Top five greatest women’s French Open matches in recent history
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| Top five greatest women’s French Open matches in recent history |
The French Open is a tournament that has seen some of the greatest tennis matches in the history of the sport for men and women. The best women in the sport have had some of the most exciting matches in the history of the tournament.
What are my favorite five?
My favorite women's tennis match of all time is the final from the 1985 French Open.
1985: Martina Navratilova vs. Chris Evert
This match saw two women in the prime of their careers battling for the eighth time in the previous 14 Grand Slam tournaments. Evert won the first set 6-3, but Navratilova took the second, 7-6 (7-4). For the second consecutive French Open final, these two women went to a third set to decide the winner. Evert pulled out the win for the second straight year, this time with a 7-5 third set.
1999: Steffi Graf vs. Martina Hingis
This was a finals match that pitted tennis' past against tennis' present. It was the first and only time these two women faced off in a Grand Slam final. Hingis won the first set 6-4 and nearly won the title in the second set, but the gritty veteran fought back to win 7-5. In the third set, Graf dominated Hingis 6-2 to win the final Grand Slam title of her career.
2001: Jennifer Capriati vs. Kim Clijsters
Capriati was coming off the first career Grand Slam title of her career in the Australian Open, while the 17-year-old Clijsters was appearing in her first final. Clijsters came out of nowhere and shocked the more experienced Capriati with a 6-1 first set. Capriati bounced back to win the second set 6-4. The third set was a marathon as it took 22 points for Capriati to pull out the 12-10 final set win. Capriati went on to win just one more Grand Slam title, while Clijsters has since won four.
1989: Steffi Graf vs. Arantxa Sanchez Vicario
Coming into this showdown, Graf had won five straight Grand Slam tournaments and six of eight. Vicario was appearing in her first Grand Slam finals and didn't disappoint as she busted out in the first set 7-6 (8-6). The second set was more of what you would expect from the more experienced Graf, as she won it 6-3. The final set gave Vicario her first of four career Grand Slam titles.
1993: Mary Joe Fernandez vs. Gabriela Sabatini
This is a match I have never seen, but have heard talked about plenty of times when the topic of players not being able to finish a match comes up. Sabatini won the first set 6-1 and was up in the second 5-1, but couldn't get the win. Fernandez came back to win the second set and eventually the third by a 10-8 score. You have to feel for Sabatini with this one, but it's part of the game.
