Having watched the sisters’ terrific match last night, at the net they embraced tightly. I was tearing up. They faced each other in the US Open five times, grand slams 13 times and 27 times in total over their career so far.
My gut feel is, this moment would not happy too often in the future.
The talk of grand slam, which means winning all four slams in the same calendar year is filling the air. On the eve of Serena’s much anticipated win at the US Open this Saturday, a comparison to Steffi Graf, the woman who last accomplished this in 1988 is due.
I was a Graf fan and, I’m still is one now. I loved her single hand backhand. Her quietness. Her shyness. Graf was the last woman who collected all four grand slam trophies in the same year. And more. Because of the 1988 Summer Olympics @ Seoul, South Korea. She won the gold medal too, hence the Golden Slam. To repeat this, it’s nearly impossible.
Talking about Graf’s achievement without mentioning Monica Seles is, just simply not fair. All three top players have some issues. This google sheet shows the three most recent dominate female players
- 1993.04.30 Monica was stabbed by a Graf’s fan.
- Graf who had won 11, went on to win another 11, without Seles, her main rival.
- Seles who had won 8 before the stabbing, only won one more in 1996 in Australia.
- Serena’s US Open controversies
I’ve no doubt, Serena would have won more without these controversies.
Graf lucked out.
