Steffi Graf is a remarkable individual, and I have never despised her, Gabriela Sabatini says.

Gabriela Sabatini, a former champion of the United States Open with whom she had numerous personal meetings throughout their careers, has stated that she has never harbored any animosity toward Steffi Graf. She describes Graf as a “spectacular person.” Sabatini was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, a few years ago, and Graf was the one who delivered the introductory statements.

In 1988, the two also triumphed at Wimbledon, when they won the doubles crown. When Sabatini was being interviewed by the German journal BILD on the occasion of her 50th birthday on May 16th, she was asked if she had ever harbored anything of hatred toward Graf. Steffi and I have always been rivals on the court, and I always claim that Steffi was the one who brought out the best in my tennis. “Not at all.

Because she was such a formidable adversary, I count myself quite fortunate to have her as a competition. Steffi was a very reclusive person outside of the square, and everyone of us had our own tale to tell. As time went on and we stopped playing together, we became quite close to one another. I have always respected Steffi, and because she is such a remarkable person, I continue to enjoy her company.

Sabatini stated that away from the court, she was able to maintain friendly relationships with the majority of her colleagues. “I was always a person who lived rivalry and confrontation on the court, but everything was fine outside,” she remarked. Because she was a player who had a difficult mentality and gave you a fighting spirit until the very last point, a game in which everything came back and she ran to the last ball, which made her a difficult player to play, I found it very difficult to play against Arantxa (Sanchez Vicario) in tennis. Perhaps this is because she was a player who came back with everything she had.

On top of that, competing against Monica Seles was a challenging experience for me. I always had a pretty excellent relationship with everyone, whether it was on the soccer field or outside of it. Sabatini recalls that Martina Navratilova, another player who was a competitor of hers during her playing days, had always been very generous to her from the beginning of their relationship.

“Martina has always been very generous,” the speaker said. She never failed to make a comment about my game or to encourage me to keep playing whenever she spoke. Due to the feelings of admiration that I had for Martina, it was of utmost significance that she communicated with me. I have always felt a certain amount of affection for Martina, and she has always been very generous in this regard.

As a result of what Martina meant, I had a range of emotions throughout the final game that we played at Madison Square Garden. On the one hand, I did not want to be the one to defeat them in their most recent game, but on the other hand, I believed that it was an opportunity for me to play a match that was particularly good.