1991 Toronto final (Capriati D. K.Maleeva)

[grafgirl27]

Manuela was the most successful of the 3 but say at a typical time she was in the top 10 the field looked something like this, say around 91 maybe: Seles and Graf -----big gap------ older Navratilova and Sabatini -----big gap------ Sanchez Vicario -----big gap----- Capriati and Novotna -----gap------ Fernandez ----huge gap----- Martinez (pre prime) and Maleeva So top 10 but chasms below the very best. And that is typically how a womens field was then.

[trent8002003]

I have no patience for the Maleevas. They just pushed the ball around and were immediately error prone once under the slightest pressure. Not fun watching them. Keep wondering how the hell did they play among the pros!

[beckerbombs]

@trent8002003 Which Maleeva or do you mean all 3? I found Maggie played differently than the other 2 coming up, she hit very hard but made way too many errors to beat people like Graf and Seles and didnt move well. Then she morphed into a clone of her sisters as she got older. The funny thing is all 3 made the top 10, not just the pros. Makes you wonder about the depth of womens tennis over the years.

[grafgirl27]

@trent8002003 Even funnier all 3 were in the top 10.  None of them ever made a slam final though.

[trent8002003]

@grafgirl27 Exactly. Either there was more about their game that was immediately apparent or the women's game had zero depth then. If it was the latter, the Maleevas were exceptionally lucky in being at the right sports at the right time. With their *game*, they wouldn't even last long in today's junior circuit.

[grafgirl27]

@trent8002003 I think they each had their own strengths. Manuela though not that explosive or great a shotmaker was extremely consistent off the ground except when she got nervous and moved very well. Maggie was hard hitting although made lots of errors and didnt move that well. Katerina, haha I get her the least. I think you are right on both. There was more to their ugh games that met the eye, and there wasnt much depth then. There was Nav and Evert or Graf and Seles and then not much.

[wycombe78]

@grafgirl27 Katerina hit their hardest groundstrokes out of the sisters, she just didn't seem as mentally tough as the other two. She earned her place in the top ten though and could match the likes of MJ Fernandez and Sanchez Vicario in terms of athleticism plus she had wins over most top players of that era except Seles and Graf. We should really give her some credit.

[rmrooster01]

I wonder what Jennifer Cap is up to nowdays. Capriati = big babe tennis.

[wycombe78]

Not many vids of Katerina Maleeva on here but there is a little gem of a clip of her playing Helena Sukova in the QF's of the 1993 US Open. If you want to view it you have to actually view the Sampras/Chang match on here as they were playing at the same time and commentary flicked between the two. Just search for Michael Chang 1993 and you can see it in part 2

[mrmagassi]

WOW... Jenn was standing near the service line to return that second serve on match point!

[suwanee4712]

Hana Mandlikova once stood in and half volleyed Martina's second serve in the US Open final.

[olaraay]

that is so disresctful

lol

i tend to stnd way inside the baseline wen returning peoples second serve

i mean i know its going to drop short so i might as well be ready to rip it lol

[Alwyn38]

Whatever happened to the Maleeva sisters? Manuela got to no3 at one point. Much underrated.

[wycombe78]

They all had their time in the top 10. Manuela hovered just in or outside the top ten for near on a decade and was at her peak when she retired in '93. Katerina reached number 6 in 1990 but faded after about 1993..eventually retiring in '97 in the tennis doldrums. Maggie was affected by injury I think in '96 for a couple of years but still made it to number 4 in the world.

They beat pretty much all the top players of their time too.

[maritomainko]

Gran video, me encanta, finalmente vemos a Katerina Maleeva en youtube ¿tenes alguna video de Manuela Maleeva ya que en youtube hay uno solo y alguno de manuela katerina y magdalena jugando entre ellas?

[wycombe78]

Hey! Great video - thanks for posting. I think this is the 1991 Canadian Open Final though, not San Diego. Good to finally see a video of Katerina Maleeva on YouTube, yay!

[jasonpeters1]

Yup! Toronto, not San Diego.

[LauraJC7]

Yeah, Toronto.... sorry for the mistake!!!! :-)