[croat123]

An obvious one is the FO 1997 final, but what are some others?

Iva played a number of classic matches against Novotna.

Two of my favorites were at Wimbledon 1997 when she almost retired against Cross after being down 4-6 2-5. Iva came back to win 6-4 in the third. Also the match against Spirlea was an absolute thriller.

 

[sartrista7]

I remember that match against Cross. It was during that French Open final I became an Iva fan, and I remember saying that I didn't care whether Karen Cross was British or not, I was supporting Iva!

The Hingis-Majoli match at last year's US Open was real edge-of-seat stuff too - too bad about the end result.

 

[TS]

She did have some classics with Jana didnt she! Most were played indoors, and they split most of the wins! A pity I didnt see any, but I imagine they were great!

Yep, of course RG 97!

And who can forget the US Open match against Martina last year?

Anyway, some memorable matches for me (only a few, I would be here all day otherwise!)

v Steffi Graf at RG 93..Iva lost 46 67 in round 4 and was only 15! I became a fan of hers at the beginning of 93 when I read an article on her as a player to watch and I was thrilled to see her give Steffi a match like that!

v Mary Pierce at Zurich 95...Iva beat Mary 64 64 to win her first title!

and 2 Novotna wins come to mind!
v Jana Novotna at Essen 96..Iva won the final 75 16 76!
v Jana Novotna at Hanover 97...Iva won the final 46 76 64!

So many more of course, but I cant think right now! I also would put the QF victory against Dragomir at RG 97...Iva led 63 52 but seemed to choke a bit and lost the set 57....she of course came back to win 62, and finally made her first Grand Slam SF! This was a great win for her cos she was expected to win and had a bit of pressure to do so! She was just so relieved to get it out of the way! I remember watching this match really late at nite (early morning!) and I was so nervous I felt like crying when she lost the set! lol

 

[TS]

Well I did some checking on the head to heads with Jana, and Jana lead 8-3! I thought Iva won more than that! But most (as you will see) went the distance! Some great matches by these 2 players with conflicting styles of play!

HEAD TO HEAD v Jana Novotna

1993 US Open Hard (64) Jana NOVOTNA 3-6 0-6
1994 San Diego Hard (16) Jana NOVOTNA 0-6 1-6
1994 Essen Hard (FR) Jana NOVOTNA 2-6 4-6
1994 Virginia Slims Ch'ships (16) Jana NOVOTNA 2-6 6-3 1-6
1995 Canadian Open (QF) Jana NOVOTNA 4-6 2-6
1995 Zurich (QF) Iva MAJOLI 7-6 3-6 6-3
1996 Essen (FR) Iva MAJOLI 7-5 1-6 7-6
1996 Hilton Head (QF) Jana NOVOTNA 6-4 2-6 3-6
1996 Zurich Hard (SF) Jana NOVOTNA 7-5 2-6 2-6
1997 Hanover (FR) Iva MAJOLI 4-6 7-6 6-4
1997 Key Biscayne (QF) Jana NOVOTNA 2-6 6-3 6-7

 

[xcrtbckhnd]

I think one of her biggest break through wins was at the FO '97 4th round where she beat Lindsay Davenport- I don't remember exactly how the match progressed, but I'm pretty sure Iva had to make a big come back to pull this one out. Interesting too (unfortunate actually) that Lindsay beat Iva the next year at RG '98.... She and Linds also have an interesting h2h record. Check out the Leipzig '965 match!!! I wish I had that one on tape!!!

1992 Houston Clay (O) 32 Iva MAJOLI 6-3 6-4
1993 Hilton Head Clay (O) 64 Lindsay DAVENPORT 1-6 4-6
1994 Houston Clay (O) 32 Lindsay DAVENPORT 2-6 1-6
1994 Hilton Head Clay (O) QF Iva MAJOLI 7-5 1-6 6-2
1996 Olympics-Atlanta Hard (O) QF Lindsay DAVENPORT 5-7 3-6
1996 Leipzig Carpet (I) QF Iva MAJOLI 6-7 7-6 7-6
1997 French Open Clay (O) 16 Iva MAJOLI 5-7 6-4 6-2
1998 Roland Garros Clay (O) QF Lindsay DAVENPORT 1-6 7-5 3-6
2001 Tokyo Carpet (I) QF Lindsay DAVENPORT 2-6 0-6

Lindsay DAVENPORT (USA) leads 5 : 4

 

[xcrtbckhnd]

Oh what the heck- all of these wins will be memorable to me:

French Open 1997

128 W Sandra KLEINOVA (CZE) 7-5 6-4
64 W Alexandra FUSAI (FRA) 6-2 6-3
32 W Ann WUNDERLICH (USA) 6-1 4-6 6-1
16 W Lindsay DAVENPORT (USA) 5-7 6-4 6-2
QF W Ruxandra DRAGOMIR-ILIE (ROM) 6-3 5-7 6-2
SF W Amanda COETZER (RSA) 6-3 4-6 7-5
FR W Martina HINGIS (SUI) 6-4 6-2

Yeah IVA!!!!! This was just the most amazing tennis tournament ever!!! Until Iva wins her next grand slam anyways!!!

Until I pulled these up, I had actually forgotten how tough that Coetzer match was too!!!! I wish I had that one on tape!!!!

 

[Mon's boy]

i think one the best matches iva played, if not the best.......was in the qf of Tokyo '96 against Moni

i didnt see the match, but she must have played outta her mind to win, even though that was the match in which Monica shoulder injury flared up and sidelined her for a few months

but iva deserves all the credit...........i was so happy 4 her

i remember they showed a few points on the news and when iva won she put her hands on her head in disbelief and closed her eyes.......i will always remember that

i would give anything to have a tape of that match.........i want it sooooooo badly

 

[Robbie.]

Iva played Amazing at the french Open 1997, making two great comebacks in the 4th round and semi final before that demolition of Martina. I guess destiny beckoned her that year

He's a run down of her last 4 matches in that wonderous tournament:

4th Round: A fast improving Lindsay Davenport (who ended 1997 at No.3, up from 9 the previous year) led Iva 7-5 4-0 40-0 and appeared on the brink of a whitewash in the second set before Iva began to hit effortless winners into the corners and turn the match on its ear in three sets, 5-7 6-4 6-2. she said after the tournament that she new something special was going to happen after she escaped from that match.

Quarters: Felt the pressure of not only being favourite in this match against her good friend Dragomir, to reach her first grandslam semifinal, but also seeing the draw open up for her with second seed Graf struggling. She choked badly in the second set and said "she thought she was going to die out there on the court". But after dropping the second set after leading 5-2, she hit relentlessly in the final set to close it out 6-2 6-7 6-2. then came that memorable collapse on court, where ruxandra joined her

Semis: Had only two hours sleep the night before this match while taking antibiotics for a head cold, and was drawn into a torrid baseline duel with a red hot Amanda Coetzer who had just cracked the top ten for the first time and had taken out Graf and Martinez to reach this round. Iva took the first set, but the speedy amanda grabbed the second and appeared on the verge of her first grandslam final leading 4-2 in the third with Iva tiring badly and Amanda's superior conditioning telling. Although Amanda held a point to go up 5-2, Iva toughed it out and eventually prevailed after 2 1/2 hours 6-3 4-6 7-5.

Final: Martina was a red hot favourite going into this match, but Iva treated her with disdain pounding groundstrokes and serves and wreaking havoc on Martina's second serve. Iva was in another realm as everything came into sync at the right time and she showed no ill effects of her tough route to the final. she grabbed her first major title (although hopefully more are to come ) in straight sets 6-4 6-2

In the end Iva beat three of the top 5 year end players for that year (Martina #1, Lindsay #3 and Amanda #4) enroute to this title and became the lowest seeded woman at #9 ever to win a major (although she has since been supplanted by Jennifer Capriati). This is a tournament she and her fans will never forget

 

[Vanity]

Wow, tennisaddict! Thanks for that excellent commentary. That's exactly how I remember Iva's run at the FO in 1997. I also remember that the talk of the tournament was always "Martina, Martina, Martina" and everybody just assumed she was going to win. It was so nice to see smiling Iva holding up the trophy instead. I hope Iva can combat the injuries and get back to that level again. She's showed hints of her past greatness (the heart-attack match against Hingis at the US Open for example) but she just needs to get back the consistency. I don't understand how she can beat Aranxta in one round and then lose to someone like Janette Husarova the next. She just needs to improve consistency.
Anyway.. I don't really see anything else I can add for memorable matches, it looks like they've been covered!
I nearly had a heart attack in the one vs. Hingis at the UO, Iva was only two points away!!!!!!