TENNIS
Gaby’s Romance with Rome
It was the prestigious tournament in the Italian capital that the talented Argentine ended up winning the most in her career
The 81st edition of the Italian Open is close to finding out its list of champions, it is perhaps an appropriate time to look back at a player who made the business end count in Rome.
Gabriela Sabatini needs no introduction. She was a prominent player from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. The Argentine won the US Open in 1990. She twice took home the title (1988 and 1994) at the WTA Finals, then known as the Virginia Slims Championships. She was also the silver medalist at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul (South Korea).
In the decade spanning from 1985 to 1995, Sabatini featured in a total of 55 WTA Tour finals, winning almost half of them (27). More importantly, save for four of those titles, a majority of the Argentine’s trophies were acquired in big ticket tournaments, in what is now categorized as WTA 500 and above. Furthermore, Sabatini won as many as 13 WTA 1000 tournaments.
The Argentine, though, reserved her best game for the Italian Open.
