Seles Says Beaten Graf No Longer the Best
January 28, 1999 - 0:0
MELBOURNE There was no love lost when Monica Seles and Steffi Graf shaped up against each other at the Australian Open on Wednesday. The two women, with 30 Grand Slam singles titles between them and more than $30 million in prize money, dominated tennis for the best part of the last decade. But they have never been the best of friends.
That was evident on the Melbourne Park center court on Wednesday when Seles defeated Graf 7-5 6-1 in a bitter quarterfinal. Seles, who has never been beaten at the Australian Open, fought back from 5-4 behind in the opening set to win nine of the next 10 games and post her first win over the 29-year-old Graf since beating her on the same Melbourne Park center court six years ago.
But when she was asked by reporters at the post-match press conference what it meant to beat her great German rival, the Yugoslav-born American dismissed her as just another player compared to the world's top two ranked women, Lindsay Davenport and Martina Hingis. Steffi is not the best player in the world. It's Lindsay and Martina. It's a different level that they are playing now, Seles said.
I get a special feeling when I play any top player. I don't exclude or include Steffi in that. Seles' comments followed an unusually tense match between the two former world number ones who share a lot of history. Wednesday's match was the 14th between the pair. Graf has won nine of them with Seles winning five. Ten of their last 11 matches have been in finals, including six in Grand Slams, where the scoreline is 3-3.
Seles beat Graf in the French Open final in 1990 and 1992 and also the Australian Open final in 1993. But Graf emerged victorious when they met at Wimbledon in 1992 and the U.S. Open in 1995 and 1998. Seles' last victory over Graf was in the final of the 1993 Australian Open, a tournament where she has never lost. She won the title three times in a row between 1991 and 1993 before her world was shattered when a crazed Graf fan knifed her in the back during a tournament in Hamburg because he wanted Graf to regain the world number one ranking.
Graf was among the first to visit Seles in hospital the day after the stabbing. Although the two players had embraced tearfully in the hospital, Seles said later that Graf failed to call her as promised. In her autobiography, Seles wrote: Steffi knew I was represented by IMG: All she had to do was call the offices and my manager would have put us in touch.
Earlier this week, Seles was seen supporting Mary Joe Fernandez in her match against Graf, though she said she did it because of her friendship with Fernandez and not because she disliked Graf. Seles won the 1996 Australian Open to claim her first Grand Slam title since the stabbing after being beaten by Graf in the U.S. Open final the previous year.
Neither player smiled at all during their center court clash on Wednesday and their handshake at the end was brief and distant even though it is common for female players to exchange kisses. Graf, who has also won the Australian Open four times, begrudgingly waved farewell to the crowd before she trudged down the player's tunnel while Seles saved her parting shot for the news conference.
Asked if she considered Graf to be her greatest opponent, Seles opted for Martina Navratilova, a player she faced and beat in only one Grand Slam final. I really looked up to her as a person and as an athlete, so she will probably stand as that person, Seles said. But wasn't playing Graf a bit like the old times? Not for me, Seles said.
I just went in there and played the ball. (Reuter)
That was evident on the Melbourne Park center court on Wednesday when Seles defeated Graf 7-5 6-1 in a bitter quarterfinal. Seles, who has never been beaten at the Australian Open, fought back from 5-4 behind in the opening set to win nine of the next 10 games and post her first win over the 29-year-old Graf since beating her on the same Melbourne Park center court six years ago.
But when she was asked by reporters at the post-match press conference what it meant to beat her great German rival, the Yugoslav-born American dismissed her as just another player compared to the world's top two ranked women, Lindsay Davenport and Martina Hingis. Steffi is not the best player in the world. It's Lindsay and Martina. It's a different level that they are playing now, Seles said.
I get a special feeling when I play any top player. I don't exclude or include Steffi in that. Seles' comments followed an unusually tense match between the two former world number ones who share a lot of history. Wednesday's match was the 14th between the pair. Graf has won nine of them with Seles winning five. Ten of their last 11 matches have been in finals, including six in Grand Slams, where the scoreline is 3-3.
Seles beat Graf in the French Open final in 1990 and 1992 and also the Australian Open final in 1993. But Graf emerged victorious when they met at Wimbledon in 1992 and the U.S. Open in 1995 and 1998. Seles' last victory over Graf was in the final of the 1993 Australian Open, a tournament where she has never lost. She won the title three times in a row between 1991 and 1993 before her world was shattered when a crazed Graf fan knifed her in the back during a tournament in Hamburg because he wanted Graf to regain the world number one ranking.
Graf was among the first to visit Seles in hospital the day after the stabbing. Although the two players had embraced tearfully in the hospital, Seles said later that Graf failed to call her as promised. In her autobiography, Seles wrote: Steffi knew I was represented by IMG: All she had to do was call the offices and my manager would have put us in touch.
Earlier this week, Seles was seen supporting Mary Joe Fernandez in her match against Graf, though she said she did it because of her friendship with Fernandez and not because she disliked Graf. Seles won the 1996 Australian Open to claim her first Grand Slam title since the stabbing after being beaten by Graf in the U.S. Open final the previous year.
Neither player smiled at all during their center court clash on Wednesday and their handshake at the end was brief and distant even though it is common for female players to exchange kisses. Graf, who has also won the Australian Open four times, begrudgingly waved farewell to the crowd before she trudged down the player's tunnel while Seles saved her parting shot for the news conference.
Asked if she considered Graf to be her greatest opponent, Seles opted for Martina Navratilova, a player she faced and beat in only one Grand Slam final. I really looked up to her as a person and as an athlete, so she will probably stand as that person, Seles said. But wasn't playing Graf a bit like the old times? Not for me, Seles said.
I just went in there and played the ball. (Reuter)