Classic matches: Steffi Graf vs Sanchez Vicario, Wimbledon 1995

8th of July, 1995. The day when one of the greats of the game, Steffi Graf and her arch-rival, the plucky Spaniard, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, played out an outstanding match at the hallowed turf of Wimbledon. There were so many twists and turns during the entire match that it kept all the spectators on the edge of their seats. For about two hours, the pendulum swung back and forth, before Graf overcame the stiff challenge put up by the tenacious Spaniard.

What made this epic battle between Graf and Sanchez even more fascinating was that both played with contrasting styles. The head-to-head record of 28-8 in favour of Graf may suggest most of the games played between the two were one-sided. But stats seldom tell the true story. The powerful and athletic Graf, even with an awesome forehand in her armour, was rarely able to overpower the fast and the canny Spaniard. Sanchez Vicario known, for her tremendous court coverage, would make Graf earn for every point with her counter punches. No wonder that whenever Graf played Sanchez, they were known as Tom and Jerry of women’s tennis.

Backdrop

In personal terms, 1995 was a difficult year for Graf, as she was accused by German authorities of tax evasion. By the end of 1994, she was also troubled by a back injury that resulted in her withdrawal from the 1995 Australian Open. But the wounded German tigress was a different kettle of fish on a tennis court in the year ’95. She was on a 32-match winning streak going into the Wimbledon final against Sanchez, and had even beaten Sanchez in the French Open final of ’95.

On the other hand, Sanchez was perhaps at the peak of her prowess. She had won the US open in ’94. For a brief period in ’95, she was ranked number one in the world, before Graf snatched that number one spot from the Spaniard.

So, let us rewind back in time to ’95, to enliven the epic Wimbledon final between Graf and Sanchez. Folks, it is time now for some lights, camera and action!

First two sets of the match

As Sanchez was up against a player who had already won the Wimbledon five times, everyone expected her to be steamrolled on grass-courts by Graf. The form book though, was thrown out of the window, as the underdog Sanchez, on supposedly her least favoured surface, won the first set 6-4.

The persistent Sanchez ruthlessly went after Graf’s classical single-handed backhand to dominate Graf from the baseline. The queen of grass courts, Graf, known for her powerful forehand, for much of the first set looked out of sorts. At the other end of the net, Sanchez was like a jackrabbit in the first set, as she covered the length and breadth of the court beautifully.

Graf soon found her rhythm with some powerful ground-strokes and won the second set in a jiffy, 6-1. Ever the perfectionist, Graf used her cannon of a forehand relentlessly, and Sanchez had no answer for it.

The final set

Going into the final set, the question on everyone’s lips was whether Sanchez had enough fight left in the tank to give Graf a run for her money. On a grass-court, when Graf found her rhythm, she used to steamroll her opponents with that powerful forehand. The gritty Sanchez though, wasn’t in a mood to give up. With her amazing court coverage and counter punches, she staged a great recovery to make it 5-5 in the final set. As the match entered its thrilling climax, a few spectators got nervous and started to bite their nails. Even those who were watching it on a TV were completely engrossed in the match.

The way both Sanchez and Graf played when the match was deadlocked at 5-5, can’t be easily described in mere words. It seemed like both had preternatural hand-eye co-ordination. The game lasted almost 20 minutes, consisting of lunging volleys, superlative cross-court passes and cannon forehands. A few shrieks and howls could be heard too. The game included as many as 13 deuces, with six break-point chances for Graf, and eight unconverted game point opportunities for the tenacious Spaniard.

Finally, Sanchez succumbed to the pressure, as Graf, bouncing on her toes, smashed a leaping forehand and unfortunately for Sanchez, she could only find the net. The epic game seemed to have taken the wind out of Sanchez’s sails, as she made some uncharacteristic errors in the next game and eventually lost the match 4-6, 6-1, 7-5. Graf won the Wimbledon Championships for the sixth time in her career. Both players were no doubt exhausted, and to make matters worse for Graf, she was battling a recurring back injury.

Steffi Graf, on her injury problems, said she was ”held together by a few pieces of tape here and there.” She also said, ”I hate needles, so it was not a pleasant preparation to have to make.“

About the win, Graf said, “I was fighting out there. From the beginning, I felt a little tired mentally, and maybe my legs weren’t moving so well. But what I couldn’t believe is that I stood out there and came back. To fight in this one game, when Arantxa had so many chances to win it, to always keep coming back, that I never gave up. I think that is probably what I am most proud of.”

The ever gracious Sanchez Vicario said about the loss, “It would be ridiculous to be upset. I am very, very happy. I just tried – that’s all I can say. And I almost won this tournament.”

What happened next?

In-spite of battling with injuries, Graf did very well both in ’95 and 96. All those injuries though took a heavy toll on her, as she found herself out of action for most part of ’97 and ’98. In her indomitable style, the great champion came-back fighting to win the French Open in ’99. It was to be her last major, as the “Fraulein Forehand” retired from the game in ’99 itself with 22 majors to her name.

For Sanchez Vicario, it was a case of being so near yet so far, as she never won the Wimbledon championships. After losing to her nemesis Graf in the year ’96 at Wimbledon, she is said to have briefly even gone into depression. The gutsy Sanchez made a successful comeback from a brief period of depression by winning the French Open in ’98. With so many younger players coming through the ranks, players who were fitter and more powerful, she couldn’t match them, and as a result, eventually retired from the game in November 2002.