She quit tennis at 26 and never regretted it: “I felt complete happiness.”
Gabriela Sabatini is a legend of women’s tennis. The Argentine ended her career at just 26 years old—and she doesn’t regret that decision. She rarely gives interviews, but she made an exception for Die Welt.
Gabriela Sabatini was once a great rival of Steffi Graf. At 15, she became the youngest semifinalist in French Open history, later going on to win a total of 27 singles titles and 14 doubles titles on the WTA Tour. Her biggest triumph came in the 1990 US Open final against Graf. For over a decade, she remained among the world’s top ten players.
Sabatini retired at only 26 and successfully turned to business, including promoting her own perfume brand. She now lives in Switzerland. On Sunday, as ambassador of the new WTA 125 Mallorca Women’s Championships at the Country Club in Santa Ponsa, she presented the trophy to her compatriot, Solana Sierra. Earlier, the 55-year-old gave an interview to Die Welt.
Nico Linner, Jörg Althoff: After ending your career in 1996, you didn’t play tennis at all for many years. Why?
Gabriela Sabatini: The game simply stopped bringing me joy. It began some time before I retired. I was only 26 then, which made the decision especially difficult. I even discussed it with my psychologist to make sure I wouldn’t regret it later. But in the end, I was certain that I wanted to leave. I was mentally exhausted by the restrictions and pressure of professional tennis.
