Serena Williams vs. Venus Williams 2003 Australian Open final

Serena Williams etched her name in tennis history on this day, beating sister Venus for her first Australian Open and completing a sweep of the slams. Serena battled to an emotional 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-4 victory to become only the fifth woman to hold all four grand slams at once, a feat she is calling the ‘Serena slam’. Serena now joins Maureen Connolly, Margaret Court, Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf in an exclusive pantheon of champions.

The match was played under cover in the Rod Laver Arena due to the extreme heat in Melbourne, where temperatures reached 108 degrees. It was only the third time in their 11 meetings that a match had gone to three sets. While the tennis wasn’t always the greatest, it was intriguing. There were junctures, particularly in the second and third sets, where both sisters chased down balls and slugged them with speed and power that no other woman can display. There were lots of long rallies and brilliance from both sides of the net.

Steffi Graf vs. Arantxa Sanchez Vicario 1996 French Open final

On the 8th of June 1996 Steffi Graf won her fifth French Open title. On a humid day at Roland Garros after an epic struggle with Arantxa.

It was the longest (at the time) women’s final in the history of the French Open tennis championships. It lasted over 3 hours and 40 games. Steffi eventually came through 6-3 6-7(4-7) 10-8.

Afterwards an emotional Steffi rated this match as the finest match she and Arantxa have ever played, even more spectacular than the 1995 Wimbledon final.

Martina Hingis vs. Monica Seles 2000 WTA tour final . . . . . . .

The 2000 Chase Championships final provided what was probably the best women’s match of the year.

It was the 14th meeting between Martina Hingis and Monica Seles with the head to head 11 – 2 in Martina’s favour.

Monica was a 3 time winner of the year ending championships with Martina having won it just the once.

Both players were serving well from the start and the first 5 games were close but all went with serve. The next three games went comfortable with serve to take it to 4-4.

The ninth game saw Martina take a 40 love lead and then, with a combination of a few loose shots and a couple of great ones from Monica, she lost the game.

At 5-4 Monica was now serving for the set. At 30 all Martina made a simple forehand error which gave Monica set point. Martina saved the point with a wrong-footing forehand winner on the 10th stroke of the rally. A few points later she had broke back with some deep hitting forcing the errors from Monica’s racket.

Martina held serve comfortably to love with a couple of excellent forehand winners leaving Monica to serve to try to stay in the set.

Martina had a set point in the following game when Monica double-faulted at 30 all. Monica saved it with a good out-wide serve followed up by a backhand winner. A few points later Martina had another set point which Monica saved with an excellent serve. A third set point was saved when Martina hit a poor drop-shot which Monica easily reached and put away. The game went to nine deuces and had some brilliant shots from both players but Monica eventually came through to win it and take the set into a tie-break.

The quality of the tie-break never reached the heights of the previous game with Martina making far too many errors and Monica winning it 7-5.

Monica started the second set well taking a 2-0 lead and looking in total control. Martina then started to get her game back together, cutting down on the errors and breaking back. Illustrated perfectly by the final point of the game where she hit a winner on the 22nd stroke of the rally.

Monica, after some trouble, held on to her next service game and then broke Martina again to take a 4-2 lead.

Two unforced errors and a double fault in the next game saw Monica’s lead cut to 4-3. Martina then levelled at 4 all with a comfortable service game.

The next game was very close with Monica serving well again but Martina came through in the end with some beautiful shots to take a 5-4 lead and she then served out to level the scores at one set each.

Martina broke in the opening game of the third set but Monica struck back immediately to level at 1-1 with some fierce hitting.

Martina broke serve again and then held in a very confident game to take a 3-1 lead. Monica followed in the same fashion holding to love and then breaking Martina to level the score at 3-3.

After a tremendous struggle in the next game Martina broke serve yet again to take a 4-3 lead only to lose her own serve on a double fault.

At 4 all it was still hard to tell who would win but Martina broke Monica’s serve yet again bringing up the break point with a fine backhand cross-court winner and finishing the game with a good overhead smash.

She now had to hold serve to win the match. After a tense game Martina reached match point but she blew it with a double fault. She then served an ace to bring up her second match point and won it when a nervy second serve was pounced on by Monica but she lashed the ball into the net.

The final score in a quite thrilling match was 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-4.

Match available on DVD and on video at Martina Hingis Videos & DVDs website.

Tracy Austin vs. Chris Evert-Lloyd 1979 US Open Final . . . . . . .

In 1979, at 16 years of age, Tracy Austin became the youngest person to win the US Open beating Chris Evert-Lloyd in straight sets 6-4 6-3. Chris Evert-Lloyd had been going for her fifth consecutive US Open title.

The first 3 games went fairly comfortably with serve but the 4th was more of a struggle. Chris was taken to deuce on her serve and managed, after a 31 stroke rally on her advantage, to win the game with a beautiful drop-shot from behind the baseline.

Tracy then played a very sloppy game and lost her serve leaving the score at 2-3.

Tracy Austin hit straight back. On the first point of the next game after a 20 stoke rally and running Chris Evert from side to side she hit a great down the line winner. She finished the game off after another long rally when Chris hit the ball over the baseline on the 29th stroke.

Tracy undid all the good work of the last game by losing her serve to love. The score was now 3-4.

The 8th game was close but Tracy won it when Chris had a very easy smash which she hit wide. She then held serve to take a 5-4 lead.

Chris now had to hold serve to stay in the set. She failed as Tracy took command with some excellent play taking the set when Chris hit a forehand long at 30-40.

The First game of the second set saw Tracy fight back from 0-40 down to hold her serve. In contrast Chris lost her service game to love with some poor play.

The score went to 3-0 when Tracy won her next service game to 30 with a backhand cross-court shot that hit the top of the net and dropped dead on Chris’ side on the 17th stroke of the rally.

Chris finally got on the scoreboard in the second set when she held serve to 15. She followed it up by breaking Tracy after Tracy was 40-15 on her own serve and then seemed to wobble, making 4 unforced and handing the game to Chris. It was now back on serve at 3-2.

At 30 all in the next game and after a 39 stroke rally Chris had an easy overhead which she failed to put away, with the whole court open she went for too acute an angle and it went just wide. A good service winner brought it back to deuce but Chris eventually lost the game when she hit a backhand inches long.

An excellent service game by Tracy saw her lead extended to 5-2. Chris now had to hold serve to stay in the match which she duly did in a game that included wonderful forehand and backhand down the line winners.

Tracy got off to a bad start playing cautiously and going love 30 down as she served for the match. She got things back on track in the following point with a glorious down the line forehand winner.

After a long rally Tracy hit a ball out and Chris had two break points. The first was retrieved when Chris failed to get the return of serve over the net. The second was saved after a serve out wide opened up the court and Tracy rifled a backand down the line.

On the 36th stoke of the next rally Chris hit a forehand from behind the baseline which clipped the top of the net and dropped short for Tracy to rush in and hit a short-angled cross-court winner to bring up match point.

Chris got it back to deuce when Tracy just failed to clear the net with a backhand. A bad forehand error by Chris brought up the second match point.

Tracy missed her first serve so Chris moved up the court halfway to the service line to threaten the second, Tracy put in a short serve which chris somehow fluffed and hit straight into the net.

Tracy Austin had won her first Grand Slam title.

This match is available on DVD at Tennis DVDs website and on video at Tennis Videos website.

Jana Novotna vs. Martina Hingis 1998 Wimbledon semi final . . . .

At Wimbledon 1998 Martina Hingis was the top seed and Jana Novotna was seeded 3. The head to head was 6 – 2 in Martina’s favour. She had also won the last 4 times they had played.

The match started badly for Jana Novotna as Martina Hingis took the first two games without losing a point. The third game was again won by Martina but not without a struggle.

The fourth game also looked like it was going to Martina when she got to love 40 on Jana’s serve with a beautiful cross-court passing shot. 3 poor service returns saw Jana get back to deuce and she eventual won her first game with a great running, down the line, passing shot.

Jana went on to break Martina after a long game that went to 3 deuces and then held comfortably to bring the score back to 3-3.

The seventh game went to deuce again and Jana went on to win her fourth game in a row when putting away a nice volley after a good approach shot.

Jana was playing beautifully right up to 30-15 in the next game when she missed a simple volley, then sliced a shot long and a third one wide to hand the game to Martina. It was now 4 all.

It was only a temporary blip for Jana as she broke Martina again with some good net play to leave her serving for the set. She comfortably won her serve to 15 to take the set 6-4.

The first game of the second set continued in the same fashion with Jana out-thinking Martina and breaking serve yet again.

Martina then struck back playing some great tennis to break Jana to love and then go on to hold her own serve for the first time since the third game of the match.

A slight lull in the quality of the play saw the next two games go with serve.

A long sixth game on Jana’s serve produced 3 break points for Martina, none of which she could take. Jana won the game when a backhand cross-court shot by Martina, which landed on the line, was called out. The set was all square at 3 all.

The next game was another long one on Martina’s serve. She somehow survived it to take a 4-3 lead.

Jana won her next service game easily and then broke Martina’s serve finishing the game with a great overhead backhand smash.

Jana was now serving for the match. The first point was won when Martina failed to clear the net with a backhand passing shot. Jana took the score to 30-0 when she came to the net on her second serve and put away a good backhand volley. She got to 40 love and 3 match points when Martina again did not get a backhand passing shot over the net. She finished the match when Martina could not get a good first serve back over the net.

Jana had avenged last years final defeat with a 6-4 6-4 win to take her through to the final where she would take the title defeating Natalie Tauziat.

Match available on DVD at Tennis DVDs website and on video at Tennis Videos website.

Steffi Graf vs. Gabriela Sabatini 1988 US Open final . . . . . . . . . .

The 10th September 1988 was an historic day. It was the last time any player, man or woman, won The Grand Slam. The feat had only been achieved on 5 previous occasions by Don Budge (1938), Maureen Connolly (1953), Rod Laver (1962 and 1969) and Margaret Court (1970).

Steffi Graf’s achievement stood out further because it was the only time anyone has ever won The Grand Slam with each tournament on a different surface.

Gabby had beaten Steffi twice out of the three times they played in 1988 so she went into this match with plenty of confidence.

The first set started with Steffi Graf holding her serve to 30 after dropping the first two points to unforced errors. Gabby replied with a good service game of her own, holding to 15.

Steffi then held serve and broke Gabby to take a 3-1 lead. Sabatini broke back the very next game after some sloppy play by Graf and then held serve to bring it back to 3-3.

Steffi won the next 2 games to take a 5-3 lead. She was now serving for the set. She quickly got to 40-15 holding two set points. Gabby managed to save both with a great topspin cross-court backhand winner and a wonderful lob. On the third set point Steffi secured the game after a 25 stroke rally to take the set 6-3.

The first 3 games of the second set went with serve. Then Graf made a few too many errors and Sabatini quickly took a 4-1 lead. Steffi won the next two games to pull back to 4-3.

Another poor game by Steffi left Gabby serving for the set. She won the game in good style attacking the net on the final point to take the set 6-3.

Steffi Graf started the third set strongly racing to a 3-0 lead. She also had a 0-40 lead in the next game but somehow Gabby managed to win it. The next two games went to Steffi with some good play including a few excellent drop shots. The score was now 5-1 and Steffi was serving for the match.

The final game did not start too well as Steffi went 15-30 down after 2 unforced errors. She pulled it back to 30 all with a wonderful forehand winner. Another Steffi error and Gabby had break point, but a good first serve by Steffi and it was deuce. On the 8th stroke of the next rally Gabby hit a backhand long to give Steffi match point. Gabby rushed the net on the 6th shot of the rally and Steffi hit low to her backhand. Gabby volleyed it back but Steffi hit another backhand which Gabby just got her racket on but could not get it over the net. Steffi had won.

The final score was 6-3 3-6 6-1. Steffi Graf had become the first person since Margaret Court in 1970 to win The Grand Slam. The feat has never been achieved since.

This match is available on DVD and video at Steffi Graf Videos & DVDs website.

Steffi Graf vs. Monica Seles 1992 Wimbledon final . . . . . . . . .

Wimbledon women’s final day on July the 4th 1992 was a dull rainy day that was spectacularly lit up by the brilliance of Steffi Graf’s play.

The head to head was 5-3 in Steffi’s favour and she had won 2 of their last 3 meetings. All 3 of Monica’s wins were on clay. The last one was a few weeks earlier in an epic French Open final. Steffi said the thing she learned from that match to take in to this final was to be more aggressive.

They had played once previously at Wimbledon in 1989 when a very young Monica won only one game. This was in contrast to their match some weeks earlier in the French Open where it went to 3 sets. So this match was played on Steffi’s best, and probably Monica’s least effective surface.

Monica had beaten Martina Navratilova in 3 sets in her semi final and Steffi had came through against Gabriela Sabatini in 2.

Steffi Graf won the toss and decided to serve. She won her first service game to love. In contrast Monica Seles struggled to hold her first service game but came through after 2 deuces. Steffi was serving well but Monica’s return started to kick in and Steffi held her 2nd service game for the loss of 2 points.

In the 4th game Steffi broke Monica’s serve to take a 3-1 lead then held her own serve to 15 with some excellent play. Monica responded with her best service game, including 2 aces, to take the score to 4-2.

The next game turned out to be the crucial game of the first set and saw the best point of the match so far. Steffi hit a great forehand into the corner which Monica got to and hit an even better cross-court backhand low over the net wide to Steffi’s right. Steffi ran it down and hit a magnificent forehand down the line from a position outside the tramlines. This took the game to 40-0. Monica won the next 4 points with 3 errors from Steffi and lovely down the line forehand shot to give her her first break point. Steffi saved the break point with a wonderful cross-court short angled topspin forehand on the 9th stoke of the rally. Monica won the next point to give her another break chance. Steffi hit a very good wide serve which Monica just reached, the ball landed just over the net, Steffi ran it down and hit a deep shot to Monica’s forehand, Monica replied with a great pick-up, a single-handed forehand lob which landed on the baseline. The break point was saved when Monica missed a forehand down the line by inches. Steffi then went on to win the game with a good forehand and serve to take a 5-2 lead.

Monica now had to serve to stay in the set. She began well with an ace and a Steffi error to take it to 30 love. Steffi’s short angled forehand was catching Monica out and she could only throw up a short ball from the latest one which Steffi duly smashed for a winner. Two forced errors later and Steffi had set point. The set was won on the 12th stoke of the rally with another cross-court forehand winner.

Steffi Graf opened the second set with an ace an won the game to 15, finishing it off with a lovely dink shot across the court after Monica hit an good drop shot.

At 30-15 in the next game the rain began and the players were off court for about 40 minutes. The game went to a second deuce and the players were off again, this time for about 1 hour and 45 minutes. Monica Seles won the first two points on the resumption to make it 1-1.

Steffi then held her own service game to love. Monica’s next service game went to deuce and then they produced the best point of the match. On the 5th stroke of the rally Monica hit a backhand down the line which Steffi managed to return, Monica then hit a rasping forehand down the other line into the corner which stayed very low, Steffi remarkably got her racket onto it and the ball dropped over the net just inside the service line. Monica drove the ball across court into the other corner and Steffi ran it down and produce a remarkable forehand cross-court winner. Monica got the break point back but a few points later she double-faulted to lose her serve. It was now 3-1 to Steffi.

Steffi was still serving very well and held to love for 4-1. The next game got to 15-30 when rain again interrupted play. It was 7.16 in the evening before the players got back onto court.

It was tough for Monica as all the rain breaks had come during her service games. She fought bravely to hold onto her serve but to no avail. The game went to 5 deuces and Monica held two game points but eventually Steffi prevailed to take a 5-1 lead.

Steffi was now serving for the match. On the first point she hit a great serve out wide which Monica returned with interest for a beautiful short-angled cross-court winner. Steffi got back to 15-15 with a forehand winner of her own. Two more quick points and Steffi was at 40-15. She served it out in style with an ace down the middle for a comprehensive 6-2 6-1 win.

Steffi never really got the credit she deserved for this wonderful performance, her speed around the court was incredible.

She said afterwards that it was one of the best matches she had played for a very very long time.

Match available on DVD and video at Steffi Graf Videos & DVDs website.

Justine Henin-Hardenne vs. Maria Sharapova 2006 Dubai Final

This was an excellent match. Maria Sharapova was out to avenge her defeat a few weeks earlier to Justine Henin in the semi final of the Australian Open.

Both players were serving well and the first 6 games went fairly comfortably for the server with only 4 points going against the serve. Maria was coming to the net on quite a few occassions early on but it did not prove successful.

In the 7th game Maria’s serve came under pressure for the first time and she was down 15-40. With dogged determination she won the next 4 points to hold.

In the next game Justine’s serve followed suite and she was 15-40 down. After a titanic struggle with 4 deuces and on her fourth break point, Maria won the game to take a 5-3 lead.

Maria Sharapova was now serving for the set and opened with an ace. A couple of unforced errors and a magnificent backhand by Justine Henin left her two break points down. Maria managed to pull it back to deuce, but a good forehand down the line by Justine, followed by a wild error from Maria saw Henin get the break back.

The next game was very close with Justine serving to stay in the set. It was a bit sloppy by both players to start and ended up at deuce. From there the women produced some great rallies and after a couple more deuces Justin won the game to pull it back to 5-5.

On the first point of the next game Maria hit what she thought was a winner, which was clearly on the line, but was called out. She then lost her concentration producing two unforced errors and lost the game when she hit long. It was 6-5 to Henin. Justine then served out the next game to love with some strong play to take the set 7-5.

The First 4 games of the second set went with serve. Although holding serve was not as easy as at the start of the first set. In the fifth game Justine broke to take a 3-2 lead. Maria had a break chance in the next game to pull even but failed.

Two double faults in the seventh game put Maria further into trouble and she was broken again after a thrilling rally which Justine won with a topspin backhand down the line.

Now Justine was serving for the match. Maria fought back tigerishly and got to 15-40 with a superb dropshot. Justine hit back winning the next 3 points to take her to match point. She only need the one as Maria failed to get a good serve by Justine back over the net.
 
This wonderful match finished 7-5 6-2. It was Justine Henin’s third Dubai title.

Match available on DVD at Tennis DVDs website and on video at Tennis Videos website.

Chris Evert-Lloyd vs. Martina Navratilova 1985 French Open Final

The 1985 French Open final was the 64th meeting between Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova. The head to head was 33 – 31 in Martina’s favour. Chris head beaten Martina earlier in the year after having recorded 13 straight losses to her opponent. This turned out to be one of the classic tennis matches with brilliant play and twists and turns right to the end.

Martina Navratilova won the toss and as it was a very wind day, she chose to receive. Chris Evert got off to a cracking start taking a 3-0 lead, although all three games were close. Considering the conditions Chris was hitting some very deep and accurate groundstrokes.

Martina then won the next three games and again all were close. From 3-3 Chris took the next three games bringing up set point with a second serve ace and closing out the set 6-3 by moving Martina from side to side with two excellent deep shots, the second of which Martina failed to control and hit out.

The second set began with a brilliant game by Chris to break Martina’s serve. Martina broke straight back. The third game saw Chris break Martina yet again. Games then went with serve to 4-2 with Chris continuing her high level of groundstroke play.

Martina then raised her game and took the next 3 games to lead 5-4 with some excellent net play. Martina had a set point in the next game which Chris saved with a beautiful backhand down the line. She then broke Martina to 15 to leave her serving for the match. A poor game by Chris saw her lose her serve and so take the set to a tie-break.

Martina rushed to a 4-1 lead in the tie-break as Chris made some errors including her first double fault. Martina held the avantage to 5-4 when Chris missed a passing shot to give Martina set point. Martina won the next point in a cagey 18 stroke rally when she rushed the net and hit a winning volley to take the tie-break 7-4.

Chris again got off to a good start to the third set by holding serve and breaking Martina. In the third game she had points to take a 3-0 lead but was eventually broken by Martina. Martina then played a poor game and was broken by chris to make it 3-1. Chris had opportunities to go 4-1 ahead but in a long game Martina eventually broke with a topspin backhand cross-court shot to bring the score back to 3-2.

Martina then served out to love to make it 3-3. Chris held with a struggle to 4-3 and then broke Martina with a brilliant cross-court forehand on the final point of the game to take a 5-3 lead.

With Chris serving for the match Martina broke back with a mixture of patience and great play. Martina got back to 5-5 with a love service game. In the following game Chris was 0-40 down and staring defeat in the face, she had only won one of the last 12 points. With a combination of good play from Chris and 3 unforced errors from Martina, Chris won the game. Martina was now under pressure and had to hold serve to stay in the match.

After some good tennis by both players in the final game, Chris got to match point when martina hit a volley long. In a fitting end Chris hit a superb backhand down the line to win the match. The final score was 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 7-5.

This was and epic match and one of my all-time favourites. Chris said, when interview on court after the match, that is was one of the most exciting matches she had ever played in and won.

Match available on DVD at Chris Evert DVDs webpage and on video at Tennis Videos website.

Martina Hingis vs. Anke Huber 1996 Zurich semi final. . . . . . .

Match available on DVD and on video at Martina Hingis Videos & DVDs website.

A wonderful match between two of the best performers of the indoor season in 1996. Martina Hingis had recently turned sixteen and also just established herself in the world’s top ten players and Anke Huber was someone who played her best tennis indoors.

The head to head was 2-1 in Martina’s favour and all 3 matches had gone to 3 sets.

This was a thrilling match which Martina eventually won 3-6 6-2 7-6 (8-6). Martina nearly blew it in the tie-break holding 5 match points at 6-1 and only just scrapping through 8-6.

Martina Hingis started the match slowly and had her serve broken in the first game. Games then went with serve until Anke Huber broke again in the 9th to take the first set 6-3 with Martina making too many errors including double faulting on set point.

Three breaks of the Huber serve saw Martina take the second set comfortably 6-2.

The third set started with a break of serve each and then settled down with some excellent tennis from both players. Martina Hingis broke again in the 5th game and held her serve to take a 4-2 lead. A Huber hold and a bad service game by Martina saw her lead pegged back to 4-4. Another break by Martina left her serving for the match at 5-4. Anke Huber broke to love and held her own serve to love leaving Martina to serve to stay in the match. She held comfortably to take the match to a final set tie-break.

In the tie-break Martina raced to a 6-1 lead with a great backhand down the line. Anke started to hit out and pulled it back to 6-6 but Martina won the next two points to take the match finishing with a great forehand which hit the baseline.