Monica Seles vs Steffi Graf 1990 French Open Highlights

[thorium222]

wow, I just watched 90 and 99 and its amazing to compare. Seles wasnt so fast anymore in 99 and Steffi hit her forehand harder and made sure that she didnt play to much short backhand slices.

[iaswnath]

Amazing Seles,

the Germans had to stabb her to end her carrier and see their Graff start winning Grand Slams again

[bryguy0111]

Monica was clearly the player to beat from 90 to 93 with this kinda play and was not even at her peak in spring 93....Seles also came back from tragedy from the stabbing and losing her coach/father and even with all this and her weight gain she still was a top contender beating the new power players and most importantly competing at a game she loved...Not a Graf hater in fact she is a great champion but Seles had a better game and Steffi could not stay with her if all things were equal as they

[Hoffenheim08]

@bryguy0111

Even in 1991/92 (which were Graf's worst years in the 1987-1996 period) Steffi won most of her matches against Seles (3 of 4).

So what the hell do you mean with "Steffi could not stay with her"?

Even average Graf was better than peak Seles - Steffi had a better winning percentage in 1987-96 than Seles in 1991/92. That says it all.

[Lazar19771]

I fell so sorry for Monica. If she wount get stabbed i think she had won at least one time all 4 Grand Slams in a year...at least! She was even so young and had so much to learn on her game as she was stabbed.

A great champ ....the biggest in my eyes.

[Hoffenheim08]

@Lazar19771

Well, Hingis would have won more than 25 slams if in 1999, well, er ..., ehm ... something had happened.

[juanlu2611]

You know, you can all argue about Graf losing because of her problems and injuries, but VOILA!, her problems and injuries stopped at the same time Seles was stabbed. Coincidence? If you want a clearer example of this just look at the Slams results that year. Seles wins teh AO in 93, beating what I guess you would call a problem ridden Graf. Seles is stabbed and surprise, surprise: who wins the other 3 slams that year?

[italo36]

@juanlu2611

Everybody knows that the Seles stabbing is the reason why Graf ended up with 11 slams after the Seles stabbing, Graf fans cannot admit that the Seles stabbing was the major contributor to Graf's success, how can anyone deny that Seles was the better player and was on her way to beat all the records, already 8 slams at barely 19 years old and the 2 or 3 time defending champion of 3 slams out of 4 when a Graf fan decided that Monica was too good and had to be taken out of the picture

[Hoffenheim08]

@italo36

Hingis was on her way to beat all records when she won 3 slams at age 16, dickhead ...

[lookscudkill]

....and Graf treated us with a bonus quality, and that was how she held off three eras of players. Don't forget her personal problems as well as her many injuries.

[lookscudkill]

correct lambielkwanfan. Seles just came about and rose quickly, of course because of her talent, but also because of what many champions go through, they and their game are not known at first, but then the other players begin to figure them out and adapt to their game. That is why the true champions and No.1s are the ones who maintain their play and continue winning, even if the others already know their game. Graf is a perfect example of this, perhaps THE example.

[kristijan187]

Seles is better than Graf but that injury stops Seles to became the best tennis player in the history. that is really sad.

[volvariella]

As much as I like Graf and her beautiful play, but she's not worthy of GOAT if such an inexperienced 16 year old could beat and dethrone her for more than 3 years with mental advantage. But then Monica was a very special teen prodigy.

[lambielkwanfan]

@volvariella Seles did not dethrone Graf for "more than 3 years". Seles was never the best in 1990. Yeah she won here, but her other slam results all sucked, and Graf reached 3 slam finals and also won a slam and was still the clear #1 at years end.

[monica012077]

@McClernand4 Your an idiot, you doesn't seem to understand the concept of a stabbing, do you get stabbed on a regular basis? Her downfall was attributed to the mental anguish from the stabbing, her dad's cancer, and her weakness to cope with food. Where do you come from? Anyway Steffi spent almost just as much time off will all her "injuries", bitch if your so fit why the hell are you injured so often? somebody answer that!

[KosmoAntoninus]

Because of the low quality video Monica's grunts are the only way to tell them apart. I disliked her for them back then but now everybody does it and I got used with it.

[trent8002003]

On clay, Steffi's handicap of having a *weaker* side is shown up mecilessly.

[McClernand4]

@trent8002003

..by the fact she captured 6 titles at the FO, of course...

[monica012077]

@trent8002003 and Seles could expose this "weakness" on rebound ace, hardcourt, and indoors as well.

[Hoffenheim08]

@trent8002003

Erm, which player in the open era with the exception of Evert has a higher winning percentage on clay than Graf?

Hmm ... ?

[italo36]

Monica Seles: a career stopped by a deranged Steffi Graf fan.

The incident would ruin Monica's career and would help Steffi win another 11 slams as Monica would never be the same player again plagued with injuries and a food addiction which kept her out of shape most of the remainder of her career until her last professional match played in 2003.

[Hoffenheim08]

@italo36

You are confusing things.

Seles was derailed because her dad was diagnosed with cancer in 1993 and died from it in 1998.

Not because of this small stab wound.

[McClernand4]

@italo36

let's rather say this small wound gave her a magnficient alibi to take a two years vacation, with the beautiful role of a martyr...

[SmashSpencer]

@McClernand4 Do your research plz

[KosmoAntoninus]

@McClernand4 The most stupid thing I ever heard. Did she wanted a 2 year vacation at the top of her game? Did she needed an excuse if she wanted a vacation?

The causality is pretty clear. Before stabbing she was no. 1, after she was far from it. Was it the wound itself, the mental trauma or the long forced break? It doesn't matter really. Maybe like Hingis and many others she would have peaked at an early age anyway. 'What if?' is just speculation.

[JacquesHsu]

It is a really high-quality match. Graf-VS-Seles matches are always the best part of 90s.

[juju1305]

Mini Monica was so fearless and relentless at 16. Great match against steffi Graf :)

[monica012077]

@juju1305 Wow she was fearless, i'd never seen mini-monica like this before. I was used to 89 Monica, i didn't know that at 16 she was so determined and focus and hungry, i thought it was trait she developed at 17, just amazing to watch how Steffi the Great couldn't handle her at all, lol

[Hoffenheim08]

@monica012077

Graf made 73 points in this 1990 FO final, Seles 74.

Last time I checked 73 is only one less than 74.

"Could not handle her at all"?

What an idiot you are ...

[monica012077]

@Hoffenheim08 Looks like your the idiot, tennis isn't about how many points you win in a match, its about winning the right points, when it counts, when your under pressure, Seles was better at that in this match, she won in straight sets after Graf was winning like 5-1 in the tiebreak... sounds like a CHOKE! So Monica ran away with the match somewhere in the 1st set tiebreak all through the second set and she was only 16, and against Graf the Great, so yeah, Steffi couldn't handle her at all!

[Hoffenheim08]

@monica012077

I will explain it to you again - "not being able to handle someone" means losing 06 16 or 26 and 16 in slam matches.

You could even call this "getting torn a new one".

Not losing a match in which you win just one point less than your opponent. That is called a "very close match that could have gone either way".

BTW, didn't the great Seles lose two matches against a 15-year-old Capriati? You know, this girl who won a staggering 14 titles in her 14-year-long career?

[monica012077]

@Hoffenheim08 If you watch all of the important points, Steffi was only able to fend off Monica briefly before Seles would ultimately win the ad points, plus Steffi never capitalized on her 5-1 lead and 4 set points, Seles fought them all off, and only needed 1 to win the set, going into the second it was close in score, but Graf is down a set, and 4-4(most important game) she blew it against a 16 yr old girl who wasn't number 1. so maybe it was a tight or close match, but still firmly Seles'

[Hoffenheim08]

@monica012077

Which two-set slam final in the history of women's tennis was closer than that?

How someone in their right mind could take that match and say that Graf "couldn't handle Seles at all" is beyond me ...