From: kasibhot@alnitak.usc.edu (Srinivasamurthy Kasibhotla)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.tennis
Subject: Seles vs Graf. Any doubts who is #1 ?
Date: 22 Jan 1993 13:33:08 -0800
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: alnitak.usc.edu

	It seems that some of the readers of this network have not taken too 
	kindly to my remarks about how the British tabs and the ensuing 
	controversy were largely responsible for spoiling Monica's GS in 92.
	While this is hardly surprising, what is shocking  is the zeal they
	have shown in painting Graf as paragon of grass court tennis. Might 
	I remind them that broadly speaking, Graf is still pretty much a
	back court player who is as comfortable at the net as Sabatini
	on her 2'nd serve.

	For example,Mr.Scott Patano from UT, Austin has this to say

.      About the article which effectively said that Monica Seles was cheated
.      out of a grand slam last year by the British press, which had badgered 
.      her about the grunting during Wimbledon; it was absolutely ridiculous..
.      Seles was lucky to even have made it to the Wimbledon finals to face
.      Steffi Graf (I was shocked when she beat Navratilova).

	actually,the fact that Seles beat Martina, the greatest ever
	grass courter should dispel any notions that she can't win at 
	the big W

.	  Grass is definitely not her best surface, and she looked almost
.	 awkward as she tried to defend against Graf's un-erring forehands.  
.	Seles was
.      finally annihilated 6-2,6-1; all the grunting in the world wouldn't have
.      saved her.
..      Graf is definitely my pick to win back the Australian open, 
.	especially  .      if
.      she is successful with the new aspects of her game (i.e., the more
.      frequent net approaches and the new topspin backhand).
 
	Sorry to disappoint you, but her "new" net play and "new" topspin 
	backhand are almost as "old" as Spencer Gore or may be even Major.
	Wingfield. Those "formidable" backhands and volleys might work against
	a Patricia Tarabini or even a Conchita Martinez but the moment she
	sees a Seles or Sabatini across the net, esp. in the 3'rd set, she will
	revert to the slice backhand, net everything and lose.

	also Mr. Israel Yanez from Case Western (or is it Cal State)  adds

..Did you actually WATCH any part of that final match???  If you did, I don't 
..understand your statement that Steffi had little to do with that victory...
..BTW, I'm a die-hard *SABATINI* fan, so i can be objective...  :)
..Never had I seen Monica look so "tame" on the court....

 	My point exactly. All the attention to grunting left Monica totally
	devoid of any interest in the match. We all know how pro tennis is
	much more a mental than physical game and have seen too many times of 
	what happens when a player has his/her mind elsewhere. 

..Monica's best game is not played on grass, while Steffi's certainly is.  Even
..a Seles/Sabatini game on grass is not in the bag for Seles. 

	I concur with the last statement. In fact I would suspect that Gaby  
	 is a much more a natural grass courter than Graf can ever be. If
	 only she does n't choke (like she did in W'91 finals).  

..	Steffi WASbrilliant during W 92.  She dismantled my Gaby in the semis 
..	(though not asterribly as she did Monica).  I think you'll have to 
..	think twice before you start celebrating Monica'sintended '93
..	 Grand Slam.  :)

	too often Steffi's brilliance seems to be dictated by the play of
	the opponent; the moment her shots start getting returned with equal 
	sting, she loses her heart, begins to fret and her play takes a turn
	for the worse from brilliance to erratic. I have too many examples
	to quote.
	

..Monica MAY win a GS this year if she takes intensive lessons on grass, maybe 
..from Graf? MOnica's strengths are her mental toughness, her power to hit from.. BOTH sidesand her killer instincts.  These are not enough to win on grass......especially a solid net game, and she'll have to improve her on-court
..speed.  She's not known for coming up with great "gets".

	Looks to me that you are getting carried away. Since when is an all
	court game required to win in women's tennis? In the immediate past 
	itself, I can think of Graf and Evert (with 4 and 3 W trophies) 
	(who won on the grass courts of London) with no net game to speak of.
  


..As far as the AO in the bag... Hmmmmm, maybe.  Hard courts are her best 
..surface seeing that she lost to Sabatini in '92 Italian Open on clay, BARELY
..survived Graf on clay in the French (10-8 in the 3rd), and shamefully shared
..the grass court with Graf at Wimbledon ( I won't include the final score here
..may be too painful for die-hard Monica fans)..
 

	I remember you claimed to be an objective "sabatini fan" but looks 
	like you carry the grudge against Seles.(At least I am an unabashed
	 Seles fan).

 	What's the point anyway?If listing the losses of Seles is the goal, 
	let the record show tha she had a 70-5 in the win-loss column,
	far better than anyone. And besides, what about Graf? Ran away from
	AO'92, choked in the French,lost the usual number of times to Gaby
	on the Florida Clay courts,killed by Sanchez-Vicario in the USO and 
	to top it all, lost in the 1'st round of Slims finals to Lori Mcneil
	(LORI!!, are you serious?! was she not the 15'th seed or something)  
	I am surprised she is still clinging to the #2 spot. Must be the W or
	may be the ranking system is screwed up? In any case, unless she 
	defends her Wimbledon, she sure will drop precipitously on the 
	computer (Wouldn't that be great?)

	Vasu Kasibhotla
	Dept. of EE, Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles