30 years after Gabriela Sabatini's triumph at the US Open, a feat of Argentine sport

Louis vinker

08/09/2020 - 15:55

• Clarín.com

• sports

Although these are memories - and for her, the best -, she did not have the opportunity to celebrate them in a big way, as she wanted and deserved.

Gabriela Sabatini achieved the most relevant title of her career, the US Open, on September 8, 1990,

, and recently she celebrated her 50th birthday in full.

But if the pandemic takes a world ahead, and thousands of lives, it also took away Sabatini the opportunity to celebrate with his family, which will be left for another opportunity.

Today the concerns are others, especially the well-being of relatives and friends.

And the United States Open, one of the four chapters of the Grand Slam, does not have the usual brilliance these days.

It was organized as best it could, in the middle of the drama, and to save the tennis season, devastated - like the rest of the sports - by the health drama.

In any case, nobody will take away from Sabatini the pride of that conquest, when she broke the supremacy of Steffi Graf in the big events and established herself as

.

Since that afternoon in Flushing Meadows, the Graf-Sabatini duels (the classic of her generation) went hand-in-hand and Gabriela herself was nowhere near being crowned months later at Wimbledon, being at the gates of

.

Gabriela Sabatini and Steffi Graf, in a 2004 exhibition AP Photo

Sabatini's victory in the US Open by 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) is

and, fundamentally, among our ladies.

And it came to Sabatini at a strange time, when he was just beginning to work with his new coach, Kirmayr, and when he was

.

But the confidence of that victory projected her to a new tennis dimension, added power and security to her recognized talent.

That would be the Sabatini for a couple more seasons on the track, until she felt mentally exhausted.

It is well worth in these hours of uncertainty to return the happiness of that moment, of those arms raised in the

central

, of the endless hug with his brother and his coach, and of a joy shared by all of us who always admire Gabriela Sabatini .

For her tennis, her charisma and, fundamentally, her human qualities.

The chronicle of Clarín's special envoy

Clarín's cover of September 9, 1990, with the triumph of Gabriela Sabatini at the US Open.

Not a single cloud was outlined in the blue sky of a splendid afternoon in Queen's, New York.

On those concrete slabs of the Louis Armstrong Stadium in Flushing Meadow Park, Gabriela Beatriz Sabatini raised her arms to the same sky,

, exactly one hour and 39 minutes after the start of the duel against the best tennis player in in recent years, the German Steffi Graf.

"It is something that I cannot tell, an incredible sensation," she would tell us immediately, while 20,826 spectators

.

And what was - by presence and call - the most prestigious tournament in the world this season had a champion from Argentina, an heiress worthy of Guillermo Vilas.

Now, as so many times she was one step away, Gabriela offered

to raise the cup she deserved.

The 1990 season had not looked good for Sabatini, perhaps listless and confused, navigating aimlessly around the European circuit.

The change of coach arrived and, with Kirmayr, a renewed motivation.

But the main thing we noticed here was his winning decision, his mentality to apply the immense technical baggage that was always recognized to him.

Without the pressure of the top favorites, Sabatini was able to calmly develop her tennis in the first week and then the mental fortitude did emerge to face a Grand Slam final, to defeat a player of Graf's capacity.

The German, obviously, was not in her year, after a string of injuries and personal problems. But Steffi played a lot at this Open: she needed to consolidate herself as number 1 (she has been leading the ranking for 160 consecutive weeks) and this was her chance.

Clarín's coverage of Gabriela Sabatini's triumph at the 1990 US Open.

Clarín's coverage of Gabriela Sabatini's triumph at the 1990 US Open.

In recent days she seemed recovered with deadly blows from both sides, a personality as firm as ever and overflowing speed.

It wasn't enough: Flushing Meadows' inspired Gabriela took it upon herself to exact revenge for a few defeats (including the '88 Open final) and to prevent Steffi from a third consecutive title on these same courts.

“She has to analyze her matches, know her rivals.

Before facing Steffi she did it ”, said Kirmayr.

We had found them in a serene training session on court 14, working every technical detail point by point while Agassi dispatched Becker on the

center

.

And then, without "shrinking" this time for all the significance of the final, she

.

The

initial

- in which Gabriela left the German blank and snatched the serve - was a signal, repeated a couple of games later to make it 3-0.

Just from the fifth game, Graf was encouraged to press a little, but this time without imposing her authority from the back of the court.

Gabriela's unexpected aggressiveness for the game at the net and her resistance from the base made the difference.

Argentina maintained the initiative by breaking for 1-0 in the second set, but Graf quickly recovered (1-1) and the duel became more even, more intense.

Sabatini struggled to maintain the effectiveness of her serve and Graf no longer gave so many advantages with her.

Mentally - unlike so many previous opportunities - Sabatini was ahead.

Clarín's coverage of Gabriela Sabatini's triumph at the 1990 US Open.

Clarín's coverage of Gabriela Sabatini's triumph at the 1990 US Open.

She was a "different" player for Graf, willing to play her chance on every ball, to fight every compromised point.

This is how the

back

in the sixth game.

Then she had a very clear chance by breaking Graf for 5-4.

The applause of the crowd, anticipating the end, accompanied.

He could not execute the definition, perhaps very rushed by the sensations ... Graf broke for 5-5, immediately forcing the agony of the

.

And if Steffi, without the blows but with her champion soul, was willing to defend her crown to the last point, Gabriela fought with the same impetus to snatch it.

It came back 1-3, a volley placed it 6-4 and

.

And with the next point, after her service, came the definition.

He ran to that corner where his brother, the technician and some friends were crying.

He hugged Osvaldo and released the first tensions.

At our side, colleagues from all over the world multiplied their shouts and transmissions.

People paid Gabriela the affection that they kept for her for so long, from that day when –with 14 years old and all her shyness- her talent showed here.

Now the consecration arrived and the motto of the sponsors also accompanied it: 

.

And your day has come.

Thanks for the party.

HS