Steffi Graf

Steffi Graf

Steffi Graf is a former World No. 1 German tennis player.In total, Graf won 22 Grand Slam singles titles, second among male and female players only to Margaret Court's 24...

 and Gabriela Sabatini

Gabriela Sabatini

Gabriela Beatriz Sabatini is a former professional Argentine tennis player. She was one of the leading players on the women's circuit in the late-1980s and early-1990s...

 are retired professional tennis players who played each other on 40 occasions between 1985 and 1995. Graf was the world #1 whilst Sabatini reached a career high of #3 they are both Grand Slam Champions. The German winning 22 titles whilst Sabatini won her only Grand Slam title against Graf. The pair also teamed up to reach three French Open finals and won the 1988 Wimbledon crown.

In Grand Slam tournament play the pair met 12 times, three of them being finals. Graf leads by 11 matches to one. In 1988 Graf completed a Grand Slam by defeating Sabatini in the semi final of the French Open and in the US Open final. Graf then made it a Golden Grand Slam by defeating the Argentine in the Olympic final as well. The pair's most famous match undoubtably came in 1991 at Wimbledon. Sabatini was two points away from capturing her Wimbledon singles crown only for Graf to fight back and take the match 8–6 in the deciding set.

Graf and Sabatini first met in 1985 and by the end of 1987 the pair had met a total of eleven times, Graf winning all of them. Then Sabatini went on to beat Graf 11 in the next 21 matches they played between 1988 and 1992, with the Argentine going on a 5 match winning streak and Graf on a four match winning streak. Sabatini then lost the final eight matches they played between 1992 and 1995, and for the first three matches Sabatini struggled to win 6 games. According to Sabatini, the pair had a good relationship and would share things off the court, but they were never close friends.

Head to head

No.	Mahwah WTA New Jersey The WTA New Jersey is a defunct WTA Tour affiliated tennis tournament played from 1978 to 1989. It was held in Mahwah, New Jersey in the United States and played on outdoor hard courts....	Hard	SF	Graf	4–6, 6–0, 6–3
2	1986	Virginia Slims Championships WTA Tour Championships The WTA Tour Championships is a tennis tournament played annually at the end of the season for the top-ranked players on the Women's Tennis Association tour. The month, city and number of players has changed since the first edition in 1972...	Carpet	R16	Graf	6–0, 6–7, 6–2
3	1986	Indianapolis U.S. Open Clay Courts The U.S. Open Clay Courts, known formally as the U.S. Clay Court Championships, was a national tennis championship for women that was sanctioned by the United States Tennis Association and held 18 times from 1953 through 1986 on green clay courts....	Clay	F	Graf	2–6, 7–6(5), 6–4
4	1987	Hilton Head Family Circle Cup The Family Circle Cup is a WTA Tour affiliated professional tennis tournament for women, held every year since 1973. The tournament is currently played on the green clay courts at the Daniel Island Tennis Center in Charleston, South Carolina, USA...	Clay	SF	Graf	6–3, 2–6, 7–6(5)
5	1987	Amelia Island	Clay	SF	Graf	6–2, 6–2
6	1987	Rome	Clay	F	Graf	7–5, 4–6, 6–0
7	1987	French Open	Clay	SF	Graf	6–4, 4–6, 7–5
8	1987	Wimbledon	Grass	QF	Graf	4–6, 6–1, 6–1
9	1987	Fed Cup Fed Cup Fed Cup is the premier team competition in women's tennis, launched in 1963 to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the International Tennis Federation...	Hard		Graf	6–4, 6–4
10	1987	Los Angeles	Hard	SF	Graf	7–5, 7–5
11	1987	Virginia Slims Championships (2)	Carpet	F	Graf	4–6, 6–4, 6–0, 6–4
12	1988	Boca Raton	Hard	F	Sabatini	2–6, 6–3, 6–1
13	1988	Amelia Island (2)	Clay	SF	Sabatini	6–3, 4–6, 7–5
14	1988	French Open (2)	Clay	SF	Graf	6–3, 7–6(3)
15	1988	US Open	Hard	F	Graf	6–3, 3–6, 6–1
16	1988	Olympic Games Tennis at the Summer Olympics Tennis was part of the Summer Olympic Games program from the inaugural 1896 Summer Olympics, but was dropped after the 1924 Summer Olympics...	Hard	F	Graf	6–3, 6–3
17	1989	Australian Open Australian Open The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court...	Hard	SF	Graf	6–3, 6–0
18	1989	Amelia Island (3)	Clay	F	Sabatini	3–6, 6–3, 7–5
19	1989	Berlin	Clay	F	Graf	6–3, 6–1
20	1989	US Open (2)	Hard	SF	Graf	3–6, 6–4, 6–2
21	1989	Virginia Slims Championships (3)	Carpet	SF	Graf	6–3, 5–7, 6–1
22	1990	US Open (3)	Hard	F	Sabatini	6–2, 7–6(4)
23	1990	Zurich	Carpet	F	Graf	6–3, 6–2
24	1990	Worcester Virginia Slims of New England The Virginia Slims of New England is a defunct WTA Tour affiliated tennis tournament played from 1986 to 1990. It was held in Worcester, Massachusetts in the United States and played on indoor carpet courts....	Carpet	F	Graf	7–6(5), 6–3
25	1990	Virginia Slims Championships (4)	Carpet	SF	Sabatini	6–4, 6–4
26	1991	Tokyo Toray Pan Pacific Open The is a WTA Tour affiliated professional tennis tournament for women, held every year since 1984 on in Tokyo, Japan. It is classified on the WTA Tour as a Tier I tournament since 1993. The event has traditionally been played on indoor carpet at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, but the 2008 event...	Carpet	QF	Sabatini	4–6, 6–4, 7–6(6)
27	1991	Boca Raton (2)	Hard	F	Sabatini	6–4, 7–6(6)
28	1991	Miami	Hard	SF	Sabatini	0–6, 7–6(6), 6–1
29	1991	Amelia Island (4)	Clay	F	Sabatini	6–2, 1–6, 6–3
30	1991	Wimbledon (2)	Grass	F	Graf	6–4, 3–6, 8–6
31	1992	Miami (2)	Hard	SF	Sabatini	3–6, 7–6(5), 6–1
32	1992	Amelia Island (5)	Clay	F	Sabatini	6–2, 1–6, 6–3
33	1992	Wimbledon (3)	Grass	SF	Graf	6–3, 6–3
34	1993	Miami (3)	Hard	SF	Graf	6–0, 6–2
35	1993	Hilton Head (2)	Clay	SF	Graf	6–0, 7–6(3)
36	1993	Berlin (2)	Clay	F	Graf	7–6(3), 2–6, 6–4
37	1993	US Open (4)	Hard	QF	Graf	6–2, 5–7, 6–1
38	1994	Montreal	Hard	QF	Graf	7–5, 6–0
39	1995	French Open (4)	Clay	QF	Graf	6–1, 6–0
40	1995	US Open (5)	Hard	SF	Graf	6–4, 7–6(5)

Breakdown of the rivalry

• Hard courts: Graf, 11–5
• Clay courts: Graf, 10–4
• Grass courts: Graf, 3–0
• Carpet courts: Graf, 4–2
• Grand Slam matches: Graf, 11–1
• Grand Slam finals: Graf, 2–1
• Year-End Championships matches: Graf, 3–1
• Year-End Championships finals: Graf, 1–0
• Fed Cup matches: Graf, 1–0
• All finals: Graf, 10–6
• All matches: Graf, 29–11