TennisWorthy: Gabriela Sabatini Showed The Courage To Change
Imagine being ranked No. 3 in your given field. Your talent has earned you millions of dollars, you are famous around the world and lauded for your skill, wherever you go.
And yet, despite all that success, within you is a nagging doubt, a sense that you could achieve even more. But to do so you would have to walk away from the techniques that got your there. What would you do?
Would you have the courage to change? How dedicated would you be to the pursuit of greatness? Would you be willing to persevere and make the sacrifices required to go even further?
Gabriela Sabatini was. It would change the direction of her career and lead her to the International Hall of Fame as a 2006 inductee.
At the end of 1989, the only two players ranked ahead of her were a pair of all-time greats: Stefanie Graf and Martina Navratilova. Sabatini was 19 years old, but had already been a pro for five years and earned 13 singles titles. But she had yet to win a Grand Slam singles title – one of the four major championships that truly define tennis excellence.
Early in 1990, Sabatini began working with a prominent sports psychologist, Jim Loehr. It was the first step she would take toward a seismic shift in her style of play.
Throughout her entire career, Sabatini demonstrated exemplary sportsmanship and a graceful resolve that earned the respect of both her peers and the public. Loehr knew all that was valuable. But he also urged Sabatini to be more expressive in the heat of battle, be it with a fist pump or an exclamation of joy.
Then, in the spring, Sabatini suffered a loss that triggered an even more significant change in her approach to the game.
Seeded fourth at Roland Garros – another of those four major tournaments – Sabatini was expected to reach the semifinals. But she was tripped up in the round of 16. Frustrated by the loss, it was another sign that change was due. So Sabatini parted ways with her longstanding coach, Angel Gimenez, and began to work with a former top-40 pro, Carlos Kirmayr.
Kirmayr recommended a shift in Sabatini’s focus. Though he certainly knew what was vital inside the lines, Kirmayr’s philosophy also embraced personal exploration far beyond the court. The drummer in a band named Fleabags, Kirmayr suggested Sabatini seek new ways to express herself outside of tennis. She took French lessons, spent time on the beach throwing a Frisbee and bought a camera, all experiences that expanded her vision of the world and understanding of how she could become a better tennis player.
Then came the final piece of the puzzle.
Up to this point, Sabatini had primarily played a game based on a mix of attrition and defense, her deep, arcing groundstrokes wearing down most opponents. But Sabatini was honest enough to recognize that lofting balls from behind the baseline could only take her so far.
Kirmayr’s idea was to build around Sabatini’s superb reach, agility and volley skills, all of which she displayed at Wimbledon in 1988 when she and Graf won the doubles title. To reinforce this approach, Loehr’s team compiled a training video of Sabatini’s most aggressive points, a highlight reel she could easily watch on a hand-held VCR Loehr purchased for her.
Through the summer of 1990, Sabatini had ups and downs. There’d been a run to the semis of Wimbledon. But just prior to the last major of the year, the US Open, there’d been a loss to a player ranked 40 spots below her – the classic setback that compels one to abandon the new and retreat to the old. But Sabatini stuck with her new approach.
Her opponent in the US Open finals would be the mighty Graf, a player Sabatini had only beaten three times in 21 prior matches. But this was a new Sabatini. “If Steffi wins,” Sabatini said, “it will because she wins, not because I lose.”
Jolting Graf out of her comfort zone, Sabatini won the first set 6-2 and served for the title at 5-4 in the second. But then Graf took the next two games and held a pair of set points. Soon it was six-all – a tiebreaker to determine if Sabatini could at last earn that major win, or be forced to play another set. It was the final test of her new approach.
With Graf up 3-1, Sabatini won four of the next five points. Now leading 5-4, she again came forward, lunging for a backhand volley that dropped just over the net. For the first time in her life, Sabatini was just one point away from the victory of every tennis player’s dreams. Sabatini lined a forehand past Graf and the victory was hers.
“Nobody was expecting me to win this tournament,” said Sabatini. But over a span of months in 1990, Sabatini had recognized the need for change, taken bold new steps inside and outside the lines – and brought those new ideas to life with exemplary poise and passion.
By Joel Drucker, ITHF Historian-At-Large
