Steffi Graf's greatest rival: Monica Seles or Gabriela Sabatini?

Question

Of all the opponents Steffi faced, Sabatini and Monica Seles were the two that gave her the most trouble. But which one was Steffi's greatest rival?. Here's a look at Steffi's rivalry against both of them:

Steffi vs Sabatini: In the 40 matches they played, Sabatini managed to scrape out 11 wins over Steffi. However, only 1 of Sabatini's wins came at a Grand Slam. Sabatini's game plan against Steffi was to try and offset Steffi's power with finesse shot-making. Sabatini's loopy topspin shots took Steffi out of her comfort zone, and was a key factor in Sabatini's limited success. But after Steffi put Sabatini away in the 1991 Wimbledon final, Sabatini rarely challenged Steffi again.

Steffi vs Monica: In the 15 matches they played, Monica beat Steffi 5 times. And 4 of Monica's wins came at Slam events. Unlike Sabatini, Monica could match Steffi's power shot for shot.

Out of Monica and Sabatini, tell me who you feel was Steffi's greatest rival?. And please explain your answer?.

Answer 1

Seles for sure. I liked Sabatini but she didn't even move like she really wanted to win anything. lol

Answer 2

hi mary, long time no see :)

why are you so living in the past and so obsessed with Sabatini?

the answer is Monica Seles.

Answer 3

Monica Seles

Answer 4

So sorry but another no brainer question for me.  Seles is the definite answer.

Answer 5

Love your questions Mary. Keep them coming.

This was a no-brainer though. LOL Obviously it's Monica Seles that posed the bigger threat to Steffi. Yes Gaby did occasionally put Steffi through some tough battles but you always got the sense that Steffi would prevail, kinda like how all of Graf's matches were with Sanchez-Vacario.

Monica on the other hand was both mentally and physically tough and was able to match Steffi stroke for stroke on the court. There is no denying that Steffi was clearly beaten by Monica in some of her losses against her. However if you look at their head-to-head, at no time did Seles ever had a lead on Graf in their rivalry and only once was Monica able to beat Graf in two consecutive matches. That happened at the 1990 German Open Finals and then the next time they met at the 1990 French Open Final. Actually those were Seles' two first wins over Graf. Every other time Monica beat Graf, Steffi came right back with a win over her in their next match. And even when they met in 1998 at the Chase Championships, after Graf had that long absence from the tour and there were questions raised whether Steffi would be able to compete at the level we were so accustomed of her, she was able to beat Seles, who at the time would have been the favorite entering that match.

I always got the sense that for Graf it was more of a mental problem that she had against Seles. Monica had a couple wins over her already, had taken her number one ranking and lets not forget that when Seles started to beat Graf and started to dominate everyone on the tour, Graf was going through the scandal with her father having the affair in 1990. I remember Steffi saying at the time, that it was a very tough for her to have to deal with all of that. Therefore it can be concluded that Steffi's focus wasn't always there because of these off-court problems.

Answer 6

I think Monica Seles was her greatest rival.  Sure Steffi was winning Wimbledon, but Monica was winning the other 3 slams.  If she didn't get hurt, she would have won a lot more.  She really doesn't have any answer for Monica when they played in surfaces other than grass.  The only reason she won Wimbledon cuz it's Monica's least favorite surface.

Answer 7

Seles was the stronger opponent because she could really dominate with her amazing groundstrokes.  Steffi's weakness was her backhand, and her strength was her athleticism.  Seles was able to overcome her athletic disadvantage against Graf by having a far superior backhand.

Still Steffi was the better player.

Answer 8

seles

Answer 9

Seles obviously.  Although Graf had a career head-to-head winning record over both players, in the slams Monica drew almost even with her at 4-6 (3 of those wins before the stabbing), whereas the lone slam win for Sabatini over Graf was in the 1990 U.S. Open final.  Seles also knocked Graf out of the #1 ranking and held it for over two years, until the stabbing.  Sabatini has never been ranked higher than Graf.

Answer 10

Actually, there was no real rivalry againts Steffi. She was so dominating in her golden era. Both Sabatini and Seles were only a few players who gave her some troubles, just like Arantxa Sanchez Vicario. But, if you asked me to choose, Seles were definitely a greater rival for her than Sabatini. During her dominancy, Seles took over Steffi no. 1 spot for 2 years, until Steffi's fan stabbed her. It is arguably that if there was no the stabbing, Seles probably would have been Steffi worst nightmare.