1-28-89 The first leg of tennis’s Grand Slam—the Australian Open—took place this week. Yesterday Steffi Graf of West Germany defeated Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina in straight sets to capture her fifth consecutive Grand Slam event. The record for women is six. Today, Ivan Lendl of Czechoslovakia (now, I think, a United States citizen) defeated Miloslav Mecir of Czechoslovakia in straight sets. I watched parts of both matches. The time difference between Texas and Melbourne, Australia, is seventeen hours, so when I watched the Lendl-Mecir match live this evening, beginning at nine o’clock, it was two o’clock Saturday afternoon in Melbourne. How strange! Graf, as usual, looked awesome on the court. I learned that she has already earned three million dollars in her professional tennis career, and she just turned twenty. Sabatini would dominate the sport in almost any other era, but she has the misfortune to play in the Graf era. Ironically, they are doubles partners. As for Lendl, he is now expected to regain the number-one ranking that he held for several years, after losing it to Sweden’s Mats Wilander. I enjoy watching tennis at this level.
Twenty Years Ago
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