Every day, Tennis Majors takes you back in time to one of the biggest moments in tennis history. On November 20, 1988, Gabriela Sabatini beat Pam Shriver to win the Virginia Slims Championships for her biggest title at that point in her career
What happened on that day: Sabatini among the greatest on the women’s Tour
On this day, November 20, 1988, at Madison Square Garden in New York, 18-year-old Gabriela Sabatini defeated Pam Shriver to claim her first big title at the Virginia Slims Championships (7-5, 6-2, 6-2).
Previously, the Argentinian had already reached three big finals (at the 1987 Virginia Slims Championships, at the 1988 US Open and at the 1988 Olympics), but the German Steffi Graf, who had just achieved the Grand Slam, had always stopped her in the last round.
Gabriela Sabatini, Argentina’s sweetheart
Gabriela Sabatini, from Argentina, was born in 1970. Successful at a very young age, in 1985 she became, aged 15, the youngest player to reach the semi-finals at Roland-Garros, where she was defeated by Chris Evert (6-4, 6-1). In the following years, Sabatini, displaying a beautiful one-handed backhand, established herself in the top 10, reaching the semi-finals at Wimbledon in 1986 (lost to Martina Navratilova), and twice more at the French Open in 1987 and 1988, each time defeated by Steffi Graf.
She had also claimed eight titles on the tour, the most important one in Boca Raton, in 1988, where she was the first player of the year to beat Graf (2-6, 6-3, 6-1). Later, she triumphed in Montreal, defeating Natasha Zvereva in the final (6-2, 6-1), before finishing runner-up to Graf at Flushing Meadows (6-3, 3-6, 6-1) and in the Olympic Games in Seoul (6-3, 6-3). She was now world No 4.
Gabriela Sabatini
Pam Shriver, the American still at the top of her game
Pam Shriver, from the United States, was born in 1962. She obtained her first remarkable result at the age of 16, when she reached the first final of her career at the US Open, defeating world No 1 Navratilova in the semi-finals (7-6, 7-6) before losing to Evert (7-6, 6-4). Since then, she had remained in the top 10, claiming no fewer than 23 titles on the tour, and reaching the semi-finals in Grand Slam singles eight times.
Shriver played a very aggressive game, and as a consequence, she wasn’t comfortable on clay court – in fact, she only participated once in the French Open main draw. She reached her best ranking as world No 3 in 1984, but in doubles, she spent 48 weeks as world No 1, accumulating 19 Grand Slam crowns, partnering Martina Navratilova.
Together, they were the greatest pair of all time, and they had remained undefeated for more than two years, claiming eight consecutive major titles between Roland-Garros 1983 and 1985, achieving the Grand Slam in 1984. She also obtained a gold medal at the 1988 Olympic Games, partnering Zina Garrison. At the end of 1988, she was still world No 5 in singles.