Gabriela Sabatini: I’ve never disliked Steffi Graf; she’s a wonderful person.

Gabriela Sabatini, a former US Open winner, says she never hated Steffi Graf, with whom she worked closely and with whom she spoke many times. She calls the German “a spectacular person.” A few years ago, Graf gave the speech that led off Sabatini’s induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport.

They also won the pairs title at Wimbledon in 1988. When Sabatini was asked by the German newspaper BILD about Graf on her 50th birthday, May 16, she said she had never disliked him. “Not at all. Steffi and I were always competing on the court, and I always say that Steffi made me play better.”

I was lucky to have her as a competition because she was very good. Steffi was very quiet when she wasn’t in the square. We all wrote our own stories. We became very close after games over the years. There’s no doubt that I respect Steffi. She’s a wonderful person.

Sabatini said she got along well with most of her coworkers when they weren’t on the court. “I was always someone who lived rivalry and confrontation on the court, but everything was fine when I wasn’t there,” she said. Maybe it was hard for me to play tennis against Arantxa Sanchez Vicario because she had a tough mentality and fought until the very end of the match, when everything came back and she ran to the last ball. This made her a tough player to beat.

I also found it hard to play against Monica Seles. Everything on the pitch, everyone outside of work, I always got along well with. Sabatini talks about Martina Navratilova, a rival of hers when she was playing, and says that the tennis great has always been very kind to her.

She has always been very kind to Martina. When she talked, she always said something about my game or pushed me to keep going. Because I looked up to Martina so much, it was very important that she said something to me. I always had a soft spot for Martina because she was always very kind in this way.

I felt mixed emotions when we played their last game at Madison Square Garden because of what Martina means to me. I didn’t want to be the one to beat them in their last game, but I also saw it as a chance to play well.

The truth is that Martina has always been very kind, a great athlete, and a great person. I’m always grateful for her words.