Word: graf
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...expectations. Just an opportunity to bask one more time in the genteel applause of the faithful at Centre Court. After all, Martina is 37, and the serve no longer sizzles. Wimbledon and its slippery green amalgam of fescue and ryegrass are now the domain of five-time champion Steffi Graf, 25. It's a surface for the young and the restless. On grass either you are quick or you are quickly dismissed...
Everyone forgot about the champion's heart. Martina packed hers along with her rackets and sweatbands and made her last dance the most memorable Wimbledon in years. Against all odds, she swept through to the finals, vanquishing veterans and prodigies alike. Meanwhile Graf fell out in the first round, and second-seeded Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, 22, was sent to the sidelines in the fourth. Navratilova could be forgiven last Saturday if she was overcome with the urge to pinch herself. For there she was on Centre Court again, playing for an unprecedented 10th ladies' singles title against third- seeded Conchita...
...Graf, Courier, Stich and Edberg may be gone, but as Wimbledon moves through its final week, Gangji and the other 359 umpires employed by the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club for the tournament stoically march through the draw. Underpaid and often abused by the churlish multimillionaires they judge, umpires must display the probity of a Supreme Court Justice, the acuity of a marksman and the patience of a marriage counselor...
...sport to train the way men do. Yet this stubborn competitor was always fragile, often on the edge of a "Martina meltdown." No one wins everything, but it seemed Navratilova should. Her fans still agonize over the 1989 U.S. Open, when she was two games away from beating Steffi Graf in straight sets, or the 1981 U.S. Open, which she lost to Tracy Austin in two tie breakers after winning the first set 6-1. She blames mostly her shotmaking, not her nerves. "If I had had a backhand down the line instead of only crosscourt," she says, "I would...
...shook men's tennis today, as the world's No. 2 player, Michael Stich, was soundly defeated by Bryan Shelton, who is ranked No. 120. This victory marked the second time in as many days that an outranked American has ousted a favored German, after Lori McNeil beat Steffi Graf yesterday in the first round. Taking advantage of the unpredictable grass courts and his opponent's bad temper, Shelton consistently outplayed and outclassed Stich. Shelton says that he was inspired by his fellow Yank's earlier win, and hopes that their achievements as African-American tennis players will encourage black...