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Gabriela Sabatini

Gabriela Sabatini
Gabriela Sabatini US Embassy in Argentina cropped.jpg
Sabatini at the US Embassy in Buenos Aires, 2012
Full name Gabriela Beatriz Sabatini
Country (sports)  Argentina
Residence Buenos Aires
Boca Raton, Florida
Born (1970-05-16) 16 May 1970 (age 46)
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Turned pro January 1985
Retired 1996
Plays Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money US$8,785,850
Int. Tennis HoF 2006 (member page)
Singles
Career record 632–189 (76.98%)
Career titles 27
Highest ranking No. 3 (27 February 1989)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open SF (1989, 1992, 1993, 1994)
French Open SF (1985, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992)
Wimbledon F (1991)
US Open W (1990)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals W (1988, 1994)
Olympic Games Silver medal.svg Silver medal (1988)
Doubles
Career record 252–96
Career titles 14
Highest ranking No. 3 (6 November 1988)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open SF (1989)
French Open F (1986, 1987, 1989)
Wimbledon W (1988)
US Open SF (1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1994, 1996)
Last updated on: 4 February 2009.

Gabriela Beatriz Sabatini (Spanish pronunciation: [gaˈβɾjela saβaˈtini]; born 16 May 1970) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. She was one of the leading players on the women's circuit in the late-1980s and early-1990s. She won the women's singles title at the US Open in 1990, the women's doubles title at Wimbledon in 1988, two Year-End Championships in 1988 and 1994, and a silver medal at the 1988 Olympic Games.

Sabatini also won most of the highest level regular events on the women's tour, including Miami and Rome (four times). In the late 1980s, Sabatini launched a line of fragrances after partnering with the German perfume company Muelhens. Her signature scent debuted in 1989.

Sabatini was born 16 May 1970 in Buenos Aires, Argentina to parents Osvaldo and Beatriz Garofalo Sabatini. She has an elder brother. Her father is an executive in General Motors.

Sabatini said that she deliberately lost matches in her youth to avoid reporters and limelights. She made this claim when she was 43, saying her shyness was a major problem and she thought she had to speak after winning a tournament, so she often lost in semifinals.

Sabatini first came to the tennis world's attention as a junior. She started playing tennis at the age of 6, and won her first tournament at age 8. In 1983, age 13, she became the youngest player to win the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. She won six major international junior titles, including the French Open girls' singles, and was ranked the World No. 1 junior player in 1984.

In 1985, aged 15 years and three weeks, Sabatini became one of the youngest-ever players to reach the semifinals at the French Open, where she lost to Chris Evert. She won her first top-level singles title later that year in Tokyo.

In 1988, Sabatini reached her first Grand Slam singles final at the US Open. She faced Germany's Steffi Graf, who had won the three previous Grand Slam singles events that year and was looking to win a fourth. Graf won the match in three sets. Sabatini was selected to represent Argentina in the 1988 Summer Olympics held in Seoul. She also carried the country's flag in the opening ceremony. She went on to win the silver medal in the women's singles competition. In the final, she again faced Graf, who was bidding to turn her Grand Slam into what the media had dubbed a "Golden Slam". Graf won 6–3, 6–3. Sabatini teamed-up with Graf to win the women's doubles title at Wimbledon that year. She also won 1988's year-end WTA Tour Championships.


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