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In addition to her Grand Slam victories, Gabriela Sabatini took home a silver medal from the 1988 Olympics and one Wimbledon doubles victory. She peaked at No. 3 in the WTA rankings. via Twitter/X/@TennisHalloFame
The story of women in athletics is frequently confined to the periphery. Our goal is to alter that, to highlight their achievements and create a tapestry of empowering and inspirational tales. Every voice should be heard in sports and in life, and that is why we at Latin Women in Sports want to celebrate their victories, dismantle obstacles, and promote this belief every week.

Seattle: Most often, when discussing the history of women’s tennis in Latin America, Gabriela Sabatini’s name is the first that comes to mind. One of the sport’s greatest talents, the Buenos Aires native made her WTA tour debut in 1985 at the tender age of fifteen.

Long before she moved to the tour, Sabatini’s name was well-known in the women’s game. She was regarded as the world’s top junior player at the age of 14, and a year later, she was competing in the French Open semifinals. Her record, which includes 27 singles crowns and 632 victories in 821 lifetime matches, speaks for itself.

Her career reached its apex in 1990 when she won a singles Grand Slam title, making history as the first and only Latin American woman to do so. Just a few months after losing her seventh match in a Grand Slam semifinal, Sabatini dominated the New York hard courts, dropping 13 games in four matches to reach the championship match.

The Hall of Famer Steffi Graf, one of Sabatini’s fiercest competitors in the late 1980s and early 1990s, was her opponent. Before the 1990 US Open final, the German had won 18 of their previous 21 meetings, but this time, Sabatini was different. She won the first and only Grand Slam championship of her career after dominating her opponent and winning in two sets.

In addition to winning 14 doubles championships and an Olympic medal, Sabatini was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in the previous year. One of the greatest Latinas in sports history, she received the greatest honour in tennis in 2019 when she was given the Philippe Chartrier Award, which is given to people or groups who have significantly improved tennis both on and off the court.

At the age of 26, the Argentine ended her incredible career despite being one of the best players in the world.