Martina Navratilova vs Steffi Graf in one of the greatest matches ever! | US Open 1991 Semifinal

Game to Steffi. She wins the first game. Very strong game for Martina. And it's one all on the first. And it's so important. This is a serve that's won her a bunch of Wimbledon's. The wide one to the left. It's going to take her a while to get used to the pace of Graff's delivery. Watch the Graff preparation on the forehand. I think she's late and she has to sort of snap at us. We call the flash. Game four. Good hustle by Martina. Her coach, Pavel Slozul, probably talked to her about being more penetrating with that backhand. She took some of it back. She knows what to do with a short ball too. That's what I like about this court. There's a reward for hitting a good shot. Martina Navratilova's got to remember to stay loose enough so that she can be aggressive. She really needed to get to this point in the tournament before she could play pressure-free tennis. And she's got to keep up that attitude. 103 miles an hour for Steffi Graff on that serve. What a terrific way to get out of a 15-40 game. Graff said about this match that she was happy to be playing the serve and volley because there were so few on the circuit. At which point Martina said, well then I'll stay back. But obviously that's not what she's going to do today. That was called in. Not by Martina. 15-0. Here's another look at that last point. You get a feel for how they're going to play this thing. One's come in all the time. The other's going to come in about once a month. You know if Steffi wins this, this will be her 500th victory. Singles victory. Game to Martina. What an impressive record Steffi Graff has in the last five years. Look at this. Even in 1990, Pat, when they say she was having off-year problems with the family and so forth, she only lost five times. She's only lost six times this year. Incredible record. I think it was wide. It was wide. 15-30. That is a tremendous shot from Steffi Graff. Martina was well placed at the net. And kept going to the Graff backhand. Hoping for a chip shot. But she didn't want one this good. Now what goes through Steffi's mind, I've tried the Tospin backhand, haven't got one past her. I go under and I hit one past her. And instinctively she prefers to go under the ball on the backhand side. So we'll see if she reverts to that. Graff leads 4-3. One thing about Graff, when she steps around to hit the forehand on the left hander's serve, it cuts into her body. Pushes her farther to her left. If she doesn't put it away, as was the case there, the open court really can hurt her. Boy, that sounds incredible. Were you a scientist? No geometry. Fair to say that's too good. Well, Martina would be the first to say it was luck. But she'll sure take it. She just sticks the racket down, this ball's coming like a rocket. That was not a designed play, the half volley. Right play from Navratilova to challenge Graff on that. But that approach shot just didn't do enough for her. Also good reply by Steffi. Then she took some speed off, put some spin on it, got it to dip quickly. Well, that one was tremendous. 5-all, first set. Expect to see Martina try to crowd and get in off the return if she can. May not have to. Shots like that. Well, the serve was so good, so deep. Watch this preparation. The top spin backhand that Martina uses more and more in the attempt to make the passing shots. Great shot making by both players. Upper left, that pitch was Renee Richards. This ball just scoots over. The looping forehand preparation, I think, fooled Steffi. She thought she was going cross court. And watch Martina. Great point. This is her third. Got it. To this point, the quality of play has been marvelous. Very high. And I guess one of the questions is, can both players maintain this quality throughout the match? You know what Craig Harden and Billie Jean King say to Martina all the time? They ask her, what's your GQ? Where's your GQ? That's Craig in the white hat. That's guts quotient. They always want Martina to make a gut check. Well, she did just there with that tremendous backhand volley. The save. Left the stadium. That'll cost her. Six games all. Tie break. Tie break time. Obviously, Navratilova is upset with the call she didn't get. First set tie break record. Tie break record. Six one. Again. Tony, you might explain the procedure. Thirty nine minutes. On the tie breaker rather easily. Well, she forced the issue. With the pressure. Yeah, she played very, very well. Made wonderful shots in the process. See, Groff changed rackets. My guess is she's gone to something a little tighter for a little better control. Balls seem to be flying on her a little bit. That's control. For sure. Fifteen all. See, psychologically, let's say that racket is exactly the same as the other one. You make a shot like that. So that was my problem. Here we go right from here. Whatever it takes. Whatever you believe. Very tough situation. That's the first. That's the first topspin backhand passing shot. As I recall it. Steffi's pulled off. Stadium court. Steffi Groff about to serve. One, two. Second set. Abbatilova won the first set. Got Martina attacking the net. And then Groff has to continue to make the good shots. Watch how early Martina takes this ball. Not a big backswing. Good firm wrist. And hits a winner. Using the speed on the ball. Occasions when you see Groff at the net. And, you know, she's a good volleyer. She will come in behind good solid shots. And she just obviously doesn't believe in it enough yet. And look how nicely she does that. And Groff says as much. She said I'd always been on the winning side. She said my opponents were the ones who had to be afraid. And her attitude is if he can do it at 39. I can do it at 34. She said I'm a spring chicken compared to him. He's inspired New York. Billie Jean King has been saying to Martina. Watch him. Learn from him. And it's this aggression I think. More than anything that she's gotten from watching Connors. And the zest for the game. Oh man. That's 100 miles an hour. Her sixth ace of the day. They make it look so easy. Navratilova. Great volley. Great touch. They've now played 116 points. Good tactical play by Martina. I don't think Steffi knew she was coming. She sort of sneaked in. But didn't make the volley. Another tough. Second serve. You bet. Having just served a double. Down break point. You know Martina is going to try to be coming. That's just too good. Another break point. Constant pressure. Going to the backhand again and again. And daring Groff to come up with it. She leads 5-3 in the second set. Navratilova leads five games to three. She has won the first set. Navratilova has to take care not to have a flashback to 1989. When she was playing Steffi Groff. For the. For the final. And she was up a set and a break. She was up a set in 4-2 actually. Served it at 4-3 and lost that match. A couple of double faults she threw. Serving it low. 30. Up 5-3. A curb return. Yeah. Very thin second serve. A lot of spin on it. Not much penetration. Still a heck of a shot by Groff. So three break points. For Groff. But she's like Connor. She's not in favor of the overrule. Martina says of the overrule. I don't like it either. In the beginning. It was okay because the linesmen weren't educated and prepared. But now the linesmen are so good. It's much better going with their calls. Ninety percent of the time. Well that's a call on the far sideline. From the umpire's chair too. Which is obviously just difficult to see. 30-11. Navratilova would like that volley back. That forehand volley. 30-15. Bounced right into Groff's racket. That's the one that killed her. That's textbook tennis. 40-15. Left hander swings the serve wide in the ad court. Covers down the line and blocks it cross court for the winner. 40-13. Navratilova leads. The beginning of a great weekend of tennis. Women's semifinal. 15-11. Steffi Groff. Steffi serving at 5-6 and that's what you were talking about. See how simple it is? Yeah. Martina got a net throw that helped her. Groff has gotten two recently that helped her. Another tiebreak. That just takes you from offense to defense. To no defense. What set that point up was the heavy topspin. The prior shot by Groff. That one makes Martina volley up. This is more fundamental. That was the easy part. All right. That's Heidi Groff. Hanging on for dear life. Still the pressure. Still challenging. What a return. Fabulous off that great serve by Groff. To hit a clean winner. That ball was going 97 miles an hour and Martina handled it very easily. That's like an artist. But a very, very tentative shot by Groff. That's after Steffi had a short ball but she let bounce. Did nothing with it at all. Great shot by Steffi Groff to get it. 8-6 in a tiebreak. Here's that last point again. Groff on the attack. Blocked that ball into the open court. Here's an iso on her. Got so tight. What's her coach think about all that? Who gets the first strike to finish the point? That'll emulate from the serve. This is the point before that net coverage. Good stretch there in the forehand volley. Another good stretch there. And a third good stretch. That was one that ticked the top of the net. A big forehand by Groff. Getting a good look. Excellent. What a fine shot. What sweet timing. Well, it's a do or die situation. Situation like that. Half volleying from just inside the baseline. Either make it or you're out of the business. That was a short serve. Think he'll be working with Groff some more, do you know? We hear some rumors, don't we? Yeah, it's hard to know because he gets hired back on a year-to-year basis. He's had feuds with Steffi's father at times. He'll get snapped up quickly if he's available. Hadn't won many points on her second serve, huh? Not even on her first. Fifty percent off this biggest serve. Court's wide open. Boy, by going down the line off that short ball, just her court was wide open. If she didn't hit a winner, she was stuck. It's 15-30. She didn't come in behind much, did she? No. Not until she committed herself to come in. Off that serve. When you make that approach on the dead run, you're stuck, you've committed, so you've got to keep on going. Just barely got over. Great break for Martina here. Either has played in this championship. Graff has reverted to the underspin return off the backhand. I think that's wise, actually. She's got to get more in play. She's got to make Martina come up with it. Great anticipation by Martina. That's a ball that normally Graff would pull. Right here, you'd think Graff would pull this, and instead she goes to the forehand volley. Martina was sitting on it. But she's still serving for the match. She took it real early. Watch where Graff is when she makes this shot, well inside, blocks off the good angle. Again, Graff sensing that Martina's not going to go for the first serve. Steps in close. Well inside the baseline. You see Martina's caught right along the service line. Can't get into a normal volleying position. Break point. What a nice time to come up with that one. Boy. Break point again. The winner set up by the terrific return of serve.