[gabybackhand]

If you're still interested in sharing your memories, here's another Grand Slam event for you to express yourselves over it: U.S. Open 1992!

 

[gabybackhand]

What a sort of dissapointing Slam this turned out to be, didn't it? I remember I was waiting for it to start (it's usually my favorite Slam), expecting to see the Chapter 4 of the great story of the year: how two incredibly talented great players were trying to keep the pace and their chances against a overwhelmingly commanding N°1 as Mónica Seles. Incited by my fresh memories over the battles Gabriela and Steffi had given Mónica at the French and how Steffi mastered her rivals at Wimbledon SF and final, and still considering Navratilova a solid threat for any of the Top 3, everything started to sink when the old lady lost to Maleeva in the 4th round, and later when both Graf and Sabatini found themselves out of the tournament (and of the big fight) in the quarterfinals in the hands of olf-time head-aches Arantxa and Mary-Joe. The event was almost over for me then, as I was so sure Mónica was not to lose 1 set out of 15 against her remaining rivals, no matter Aranxa had beaten her 2 weeks ago in Canada final (Seles was injured that time, always lucky Arantxa!)

 

[hingis-seles]

With Graf, Sabatini and Navratilova all bowing out before the semifinals, Seles really had no trouble winning this one, did she? The only time she won a GS Singles title without dropping a set. Apparently, Monica had a cold and flu or something at the time, didn't she? Then, there was some news about Monica complaning about how long she and Aranxta had to wait before playing the final and how the US Open was the only Slam where the women did not what time the final started.

 

[Rollo]

I was trying (and failing) to come up with a memorable match from that year's open. None stick out in my memory.

 

[netgames]

1992 US Open "quotes" from an article

Graf, a two-time champion here who credits her recent Wimbledon victory with restoring her confidence.

"That was the strongest showing I've come up with in two or three years," said Graf. "It takes the pressure away for the next one when you know you're able to do it. If you're confident, you're motivated; you know that when it gets close, you won't worry about losing," said the 22-year-old German, who could regain the top ranking if she wins the title and Seles stumbles early.

 

[netgames]

Jennifer Capriati at the 1992 US Open ( excerpts from an article)


In case nobody's noticed, Jennifer Capriati has shed 30 pounds since that traumatizing evening in Rome, when a nosy reporter asked her whether she traced that day's Italian Open loss to being overweight.

If she had to be stuck on a desert island with just one recipe for sustenance, "lo-cal cheesecake" would be her slimming selection. "Moderation," said Capriati, is her middle name these days.

And just in case nobody remembers, it was Capriati who buckled down, survived six rounds of tennis in the Barcelona swelter and brought home an Olympic gold medal.

"It was a very different experience, and it did something for me and my tennis both," she said.

Taking Control

And in case anybody cares, Capriati thinks she finally has a handle on the fame and adolescence-induced angst that gave this year, in which she marked her 16th birthday, such a strange beginning.

"I've gotten clearer on a lot of things," said Capriati, who isn't letting "parents, agents, and coaches" make all her off-court decisions for her anymore. "I want people's advice, but I don't want them doing everything for me. I'm treated like a baby when it comes to contracts and stuff, and then it's all up to me when I go out on the court. Well, if I can make those big-pressure decisions during a match, I want a little more credit for being responsible.

Whether lean makes mean, the dieting and the medaling have made for one svelte 16-year-old: the first sculpted the final residue of baby fat from her body, the latter trimmed some immaturity from her attitude. The combination, Capriati said last week from outside San Diego -- where yesterday she beat Conchita Martinez to win her first Kraft Tour event for 1992 -- has left her with the distinct impression that she's the player to beat when the United States Open convenes today at the National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows.

 

[netgames]

Seles at the 1992 US Open

Today Monica Seles began the defense of her 1991 United States Open crown, and her pursuit of a third Grand Slam title for 1992, with a cursory 6-1, 6-0 disposal of 93d-ranked Audra Keller. The vocalizing of the defeated player was far louder than that from the victor, who maintained the muted mode she switched to during a losing effort against Steffi Graf in their Wimbledon final.

Seles said she has stopped concentrating on her sound track and realigned her sights on this title. The philosophical, psychological and physiological impact of grunting on the game of tennis will, she said, have to be solved by someone else.

"I get different experts sending letters, both sides saying grunting is great for the game, grunting is bad for your game. I don't think anybody knows the real truth."

Graf, the No. 2-seeded woman, did not have to sweat or grunt last night in her 6-0, 6-2 tuneup against Halle Cioffi. Graf ran through the first 10 games and was soon expressing disappointment that there weren't enough contested points in the 42-minute match.

 

[Rollo]

Thanks for all the articles Netgames-all the ingredients were there for a great event (Jennifer's Olympics and Graf's convincing win at Wimbledon after a good French) but the tag line after the smoke cleared was "Monica Mows Down All Before Her".

Maybe I'm being too negatice though. I was living in Korea at the time and didn't see a single point of the Open.:sad:

 

[HanaFanGA]

I recall that US Open being much better for the men than for the women. But I do remember Gaby taking part in two of the best matches. She and Zvereva put on a show in the 2R. They were known to have great matches. But this is the only one I ever saw. And it was a good one.

Also, Mary Joe's QF win over Gaby was one of the best matches I ever saw MJF play. She was very aggressive that day. But Gaby wouldn't let her have it. MJF had to win it.

The only other match that stands out in my mind is Martina's 1R win over Shawn Stafford. Stafford played the match of her life and took Martina deep into a 3rd set. She kept hitting winners off of MN"s serve and looking over at her friends' box and laughing. Stafford was clearly having the time of her life. But Martina didn't like it and said so. The champ survived. But it was a tough one.

 

[alfajeffster]

The only other match that stands out in my mind is Martina's 1R win over Shawn Stafford. Stafford played the match of her life and took Martina deep into a 3rd set. She kept hitting winners off of MN"s serve and looking over at her friends' box and laughing. Stafford was clearly having the time of her life. But Martina didn't like it and said so. The champ survived. But it was a tough one.

Oh, I remember that match very well. It looked to me that Stafford must have been coached at one point to smile incessantly, because she all of a sudden never stopped smiling (she grabbed a towel and smiled; bent down to pick up a ball and smiled; swatted a bug and smiled; ate a piece of fake wedding cake on the changeover and smiled) and it did get inside Martina's head for a little while. Shaun did serve extremely well- lots of heavy paced bombs down the T junction and cracking the winner right away, in a precursor to big babe tennis. Martina smartly waited out the storm, and began exposing her opponent's mobility and fitness in the third. It was a good match. Navratilova was asked about it in an interview just after and she said as much- that it was a little unnerving to see an opponent playing so freely with a smile on her face. She made some comical comment, which if anyone remembers, please refresh my memory. I remember laughing my ass off at her candor (and it was a really big fat ass back in 1992).:lol:

 

[HanaFanGA]

Oh, I remember that match very well. It looked to me that Stafford must have been coached at one point to smile incessantly, because she all of a sudden never stopped smiling (she grabbed a towel and smiled; bent down to pick up a ball and smiled; swatted a bug and smiled; ate a piece of fake wedding cake on the changeover and smiled) and it did get inside Martina's head for a little while. Shaun did serve extremely well- lots of heavy paced bombs down the T junction and cracking the winner right away, in a precursor to big babe tennis. Martina smartly waited out the storm, and began exposing her opponent's mobility and fitness in the third. It was a good match. Navratilova was asked about it in an interview just after and she said as much- that it was a little unnerving to see an opponent playing so freely with a smile on her face. She made some comical comment, which if anyone remembers, please refresh my memory. I remember laughing my ass off at her candor (and it was a really big fat ass back in 1992).:lol:

I don't remember, alfa. But I do remember the same thing that you do. It's so much fun to watch a player hit "the zone." And that seems to be what Stafford did that night.

At the time, I thought she just couldn't believe how well she was playing and couldn't control herself. But you might be right about her being coached to do that. After reading about Stafford's little war with Patty Fendick, it's pretty clear that Stafford didn't mind engaging in gamesmanship.

 

[netgames]

Seles sets up a semifinal date with Fernandez at the 1992 US Open (excerpts from an article)

The defending Open champion, Monica Seles, with a croaking throat and a screaming racquet, is inching closer to a third Grand Slam title for 1992, the mirror image of the feat she achieved last year.

She hasn't yet lost a set, and she's 6-1 for her career in Grand Slam finals.

"I have a virus and a sore throat, and then my voice was gone," said the secretive No. 1, who nonetheless put in a double practice session yesterday.

Perpetual Grand Slam bridesmaid Mary Joe Fernandez, a Slam semifinalist for the fifth time and twice a runner-up in event finals, needs a breakthrough. The Olympic gold (doubles) and bronze (singles) winner has been a steady performer at the Slams, reaching at least the quarterfinals of nine of her last 11 events, but she's unlikely to encounter any sympathy from Seles. The 18-year-old Yugoslav commands their rivalry by a 12-1 margin.

"I have beaten Monica, but it was before she was No. 1," said Fernandez, who has mended her baselining ways over the last 18 months with help from her coach, Harold Solomon, and believes she poses a bigger threat now that she has volleying potential.

"But I've played poorly here almost every year except two years ago, the year I got to the semifinals," said Fernandez. She was detoured there by the eventual champion, Gabriela Sabatini, the player she defeated to earn this year's semifinal spot against Seles.

In their most recent Slam meeting, the Australian Open last January, Seles defeated Fernandez in the final.

 

[netgames]

Sanchez Vicario at the 1992 US Open

Sanchez Vicario had no such reservations. She's been hungry for another Slam singles title to serve as a bookend to the 1989 French Open championship she won as a 17-year-old baseliner with the retrieving prowess of a Labrador.

Extra Coach for Aggression

This year, Sanchez Vicario, who already plays nonstop competitive tennis -- singles, mixed doubles and women's doubles -- added a second coach to her repertory, the better to double her practice time. Eduardo Osta, who keeps the 20-year-old Spaniard's baseline game in tune, was joined by former Slam champion Mervyn Rose, who is attending to her net game and general aggressiveness.

 

[alfajeffster]

I was looking through some old photos and books,
and what dropped out of a book but my ticket stub
from the 1992 U.S. Open. Funny, but apparently I
did see the Graf/Sanchez Vicario match, but like most
of the handful of matches Graf played that were
unforced error fests, I don't remember much of it
(and this was before alfa discovered martinis)!:lol:

 

[Robert1]

I was looking through some old photos and books,
and what dropped out of a book but my ticket stub
from the 1992 U.S. Open. Funny, but apparently I
did see the Graf/Sanchez Vicario match, but like most
of the handful of matches Graf played that were
unforced error fests, I don't remember much of it
(and this was before alfa discovered martinis)!:lol:

Sanchez won 95% of her matches due to unforced errors on the other side of the net. That was her game, and Graf was one of those players who didn't have a plan B when things that usually went well, went wrong.

 

[alfajeffster]

While I always liked her competitive, fighting spirit, I never cared for Arantxa's style of play. Interestingly enough, Martina Navratilova solved her retriever style by attacking the net and not allowing her predictable passing shots or counter-punching to work. I used to get so frustrated with Steffi when she did come to the net against Arantxa's forehand pass. Sanchez Vicario hit 99% of them with a loopy roll that dipped crosscourt, and still, Graf just didn't move over there to cover it most of the time. I'm not sure in any era that Graf would've been a top volleyer, because you can tell that she just doesn't have the instincts up there, even though her technique is superb.

 

[gabybackhand]

While I always liked her competitive, fighting spirit, I never cared for Arantxa's style of play. Interestingly enough, Martina Navratilova solved her retriever style by attacking the net and not allowing her predictable passing shots or counter-punching to work. I used to get so frustrated with Steffi when she did come to the net against Arantxa's forehand pass. Sanchez Vicario hit 99% of them with a loopy roll that dipped crosscourt, and still, Graf juYou're so right about Steffi's volleys: she had the shot, even if it wasn't the best on tour, but she lacked the ability to guess the opponent's passing shots and the instincts of a volleyerst didn't move over there to cover it most of the time. I'm not sure in any era that Graf would've been a top volleyer, because you can tell that she just doesn't have the instincts up there, even though her technique is superb.

You're so right about Steffi's volleys: she had the shot, even if it wasn't the best on tour, but she lacked the ability to guess the opponent's passing shots and the instincts of a volleyer

 

[netgames]

Troublemaker Tauziat at the 1992 US Open (excerpts from an article)


Nathalie Tauziat, famous for her sensitive ears and anti-grunting crusade, made the wrong sort of noise yesterday at the National Tennis Center. It was the sound of zeros, during a 6-0, 6-0 upset loss in the second round of the United States Open to Amanda Coetzer of South Africa. Tauziat, of France, was seeded No. 12, which made her the first seeded player in the history of the Open era to be shut out by an unseeded opponent.

Few people will remember Tauziat for this 57-minute match. But her complaints to an umpire at Wimbledon about the grunting of Monica Seles began a series of debates.

 

[netgames]

Inspiring day at the 1992 US Open (excerpts from an article)

This day, if not this particular event, was conceived roughly three and a half years ago, when Arthur Ashe began to deal with the knowledge that he was afflicted with AIDS. What he was going to do to fight back, not just for himself, he didn't know; he only knew that he would do something.

It surprised him that the special-interest groups that make up the tennis world fell so quickly into place in support of his Arthur Ashe Tennis Challenge, which took place yesterday at the National Tennis Center, on the eve of the 1992 United States Open.

"Knowing the factions in our sport, I was a little hesitant," he said.

He should not have been, according to John McEnroe. "It's not something anyone can be blase about," said McEnroe.

The Gang's All Here

So, Ashe had only to field the invitations. The biggest names in the sport, from the veterans McEnroe and Martina Navratilova to the youthful sluggers Andre Agassi and Monica Seles, said to count them in. With the announcement of the field, what had been a trickle of ticket sales became a crowd of 10,273, filling roughly half the stadium. Ashe was out of the gate in his race to raise $5 million in conjunction with the international tennis community over the next 15 months.

 

[netgames]

1992 US Open Quarters: Graf vs Sanchez Vicario (excerpts from an article)

Their results were similar, but their reactions to crushing fourth-round opponents in straight sets at the United States Open yesterday were as polar as their personalities. Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, seeded fifth, brimmed with self-congratulation after eliminating 14th-seeded Zina Garrison, 6-0, 6-1. But Steffi Graf, seeded second and fixated on following her 1992 Wimbledon championship with a third Open title, seethed with self-deprecation after her 6-2, 6-2 domination of Florencia Labat.

Those two disparate souls will meet in the quarterfinals, and although Graf holds a commanding 15-2 edge in their career rivalry, Sanchez Vicario has a definite attitudinal edge.

"I think that my game now is very complete -- this is why I win these matches like this," said Sanchez Vicario, who toyed with Garrison like a consummate quarterback, pummeling her with passes. "She had to continue to come to the net because on the baseline, I am more steady than her. I think I played a great match."

Graf, unless she plays a perfect match, always leaves the court with a frown, and yesterday was no exception. Asked if her self-criticism might be more destructive than constructive, Graf admitted that might be a possibility.

"I was always critical, but I'm really getting worse -- it's a problem I have at the moment," said Graf. "I'm really trying to play better than I'm playing, and I really am getting upset really quickly with my game the last few days. I wish I wouldn't."

Yesterday, Graf decided to pick on herself for a lack of consistency.

"Over all, I think it was O.K.," Graf said of her performance, which balanced 28 winners with 28 unforced errors, "but I think there were a few times when I wasn't really happy with the way I played. I think I was lacking a little bit of consistency."

Both of Sanchez Vicario's victories against Graf were crafted at the French Open on clay, the surface where consistency and durability are mandates. The 20-year-old Spaniard captured her only Grand Slam title there, at Graf's expense in 1989, and in last year's semifinal in Paris, she handed Graf the worst defeat of her career, a 6-0, 6-2 drubbing that fractured the German's already unreliable self-esteem.

But the 23-year-old Graf has bounced back since then, dominating their rivalry still further with five consecutive victories on Sanchez Vicario's favorite surface, clay. Graf predicted that her consistency would activate itself here in the next round simply because she knows what the Spaniard will do if it doesn't.

"She's somebody who doesn't give away any points, so you have to work for them," said Graf.

Sanchez Vicario pronounced herself a better player than the one Graf last defeated.

"I don't have to do anything special against Steffi," she said. "I just have to play my whole game and keep fighting. She's playing really well again, and I'm playing my best, so let us see what's going to happen."