In “Turning Points,” we take a look at the pivotal moments that changed the course of sets, matches and championship runs.
In the first edition of this new series, we look back at the 1986 US Open, when Martina Navratilova saved three match points in the semifinals against a 17-year-old Steffi Graf.
The mid-1980s belonged to Martina Navratilova, and she wasn’t about to let a teenager dethrone her.
Navratilova came into the 1986 US Open with 14 Grand Slam women’s singles titles, having won 20 of her past 21 matches in New York City. The 29-year-old had reached the final in 11 of the past 12 majors and had not failed to reach at least the fourth round in any Grand Slam in a decade.
Enter Steffi Graf, a talented 17-year-old from West Germany, who had been to the second week of a major just twice in her young career and who only won her first main-draw match in the Big Apple the previous summer.
Navratilova dispatched Graf, then a surprise semifinalist, 6-2, 6-3, in 1985. But fast forward 12 months, and this was an improved, more confident Graf, who ultimately gave Navratilova a battle for the ages in the most thrilling contest of the 1986 tournament.
Navratilova had not dropped a set in reaching the semis, dispatching seeded players, like Gabriela Sabatini and Pam Shriver, with relative ease. And after rushing through the opening set of her match against Graf, 6-1, it seemed as though history would repeat itself.
But between a stubborn Graf and a rain delay, the match was about to be turned on its head.
In the end, Navratilova needed to save three match points: two when she was serving at 4-5 in the third set and then a third at 7-8 in the tiebreak that followed.
Here’s a look at how it unfolded.
Navratilova led, 6-1, 6-7, 4-2. She was one point away from serving for the match two different times, before Graf battled back from 30-40 to hold in the seventh game of the final set and again to save a break point at 4-4.
Match point No. 1:
6-1, 7-6, 4*-5, Advantage Graf
Graf ran around her backhand to hit a dipping forehand at Navratilova’s feet to bring up her first match point.
Navratilova kicked a second serve out wide to the Graf forehand, then followed it up with a tentative forehand in the middle of the court off her back foot. Graf didn’t get her feet set, either, lunging slightly at the ball and sending her forehand long.
Match point No. 2:
6-1, 7-6, 4*-5, Advantage Graf
Two points later, Graf got another bite at the cherry, when Navratilova netted a routine forehand volley.
This time, Navratilova went up the middle with the second serve. Graf tried to block it back down the line against the charging American, but Navratilova judged it well, left it alone and watched it bounce harmlessly long.
Match point No. 3:
6-1, 7-6, 6-6 (8-7)
After saving Navratilova’s first and second match points, Graf had a third opportunity of her own.
Navratilova approached the net behind a forehand to the Graf backhand. Graf went right at Navratilova, who blocked a forehand back. The German had a look at a passing shot down the line, but her backhand only found the net.
“You can’t be pushed any more than that,” Navratilova said, according to The New York Times. “It’s pretty exciting, coming from a match point down, or two or three. And to do it at this stage, lucky and gutsy.
“She's a terrific player. I hope she doesn't get too much better. If she does, I'll quit.”
Navratilova ultimately prevailed, when, at 9-8, a wide serve to the Graf backhand was sliced into the net. It wrapped up a memorable victory, ending a two-hour, 16-minute semifinal that began Friday before rain postponed the match for 24 hours.
“I’m very disappointed now,” said Graf, who had led 4-2 and 5-3 in the third-set tiebreak. “It was so close the score doesn't matter. I just wanted to win.”
After shaking Graf’s hand, Navratilova patted Graf once on her back and shrugged her shoulders. She pumped her fists in the air several times and raised both hands above her head. This had been a battle. Navratilova took her glasses off and looked to the sky, taking a deep breath. Then she held her hands together in a prayer-like pose and mouthed thank you. Threat averted.
Navratilova went on to claim the title the following day, defeating Helena Sukova, 6-3, 6-2. In doing so, she became the only woman to ever win the US Open after saving a match point.
Graf would go on to win her first Grand Slam women’s singles title the following year at the French Open before reaching her first US Open final. The German famously won the US Open in 1988, completing the calendar-year Grand Slam.
