever seen and boring too and lived in a weakass era.

Get a grip game has moved on she would struggle to get a game against any woman in the top 50

I was a ball boy for graf in the late 80s. She is the standard for women’s tennis

@@Kelsyg Your thinking is so simplistic and devoid of imagination it's actually humorous.

Martina was 32. And 1989 was among her best years ever. If it weren‘t for her 3 final losses to Supersteffi in Wimbledon, the USO and the YEC she would have had a 70-match winning streak between June 1989 and April 1990. This is the very rare case of two all-time greats both fighting each other at their peak. Truly a golden era!

Martina never played better tennis as in Wimbledon 1988 and in the 1989 saison against Steffi. Young Graf triggered the best out of her - cause nobody was challenging the way Graf did.There was a reiging empress who was domininating, beeing a class of her own. And there was this young girl who came closer and closer. They had amazing battles in 1987 in Wimbledon and at the US Open. For me the Wimbledon final1988 (on Navratiovas most favorite surface )is one of the best matches ever played. It was a real shot out of highest quality. i remember Martina saying after: its the legs .she is reaching balls that no one else can reach. After her loss in 1989 Martina gave Graf a chain that she had worn all the last years. She said: i lost against a better player today.

​@@airmaxxxer This is not a compliment but a fact on the tennis court. Steffi Graf was very lucky to be present in the era of Navratilova and Evert. Steffi Graf is elegantly feminine but murderous.

😂😂😂😂 ok honey God you people give steffi credit for nothing. 😂😂😂😂

But Steffi was there. And Martina knew about Steffi's comeback qualities (FO 87, Wim 88!!). No player in the history of the sport turned around so many slam finals as Steffi.

absolutely very well said raju saha..

Actually I've seen her play much better!

Graf in 93 would kill this 89 version..

I stopped watching women’s tennis. Even Iga is uninspiring to me.

So her absolute peak was at 20 years old? That explains why she only won 3 of the next 13 slams after this very match. It took a knife to deal her back into the game. Washed up German if not for a madman.

Sexist a bit?

@nicholasschroeder3678. The men's pro tour during the 1980s was MUCH MORE competitive than the Federer, Djokovic and Nadal era! From the mid-1970's thru the mid-1990's, there were no less than 10 all-time great players competing at or near the top of men's pro tennis including Borg, Connors, McEnroe, Lendl, Vilas, Wilander, Becker, Edberg, Sampras and Agassi! By contrast, there have only been 3 all-time great players during the current, irrefutably weakest era in men's tennis history - Federer Djokovic and Nadal and no others! AND, the current era has 0 serve-and-volley players! So the current era in tennis is completely bereft of any diversity of playing styles! The level of play displayed by the great players of the 1970's thru the 1990's was a superior level of play because at that time the game had not been cheapened to the extreme extent that it has been cheapened in the current era! The cheapening of the game back then was the regrettable introduction of the graphite technology in tennis equipment (unfortunately allowing it to replace the wood and metal rackets which were real tennis) which , as Connors accurately pointed out, elevated the players' games a full level above their actual abilities, but the game has been cheapened even more since then by the deplorable introduction of the lubricated strings, larger Type3 tennis ball, harder Type1 tennis ball, the abandonment of the lightening fast indoor supreme court carpet surface and the recent abandonment of the fast DecoTurf2 hard court surface at the U.S. Open and the alteration of the composition of the grass courts at Wimbledon in 2001, all of which have combined to wrongly and unfairly favor baseline play over net play and have resulted in the current era players' level of play being artificially elevated an addition half-level to a full level above their actual abilities which means that the current era players are playing at least a level-and-a-half to 2 levels above their true abilities!!!!

No.

Martina would win Wimbledon in the next year. And beat Steffi twice, at the USO 91 and in Tokyo 93 (at age 36).

They also mocked her late forehand technique and her weak slice and yes if it ain’t broken ….😊

Who mocked that??😂🤣

@@carrerau7138 the list is long. Commentators, especially ex pros. Most coaches train to hit on the apex not the down. You ok now Karen?

Martina was dethroned well before this match.

Steffi had been #1 for more than two years and won the Golden Slam in the year before.

I would say the 1988 Wimbledon, because grass was Martina's favorite surface and it showed the massive improvements Graf made to her backhand.

If Serena isn't better than Graf then you would not have mentioned her name.

@@magnetmac1I think he mentioned Serena because several pathetic Serenatards still claim that their fave was greater than the GOAT. Thankfully their voices will become quieter and quieter in the coming years and finally vanish.

Steffi is the GOAT.

@@rajusaha855 Of course some consider Steffi as the GOAT.

Shouting after a shot is show of competitive drive. It doesn't make an athlete less of a real player.

Well said!

Steffi homely?? 😂😂😂 You surely must have special tastes…. Gay maybe (not that there would be anything wrong with that!). For red-blooded heterosexual men Steffi was one of the hottest players of all time. She is mentioned in all “sexiest-players-of-all-time“ polls. The legs, the T&A, the golden hair, the blue eyes, the sensuous mouth with that famous smile - she had it all.

@@carrerau7138 Don't forget the big nose and the zero personality.

@@lwh7301I look at a lot of other body parts a woman has. You will learn when you become older, boy… 😂 And I better do not want to know what kids like you mean by “personality“. Steffi is generally considered to have been one of the most charismatic tennis greats ever in the women’s game.

@@carrerau7138 You're hard up, kiddo. Look up what charisma means before using the word.

@@lwh7301 People like you think Serena was charismatic, I‘m sure.

?

Haha You can hear that if she changed her skirt at this moment "it make you feel she believes (there s gonna be a third set)

Steffi‘s reign was interrupted by a nasty blackmail scandal. Sadly crime is a part of life.

​@carrerau7138 Blackmail scandal?😂😂 You sound foolish. Give credit to Monica ....deep down I know you want to.

@@joeyconvery2055 Foolish is to suggest that a minor stab wound caused Seles‘s downfall. 😂

@@carrerau7138 Nothing measures up to, or comparable to, an athlete that got literally stabbed and removed out of the picture to help another athlete regain dominance.

@@magnetmac1 The aftermath of a minor stabbing is certainly less taxing than an ongoing scandal in which you and your family are drawn through the gutter. Seles would have ended her career under such a pressure. Whereas Steffi would have played again after the stab wound had healed (which was in a few months). I know that it is hard for you Yankees to accept that a forinner is the GOAT. But that‘s the way it is.

Serial killers even have secretaries now? 🤔

@@carrerau7138 i didn't say she is a secretary of a serial killer..i said she is like a serial killer secretary!

@@airkuna That is the same.

@@carrerau7138 no it's not.. can't u speak English?

@@airkuna Longer than you.

No, it is close. The two best players of all time.

@@carrerau7138 Martina, a HUGE choke, that's what she does best. But, the girls game is filled with choke artists, so if you keep the girl out there long enough, she will crumble, and Martina was a saltine cracker.

@@teddyzamba1396Where did Martina choke here??

You know too many soy boys, girl… 😂

@@carrerau7138 look at their large male shoulders compared to their narrow male hips...do not get distracted by the make-up nor fake breasts

@@cjlee7733Yeah, Steffi and her fake boobies…. 😂

😂

Yes it’s so boring, can’t stand this match with its lack of variety and sloppy footwork from both these amateurs. I need me some double handed backhand shrieking one hit wonder ball bashers. Where are all the drama queens that complain about mental illness? cry babies that complain about their ill fitting attire? Cry baby no. 1 that complains about being badly treated on social media😂 where are all the sisterly love matches that big sister hands matches to the small sister? It is indeed boring watching these two play tennis.

your opinion

@@JD-jc8gp . The evidence - that Navratilova dominated Graf 4-1 on a major surface, the DecoTurf2 hard courts at Flushing Meadows, that was equally fair to both players' games strongly supports my opinion! Case closed!

@@michaelbarlow6610 compelling

Hang on one moment....Graf won 5 US Opens to Martina's 4. That may swing the pendulum back Steffi's way?

@@mattstyles1244 Not in the least! The issue is not how many U.S Open Women's Singles titles Graf won compared to Navratilova because that is a product/result of not just U.S. Open matches between them, but also who they played against in the finals of that major. The key decisive/definitive stat in determining which player was better Graf or Navratilova is that on a major surface - the fast DecoTurf2 hard court surface at the U.S. Open, a surface that was equally fair to both players' games - Navratilova's serve-and-volley game and Graf's power baseline game, Navratilova dominated Graf 4-1 (80%). They only played one match against each other at the French Open which Graf won, and 3 times at Wimbledon (1987, 1988, 1989) on the faster, pre-2001 grass courts which favored serve-and-volley over baseline play, and Graf leads Martina 2-1 there because in 1988 and 1989 Navratilova was slightly past the peak of her prime. They never played against each other in the Australian Open.

I guess you have no idea what Trans means.

Share with us your transition story? What went wrong that made you so bitter? Please share.

@@markjames1127 it was just that both players had hairy legs.

@@meisterlymanu5214 you mean you managed to see both their legs up close? Wow you’re one lucky person.

@@markjames1127 yes. They both attended the We Put Hairs On Your Legs clinic in 1986. I was a bellboy there.

😂😂😂😂

Women's tennis has never stopped being watchable for any reason at all unless only for you.

Yeah, I can't stand it. Haven't watched for years. Seeing this reminds me how good tennis, especially women's tennis once was. No shouting, no threatening, no histrionics. These two, along with Evert, were just the best in every way.

@@nicholasschroeder3678 Theatrics - John McEnroe Shouting - John McEnroe Intimidating - John McEnroe Threatening - Jimmy Connor The things that YOU currently dislike tennis for are as old as the sport itself and have been around that much. Thank you very much!!

@@magnetmac1 We were talking about women here, not the men. Yes, the men's behavior was already low-class in the 80s, even the 70s. But not the women's at this time. Not all the women are bad now, nor all the men, but the constant moaning and groaning of most of them makes it unwatchable for me. Enjoy it!

...this was 35 years ago, the racket technology didnt speed up the match. it was about the perfect technique to hit the ball - not only bum bum bum bum - as a resuklt of the racket. no play without any strategy as nowadays. tghts why we have here even players wiith different systems: serbe and volley and an agresive baseliner.... not to mention that this gril met ten years later players like serena an venus williams - and was able to win against them.