SMELLS LIKE SUCCESS I’m a former US Open champion.. now I have my own perfume line and my niece dates Lionel Messi’s team-mate
GABRIELA Sabatini’s 1990 US Open victory over Steffi Graf has quickly become an iconic Flushing Meadows moment.
The Argentine burst onto the tennis scene at just 15 at Roland Garros five years earlier, belying her tender age to reach the semi-finals.
Despite being beaten by Chris Evert in the final four, Sabatini immediately looked destined for the top.
But over and over again throughout the following years the same person would get in her way: Steffi Graf.
The formidable German beat Sabatini in the 1988 US Open final and again in the following year’s semis at Flushing Meadows.
In Grand Slams, Graf beat Sabatini 11 times out of 12 during their careers, a formidable record.
The one time her rival managed to win? In the 1990 US Open finals.
“It was the most important moment in my tennis career,” Sabatini told Swiss Life decades later.
“After all the years of effort and dedication, my dream came true. I could never have imagined such joy and feeling of liberation and I began to enjoy the tennis even more.”
Amazingly Sabatini never felt resentful towards Graf, instead crediting her rival for making her a better player.
