The Graf–Navratilova rivalry was a tennis rivalry between

Steffi Graf Stefanie Maria Graf ( , ; born 14 June 1969) is a German former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for a r ...

and

Martina Navratilova Martina Navratilova (, ; ; born October18, 1956) is a Czech-American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, singles for 332 weeks (List of WTA number ...

, widely regarded as two of the greatest

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

players of all time. They met 18 times during their careers, and their head-to-head is even at 9–9, with Graf having a 4–2 record in

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

finals but Navratilova having a 5–4 record in overall major matches (winning their last major meeting despite being 34 at the time). They contested three consecutive

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

singles finals (

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, 1988,

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

). Notably, despite how even their rivalry was, the age difference between Navratilova and Graf is nearly 13 years.

List of all matches

Graf–Navratilova (9–9)

Famous matches

1986 US Open semifinal

In semifinals of the 1986 US Open, in the most anticipated match of the tournament, No. 1 Martina Navratilova prevailed over 17-year-old and No. 3 Steffi Graf with a scoreline of . The match was suspended with Navratilova leading 4–1 in the first set and resumed the next day. Navratilova saved three match points in the epic spread over two days. With her win in the final, Navratilova became the first woman in the

Open Era The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Edgbaston, Warwickshire, England, now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today a ...

to win a major after saving match points en route.

1987 French Open final

In the final of the 1987 French Open, No. 2 Graf defeated No. 1 Navratilova to win her first Grand Slam title with a scoreline of in what was considered a changing of the guard. Graf overcame a 3–5 deficit in the final set to eventually win it 8–6.

1988 Wimbledon final

In the final of the 1988 Wimbledon No. 1 Steffi Graf defeated No. 2 and six-time defending champion Martina Navratilova with to win her third slam title on her way to the Golden Slam that year. Navratilova had a lead before Graf won 12 of the last 13 games, breaking Navratilova in all of her last 7 service games. Graf's win is considered by many as the best performance ever of a female tennis player.

1991 US Open semifinal

In the semifinals of the 1991 US Open, No. 6 Navratilova beat No. 1 Graf in an epic, winning with a score line of , in what is considered one of the greatest matches in US Open history. She would ultimately lose the final to

Monica Seles Monica Seles (born December 2, 1973) is a Serbian–American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for ...

Breakdown of the rivalry

*Hard courts: Navratilova, 5–2 *Clay courts: Graf, 2–0 *Grass courts: Graf, 2–1 *Carpet courts: Equal, 3–3 *Grand Slam matches: Navratilova, 5–4 *Grand Slam finals: Graf, 4–2 *Year-End Championships matches: Navratilova, 2–1 *Year-End Championships finals: Equal, 1–1 *Fed Cup matches: ''None'' *All finals: Graf, 8–4 *All matches: Equal, 9–9

Set tallies

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Graf-Navratilova Rivalry Tennis rivalries Steffi Graf Martina Navratilova