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Gabriela Sabatini Profile |
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Birth Date: May 16, 1970
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Birth Place: Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Birth Name: Gabriela Sabatini
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Height: 5'9"
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Biography |
Gabriela Beatriz Sabatini is a former professional tennis
player from Argentina. She was one of the leading players on
the women's circuit in the late-1980s and early-1990s. She
won the women's singles title at the US Open in 1990, the
women's doubles title at Wimbledon in 1988, and a Silver
Medal at the 1988 Olympic Games.
Sabatini first came to the tennis world's attention as a
brilliant junior player. She started playing tennis at the
age of 6, and won her first tournament at age 8. In 1983,
aged 13, she became the youngest player to win the Orange
Bowl (unofficial junior World Championships) in Miami,
Florida. She won six major international junior titles,
including the French Open girls' singles, and was ranked the
World No. 1 junior player in 1984.
In 1985, aged 15 years and 3 weeks, Sabatini became the
youngest-ever player to reach the semi-finals at the French
Open, where she lost to Chris Evert. She won her first
top-level singles title later that year in Tokyo.
In 1988, Sabatini reached her first Grand Slam singles final
at the US Open. In the final she faced Germany's Steffi
Graf, who had won three previous Grand Slam events that year
and was looking to complete the set by winning all four
Grand Slams in a single year. Sabatini put up a brave fight,
but Graf was not to be denied and won 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
Sabatini was selected to represent Argentina in the Olympic
Games in Seoul that year, and carried the country's flag in
the opening ceremony. She went on to win the Silver Medal in
the women's singles competition. In the final she faced Graf
(bidding to turn her Grand Slam into what the media had
dubbed a "Golden Slam") and lost 6-3, 6-3. Sabatini
teamed-up with Graf to win the women's doubles title at
Wimbledon that year. She also won 1988's year-end WTA Tour
Championships.
Sabatini's next Grand Slam final came in 1990, where she
again faced Graf in the final of the US Open. This time
Sabatini seized her opportunity and beat Graf in straight
sets 6-2, 7-6. She also beat Graf in the semi-finals of the
Tour Championships that year, but lost in the final to
Monica Seles in the event's first-ever five-set final 6-4,
5-7, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Sabatini had a strong start to 1991, winning five
tournaments in the first half of the year. She reached her
third Grand Slam singles final at Wimbledon that year, and
yet again faced Graf. In an epic final, Graf eventually
prevailed 6-4, 3-6, 8-6, despite the fact that Sabatini
served for the match on more than one occasion. Sabatini
reached her career-high singles ranking of World No. 3 that
year, and came agonizingly close to attaining the No. 1
ranking but was narrowly denied by Graf and Seles: All three
players' rankings were within a few points of each others'
for much of the year.
After winning five tournaments in 1992, Sabatini had a
29-month drought in which she failed to win any titles. She
brought this run to a dramatic end at the WTA Tour
Championships in 1994, and then followed this up by winning
her first tournament of 1995 at Sydney (defeating Lindsay
Davenport in the final of both events). But that proved to
be the last singles title of Sabatini's career.
In 1989, she launched her own perfume, simply named Gabriela
Sabatini. Since retiring from competitive tennis, she has
launched several other perfume lines as well. In 1992, a
red-orange fiery rose was named the "Gabriela Sabatini Rose"
in her honour. In 1994, the 'Great American Doll Company'
created a doll in Sabatini's likeness, dressed in tennis
clothes.
In 1994 Sabatini published a motivational book entitled My
Story (ISBN 1886612005), providing a look at her background
and the inspirations which led her to become a tennis
player.
Sabatini retired from the professional tour in 1996, having
won 27 singles titles and 12 doubles titles. She was elected
to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2006.
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Singles Titles |
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1987
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Brighton, Pan Pacific, Argentine
Open
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1988
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WTA Tour Championships, Boca Raton,
Rome, Canadian Open
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1989
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Miami, Amelia Island, Rome,
Filderstadt
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1991
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Pan Pacific, Boca Raton, Hilton
Head, Amelia Island, Rome
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1992
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Sydney, Pan Pacific, Hilton Head,
Amelia Island, Rome
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More pictures and updates are welcomed.