Steffi Graf vs Martina Hingis 1999 French Open 16/16

[Jigha11]

what happened??? whats this all about hingis??!

[myboomstick]

love hingis. great player and very hot. coke head and all.

[Meade3763]

@myboomstick

What a pervert you are!!

[cbarrett34]

i loved martina hingis, great player, very cute too

[dumitrualex1]

navratilova is the best of all time or margaret court or susane lenglen or billie jean king learn about tennis history

[DreamObscene]

It's also weird to think that Graf won her final slam nearly 5-6 months after Hingis won her final slam! Who would've thought that at that time?

[DreamObscene]

In 1987 a 17-year-old Graf defeated 30-year-old, world #1 Navratiova in 3 sets to win her first slam at Roland Garros. In 1999 29-year-old Graf defeated 18-year-old, world #1 Hingis to win her 22nd and last slam at Roland Garros. Full circle! Graf also played her first and last match against Seles in the semis of the French, defeating her in 3 sets both times.

[aceNdiamond]

I think she is better than steffi.

[rotwart]

@aceNdiamond yeah, shes better but she lost every game she ever played to Steffi. You sound like a real genius. Idiot.

[aceNdiamond]

Hingis is my favorite women in tennis and she's very pretty. I LOVE HER!!

[centralviva]

1:45@ That's a sulky teenager is there was ever one

[jembozzo]

good yeaer for stefi ! she won the title and sucked andre ! and he licked her back

[jembozzo]

it's hard to loose when you lead the match ! i remember mc enroe in 84 ! very hard

[jwr1558]

Whatever you think of Martina Hingis (and I'm no fan of her character!) the behaviour of the crowd was inexcusable. In my opinion, just as Hingis was given a point penalty for crossing the net (and rightly so), the umpire should have stopped the match until the crowd had stopped jeering Martina Hingis and making noise between points. The whole saga, including the way the crowd repeated the same thing with Serena Williams in 2004, really does not reflect well on what is a great nation.

[Meade3763]

@jwr1558

Well, the French don't like classless players.

Live with it.

[LMW87MMA]

@Meade3763 so they perceive someone as classless and their response is be classless themselves? Ever heard of the phrase "two wrongs don't make a right"?

[Meade3763]

@LMW87MMA

Booing a classless player is not classless.

[Hoffenheim08]

@Meade3763

Exactly!

[Itekimas]

Thank you !!!

[TheThesami75]

hingis had a bad behaviour. graf gave her a lesson!! steffi the best of all time

[JOSENILTA]

@TheThesami75 selles was the best.

[Hoffenheim08]

@JOSENILTA

In what regard?

BigMac eating?

[susceotible]

Hingis is really a rude lady but I dont think she desserve such treatment from the french crowd. The french crowd have been nototriously known for their bad and disrespectful attitude towards player. Who could forget the 2003 Williams Vs Henin match or 2008 Sharapova Dinara match. I mean those things should'nt have happen in first world country. They should be ahame.

[Hoffenheim08]

@susceotible

Hingis fully deserved this treatment. Period.

If I had been Mauresmo I would have hit Hingis in the face.

[susceotible]

@Hoffenheim08 O.k maybe she deserve. But the french crowd is bad crowd.

[juancarlos772652]

@susceotible

No, nobody deserves that kind of treatment by the French crowd, regardless of how they felt about Hingis. That behavior was extremely rude, mean and completely unthinkable in a Grandslam final.

[juancarlos772652]

@Hoffenheim08

Oh gosh, Hoffenheim, now you're advocating violence against a tennis player. You're beginning to sound like Gunter Parche, the Graf fan who stabbed then reigning world number 1 Monica Seles.

By the way, do you still believe that Canada is part of the United States?

[zisssssou]

the reaction of the french public can appear quite unfair, but the reason was that hingis moked mauresmo saying she plays "like a man" just before the australian open 1/4 finals. it was clearly an homophobic allusion to mauresmo sexual preferences and i think the french public never forgave to hingis these words

[danstrikeeagle]

Hingis was a very talented player, but she was a little too much arrogant, too bad and she is a very good looking girl.

[boihitbycar]

Graf was one classy athlete.

[The8arber]

Hingis is such a stupid bitch, such an arrogant cunt...but I still wanna bang her.

[Hoffenheim08]

@The8arber

Pervert.

[Eternalover78]

And now Hingis is married to a french guy. The irony of life...

[mulucha1985]

hingis will come back with vengeance I know this is 2011 now but what the heck, hope I can see her here in melbourne someday before I go back to my home in Nepal.

[ripspique]

1:35 Graf "I´ve never had a crowd like that ever never" Camera changes to Hingis face.... "Couldnt agree more ..."

[shawndw1000]

we just booed the hell out of ur ass....but here's a mic and say some words Martina..4:20 (ha..420).

[LEGOFFMARTINEAU]

Hingis was certainly a good player but she was an arrogant woman, she insulted "our" Amélie (with an "e") Mauresmo saying she was a man and screamed "fuck you" to the audience

[sultanabran1]

@LEGOFFMARTINEAU actually, she said 'she hits like a man'. She never said she was a man, and she apologised to Amélie for it.

[stgf1080]

@LEGOFFMARTINEAU i hate hingis

[LEGOFFMARTINEAU]

@stgf1080

I don't hate anybody ! It costs too much power !

[Hoffenheim08]

@LEGOFFMARTINEAU

Come on!

Hating Hingis is very easy!!

[KGeo2]

And Martina was fucking wright! LOL

[LEGOFFMARTINEAU]

@KGeo2 you certainly mean "right" don't you? right to be arrogant and rude ?

[rotwart]

@LEGOFFMARTINEAU to be fair she was half a man - look at her, was she ever gender tested? These days she would be submitted to a gender test and banned.

[Meade3763]

@rotwart

She was far less a man than Navratilova, Davenport or the Williams sisters.

But to call a lesbian opponent "half a man" is perhaps the meanest I have heard among sportswomen. Hingis deserved all she suffered that day. Watching her cry was one of the best moments in sports I ever had. And the icing on the cake was that Steffi Graf made her cry - the legend Hingis had dismissed earlier with the words "She is old now ... her time has passed."

Sometimes life is just.

[rotwart]

@Meade3763 Hingis isn't talking about her being a lesbian, she means literally that Amelie is half a man. Hingis is talking about gender not sexual preference - she means it in the same vein as Semenya from South Africa. Its not fair for a lady to play against a man because men are much stronger and more athletic. I don't really care if you enjoy watching Hingis cry or not, its of no importance to anyone in the world except you & your psychologist.

[Hoffenheim08]

@rotwart

Everybody understood what Hingis meant.

And the French crowd reacted accordingly.

[rotwart]

@Hoffenheim08 I aren't saying that they didn't understand. Please learn to read.

[Hoffenheim08]

@rotwart

They understood that Hingis wanted to insult a French girl.

And reacted accordingly.

[fr1x]

@LEGOFFMARTINEAU

she was a arrogant kid yea,but she was so young in the 90's....

and amelie sure looks like a dude......

hingis was a fuckin kitty compared to lioness amelie lol

[VincentTruth]

@LEGOFFMARTINEAU You French are all scum of the earth. I almost regret saving you bums from the nazis, I think you and them deserved each other prior to us saving you worthless/lazy bums.

[LEGOFFMARTINEAU]

@VincentTruth

I don't think that I told anything about an american player, Martina Hingis comes from Switzerland.And I haven't told that I don't like her ! I just told that she was arrogant saying "fuck you" to the audience. What has any nationality to do with that? The Swiss Roger Federer is a gentleman and certainly the best player of all the times. And I didn't tell that any French deserves to win, there's no french player ! you saved us against the nazis? thank you ! You may be very old !

[Hasanova79]

Can ANYBODY translate the sppech that Martina made in French?

[shawndw1000]

@Hasanova79 ya...she said "ur all a bunch of motherfuckers and French people suck balls". Oh wait...I am not sure she said that...lol.

[laaarsn]

Can somebody give me an explanation why Hingis got so unpopular in this match? She was like 18 years old at this time, and the whole crowd was against her?! :O

[Hoffenheim08]

@laaarsn

She had called French player Amelie Mauresmo (a lesbian) "half a man" a few months before.

And had this to say about Graf in summer 1998 (when Graf was out due to injury) "It's a faster, more athletic game. She is old now. ... Her time has passed."

I mean, which decent person would not hate an asshole like her?

[ripspique]

Oh yes, Graf... I remember her from blaming a loss saying in the pressroom "Ich hätte mein Tag" or in English "i had my period". That was pathetic, but she was just a boring hardhitter with a big serve and forehand, like Becker.

[Hoffenheim08]

@ripspique

Yes, that's why most people love Hingis and hate Graf.

Oh, wait ...

[ucdnick]

Hingis will play mixed doubles with Federer for 2012 Olympics.

[stgf1080]

graf is the best

[imranite]

and Hingis never did win the French Open. It is important that you do not become arrogant, no matter how great a player and a champion you are. Look at Steffi, Agassi, Federer and Nadal. They are some of the greatest tennis player to ever walk on this Earth and yet they are as humble as they come.

[Kenshiro026]

Steffi Graf = True Professional

Martina Hingis = Entitled Child

[richardvergara]

Congratulations to Martina....she was awesome in this match...maybe she was on cocaine during this match...

[forcemajeur08]

@richardvergara You made me spill my coffee with your statement lol!

[richardvergara]

@forcemajeur08 Thanks...I'm glad you get me...

[intldawn]

Much as I dislike Martina Hingis, I can't help but feel bad for her here. Her behavior was so distasteful but it must be a really difficult experience to know that the entire crowd is not only cheering for your opponent, but actively rooting against you. For all her faults, she did well to take it in stride and smile through her disappointment. Speaking a bit of French helped her cause, too.

[haroof]

Hingis was a spoiled little brat that felt she was entitled to everything.

She was taught her less by Graf.

[bcoxal]

During those times Martina was also disrespecting players because of their ages. She dropped Jana Novotna as a doubles partner because she believed Novotna was too old to be an effective partner, so this was the ultimate irony that Martina would lose to one of the best players of all time who also happened to be 30 years old.

[Simdaperce]

Eventually say a few word in French and you twist the crowd round your little finger Martina instead of crossing the net.

[mano2468]

"It is the most amazing moment of my whole career," Steffi said, which is true. It was not because of winning FO99 title, but rather because she felt all the love and respect of everyone there. Her coming back to competition after staying away for 2 years for injury was like a fairy tale, and so it had to have a happy end in a big triumph. The match itself is a true representation of this. FO99 was her last competition. It was the Grand Finale to her career. Who can forget her!!?

[hishwe123]

@mano2468 It wasn't her last match, she played wimbledon that year and lost to Davenport in the finals. She retired from a match in the US and called it a day :)

[dfreund1981]

@hishwe123

Graf did mean last match only for french open.

[mano2468]

Thank you verrrry much for uploading this match. This maybe is the most emotional tennis I've ever watched. Graf, after being away for too long due to knee injury, had all the support and love of the French crowd. It was not that they hated Hingis, but simply they loved Steffi, and they passionately wanted Steffi to win that title. Every time I see Steffi's speech at the ceremony, I can't but cry with her. Steffi is and will always be the best of all athlets.

[ajayvarrier]

I havent seen such a graceful champion as Steffi till date either in mens of womens sports! She is a great personality.

[garraycorazon1]

Que baño de jumildad te havia falta, martinita, y que leccion te dio la reina Steffie!!! Todavia recuerdo como lloré con esa final, la emocion y el deseo de que ganara la mejor de todos los tempos. Cuanta soberbia de parte de Hingis, y cuanto señorio de parte de Steffe, una autentica DAMA, dentro y fuera del court. La mejor, y por mas que MH haya creido en algun momento ser superior, nunca JAMAS oyo a un estadio corear su nombre como lo hicieron con La Reina. Steffie

[garraycorazon1]

Que baño de jumildad te havia falta, martinita, y que leccion te dio la reuna Steffie!!!

[Vermiliontea]

Great of Graf to thank the excessively unsporting french audience for expressing their hatred for Hingis, after Hingis defeated their precious Ameli Maurismo, thus breaking Hingis and giving Graf the victory. You often hear players laud the audience, including in France. Still, they're the worst swines I've seen in the developed world.

[bochum123123]

@Vermiliontea then the frendch audience has something in common with Hingis. She was the most unsporting female tennis player ever. before that match she said the change of generation is through, graf is too bad to beat her. in tokyo she practiced services in an arrogant way, while graf had a medical treatment on court. further she commented abusively about homosexual players and took cocaine. That´s the Hingins the crowd disliked, because she showed that behaviou at 2:0 2nd set.

[Nigelxman1]

@bochum123123 Very well said mate. I don't feel a bit sorry for her.

[wizzie47]

@Vermiliontea I will never forget the point in the second set when Hingis came to Graf's side of the court to contest an umpire's decision. That was dirrespectful. No wonder that the crowd booed Hingis after that.

[Hoffenheim08]

@Vermiliontea

Graf never thanked anyone for hating someone, you bad swine.

[danstrikeeagle]

@Vermiliontea Who are swines ? The French ??? Where the fuck are you from sucker ?

[coldmountain888]

Graf is a proper legend

[fistnaut1]

Yeah..."clasless" Hingis? But she spoke few words in french on decoration ceremony but loveley Steffi couldn't produce any word in french from her gob...sad.

[Hoffenheim08]

@fistnaut1

Graf is German, Hingis Swiss, you genius ...

[fistnaut1]

@Hoffenheim08 and so what? Hingis come from german part of Switzerland genious... probably french was to hard for "sweet" Steffi, maybe making tax fraud with daddy was a more easier for her than learning french

[Hoffenheim08]

@fistnaut1

Graf definitely speaks English better than you can write it, "genious" ...

[trent8002003]

Martina only had herself to blame. She threw the championship away. It had been within her grasp but she just wilfully and wastefully tossed it back into Steffi's lap.

[lollipopdouche]

couldnt have asked for a better idol growing up-steffi graf you are such a legend!

[cloydsantiago135]

my Gosh!!! hingis was so close to winning it was the french crowd who drove her into losing!!! she lost her momentum during the last set!!!! this should've been her first roland garros!!!!

[NeverLose11]

French crowd is sucks I really hate them

[Hoffenheim08]

@NeverLose11

The French adore classy players and they hate classless players.

Gotta love the French ...

[NeverLose11]

@Hoffenheim08

So

in which planet Soderling become a classy player ??

also

look how they deal with Rafa the king of Roland Garros and the best player ever play in Philip Chatrier and one of the most classy player in the tour

Gotta I hate them

[Hoffenheim08]

@NeverLose11

Who is "Soderling"?

I like the French.

Far better than the USO crowds. Can't get more classless than them.

[forcemajeur08]

@Hoffenheim08 Me too. Classless cows like Sharapova and Serena Williams are their most favorite victims, hence their equally delusional and arrogant victims are seething with anger against the french crowd and just insult the French ad hominem.

[pidgeblev]

What was Hingis saying in French please?? Did she say anything to Graf in an attempt to redeem herself (even though she couldnt). Graf is a great woman, an inspiration and Hingis probably learned a lot in hindsight.

[lionheart007]

@pidgeblev Yes at the start she said 'Many congratulations to Steffi, it was a very good match today.'

[MsNytol]

Hingis came during a transition period when Graf, Sanchez-Vicario, Seles etc were at the twilight of their careers (Graf was even away for almost 2 yrs due to knee surgery). At such a young age Hingis had plenty of time to accumulate titles after titles and she didn't have a big rival to compete against and really challenge her when she emerged, and by large, she managed to grab the opportunities. Unfortunately she couldn't assert herself and dominate after the big-hitting Williams sisters came.

[shirgen6]

"I've never had a crowd like that, never, ever."

I wonder what Graf meant by that.

[ispaht]

Love crazy-ass Hingis!

[DIANAROSS4EVER]

Hingis was way more talented than Graf

[Hoffenheim08]

@DIANAROSS4EVER

LOL

[billyX84]

@DIANAROSS4EVER tell that to graf's 22 grand slams

[MsNytol]

@DIANAROSS4EVER Craziest statement I've ever read.

[DIANAROSS4EVER]

@MsNytol Pfff I don't care what you've read, I never saw Graf making awesome dropshots or incredibly skillfulls lobs, or other kind of shots that I've never seen anyone ever make but Hingis, Steffi Graf a big 1,76 m German blond with the best forehand in tennis history and she maked it up in a beautiful way by walking ''classy'' and behaving in a good way, but that's all, talent means skill and Hingis is much more skillfull than Graf.She never had Hingis' volleys, just look at their dubs careers

[MsNytol]

@DIANAROSS4EVER Pfff! I don't care what you think, didn't even bother reading your whole reply, just the first sentence. Graf has 22 Grand Slams, enough said!

[eselsdistel]

Slized backhand?

[kalurank]

@DIANAROSS4EVER

especially as it concerns her drug career!?

[rrhotj]

@DIANAROSS4EVER yes, hingis has talent...talent that was so very wasted because of poor attitude.

[dinh]

So sad for HIngis, never got a chance to win it ever. :(

[geeva1979]

@dinh its interesting that at the following wimbledon polls showed that the public, commentators and everyone expected martina to recover and keep winning grand slams but although she made finals she never won another slam in singles. i dont think anyone could have predicted that.

[dinh]

@geeva1979 Hingis should have just forgotten about the pro-Graf crowd and really concentrate on her game, which she should have beatin Graf in straights. She had the game plan, bh to bh crosscourt then down the line for the winner. She just lost control of everything and I really think never fully recovered from it. Graf for the first 2 sets was just a bystander.

[mohawk393939]

@dinh You can bet your house on it that Graf and Heinz Gunthard had done their homework and knew for a fact that Hingis was no where near as fit as Graf so their strategy was to keep the rallies consistantly long and wear Hingis down. You could see all of Grafs mettle and champions mentality when push came to shove at 5-4 and that topspin backhand at 15-15 in that game was nothing short of perfection. Graf fully deserved to win. Hingis was an arrogant brat and deserved exactly what she got.

[dinh]

@mohawk393939 Why did Graf let it get to the point of down a set and down a break if that was indeed her "game plan". Hingis played extremely smart tennis for 2 sets until the very end and had the match in her hands. She was arrogant I give you that but she didn't deserve what she got, the crowd was horrific. She was on her way to win.

[mohawk393939]

@dinh I never said anywhere in my post that it was part of Grafs plan to let Hingis serve for the match - the longer the rallies went the more it favoured Graf. Hingis got exactly what she deserved, she was a nasty piece of work - she called Mauresmo a half man earlier that year, said there was no way Graf could compete with the fast evolving game as Steffi lay out on the sidelines rehabilitating from injury and said numerous other things about other players. FO 99 was her commupence.

[dinh]

@mohawk393939 Hingis' plan was to never have quick points, that's not even her game. The longer the points came, the better for Hingis actually, she has better control on both sides. Hingis' plan was very evident in the first 2 sets, play smart tennis and she did so. Don't dismiss Hingis greatness just because of her remarks outside of the court. She was after all only 19 and never was one to hold her mouth. Graff was the more hated player on tour.

[mohawk393939]

@dinh Graf was not hated she was respected, most couldn't even last an hour against her, she had a great mixture of brains and brawn whereas Hingis mainly relied on smarts.Of course Hingis was a great player you don't win 5GS and be no.1 in both singles and doubles by not being a great player but if you're compairing her to Graf there's no contest. If you believe Hingis had better control on both sides you're dillusional - BH yes but Grafs forehand was the greatest shot ever in the womens game.

[Hoffenheim08]

@dinh

95 percent of the WTA players were delighted that Steffi beat Hingis that day.

[MsNytol]

@dinh What?!? Perhaps you meant the "most feared"! LOL! Steffi had always conducted herself well, she always just got on with the job and never had a moment of madness!

[personify505]

@MsNytol er watch her match in tokyo QF vs Hingis

[youbossingko]

@dinh exactly...hingis got over confident and had no respect for the achievements of steffi graf... the most memorable match ever...even in her speech she acknowledged hingis to someday win the french open... so gracious and professional steffi graf...

[Hoffenheim08]

@dinh

Steffi made to many unforced errors in the first part of the match.

When she pulled herself together it was clear she would win. Hingis never had the means to threaten an in-form Steffi.

[personify505]

@dinh that bh to bh crosscourt got predictable, when graf gets in a groove with that slice backhand - thats verr dangerous. the bes way to beat graf is to hit the spots of both sides not allowing a groove on either. thats what she did in tokyo few months earlier and that was fast court

[odracirseraoseia1999]

@geeva1979

What?? She won French in 2000 and Australian in 2002.

[teenkan]

@odracirseraoseia1999 if my remember correctly.. hingis never win french..

[cjohagan]

@odracirseraoseia1999 she won French 2000 in doubles, not singles. FO Singles was Mary Pierce

[intldawn]

@geeva1979 Even Steffi said as much in her speech, that Martina was going to have so many more chances to come back and win. Famous last words.

[badgernation74]

@geeva1979 I remember that poll after her first round loss at Wimbledon 99. "Will Hingis ever win another slam in singles?" Everyone kind of laughed and said "oh, sure she will" BUT she never did. Karma is funny that way. Hingis said horrible things about Graf, Novotna, Sanchez, the Williams, basically everyone.

[egg1080]

@dinh HIngis is so stupid..graf is the  best

[egg1080]

@dinh HIngis head  to graf...is 2-7..graf is always know how to win HIngis

[dinh]

@egg1080 Graf is a great player no doubt but if they had both played when each other more when Hingis came to throne, their head to head would have been a lot closer.

[Hoffenheim08]

@dinh

When Hingis was at her peak 1998/99 she was 1-2 H2H against an old Graf with a reconstructed knee.

If 27-year-old Graf had played a 27-year-old Hingis more Steffi would have been 12-0 H2H against Hingis.

[ledominico]

@dinh Can somebody help me? I can´t speak Frech. What did Martina say in french when the trophy as a looser was given to her?

thanks

[ledominico]

@dinh Can somebody help me? I can´t speak Frech. What did Martina say in french when the trophy as a looser was given to her?

thanks

[Simdaperce]

@ledominico She says: "Congratulation Steffi it was a great match.(applause)

You're a great champion. I wanted to win this tournament, maybe next year.(applause)

And maybe next year the crowd would on my side.(applause)

I really like Paris and the tournament but I can't win it, I don't why, what is the problem?"

[ledominico]

@dinh 

[thetinalyons]

@dinh Boo - effin'-hoo