Some players seemingly came out of nowhere to win their first-ever Grand Slam singles title at the US Open. For others, lifting their first trophy in New York was long overdue and, more often than not, a matter of “when” rather than “if.”
We take a look at the players who won their first major title at the US Open and examine what led to their success in the Big Apple and what came next in their careers.
Youthful, talented and shy, teen phenom Gabriela Sabatini was no stranger to the second week of Grand Slams.
From her first full season in 1985 to her penultimate year on tour more than a decade later, the Argentine reached at least one Grand Slam singles semifinal in 11 consecutive years.
Sabatini made several deep runs in majors as a youngster, notably as a semifinalist at Roland Garros in 1985 just a few weeks after turning 15. She reached the semis of Wimbledon the following summer, then advanced to consecutive semifinals back in Paris in 1987 and 1988.
Each time, it was one of the game’s elite players that stood in her way of a maiden Grand Slam final: Chris Evert at the French Open in ’85; Martina Navratilova on London’s lawns in ’86; Steffi Graf on the red clay of Paris in both 1987 and ’88.
By the time 18-year-old Sabatini reached her first major final at the 1988 US Open, she was already 41-12 at the Grand Slam level and a consistent Top-10 player.
But it was Graf who stood in Sabatini’s path once more. The German had dropped just 10 total games in reaching the championship match, and Graf’s highly anticipated semifinal show-stopper with Evert became a no-show, when Evert was forced to pull out following a triple-digit temperature and stomach virus the previous night.
Fresh from her walkover and in the prime of her career, Graf defeated Sabatini to complete the calendar-year Grand Slam—and later that summer, the “Golden Slam” with her Olympic triumph—and Sabatini would have to wait a little longer to have her moment in the sun.
It almost came in 1989, when Sabatini reached the semis of the Australian Open during her first time competing in Melbourne and then almost again in New York—Graf again thwarting her chances of glory both times.
A seventh Grand Slam semifinal loss in 1990, this time to Navratilova at Wimbledon in just her second major tournament since turning 20, may have left some spectators wondering whether Sabatini would ever get over the hurdle. But those fears were allayed in New York a few months later, when the Argentine finally put it all together.
Sabatini rolled through the first week in the Big Apple, dropping a total of 13 games over four matches against Kathy Jordan, Isabelle Demongeot, Sabine Appelmans and Helena Sukova. The Argentine toppled Leila Meskhi of Georgia in the quarterfinals before fighting past American Mary Joe Fernandez, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3, in one of the matches of the tournament.
It was only fitting that it was Graf awaiting Sabatini in the final. Graf had won their six previous matches at majors, as well as 18 of 21 total contests coming into the Big Apple.
This time, however, there was no stumble, and it was Sabatini who came out on top with a 6-2, 7-6 victory.
Sabatini went on to reach the quarterfinals or better at the next 13 majors and at 17 of the next 20, but a second Grand Slam women’s singles title eluded her. She came close several times, notably when she dropped a 6-4, 3-6, 8-6 thriller to Graf in the final at Wimbledon in 1991 and in reaching the semifinals of the first three majors of the 1992 season.
Sabatini never did reach No. 1 in the world, or even No. 2, but there was no denying the unbelievable gifts of an incredible player who felt almost uncomfortable in the limelight. Unfortunately for Sabatini, her prime years crossed paths with those of three sure-fire Hall of Famers.
Evert was at the tail end of her stellar career in the mid-‘80s, when Sabatini broke through. But her exit only opened the door for Navratilova to shine, until Graf’s dominance of virtually the entire 1990s took the tennis world by storm and redefined the game for her generation, until the Williams sisters entered the fray.
Sabatini could have won many majors. At any other time in history, she probably would have. Instead, we’re left with the sweet memory of her only Grand Slam title in New York City and the day she finally beat Graf on the game’s biggest stage.
