On June 6, 1987 at 4:10 p.m. on the Court Central of the Roland Garros tennis facility in Paris, a moment for the history books happened.
With her sixth double fault, Martina Navratilova (then 30) ends the final of the French Open against Steffi Graf (then 17). 6: 4, 4: 6, 8: 6, the first Grand Slam title for the Germans was perfect, 21 more were to follow.
“Crime win against Martina: Steffi cried with happiness,” headlined BamS the next day. And Steffi Graf wrote in BILD: “Matchball, award ceremony, press conference, the many people – a rush. In the evening when we went out to eat (the family, my coach Pavel, two friends), I took a deep breath for the first time. We were in the restaurant ‘121’. Funny, my finale lasted exactly 121 minutes,” wrote Steffi.
At the award ceremony, she apologized to Navratilova, then number 1, whom she was to dethrone on August 17, 1987: “On the one hand I’m happy to have won, on the other hand I say: Sorry that I won. It was so tight.”
Today, 35 years later, Navratilova (65) says to BamS: “Steffi came to Paris and hadn’t lost that year. And I hadn’t won a tournament yet. She just played better tennis. I had my chances, but it wasn’t meant to be.”
In contrast to her, “Miss Vorhand”, as Steffi Graf (52 today) was called at the time, has now become quite withdrawn. “Unfortunately we have no contact. She’s no longer in sight,” Navratilova regrets.
Foto: AFP/Getty Images
” data-zoom-src=”https://bilder.bild.de/fotos/paris-1987-steffi-graf-r–mit-ihre-ersten-grand-slam-trophee-opponent-martina-navratilova-laechel -ed190d00cca24a9e8163dbefd71dff92-80312296/image/2.image.jpg”/> Paris 1987: Steffi Graf (right) with her first Grand Slam trophy, opponent Martina Navratilova smiles tormentedFoto: AFP/Getty Images
In the final Boris Becker (then 19) sat in the stands, who had failed in the semifinals to Mats Wilander – today he is in jail.
Incidentally, Graf received a German Shepherd as a present from her hometown of Brühl. “Enzo wins the race and licks his new wifey’s feet under the table right away,” wrote BILD. Steffi then: “I’ve come a big step closer to Martina.”
<img class="photo ondemand zoomable" src="https://bilder.bild.de/fotos-skaliert/steffi-graf-im-finale-von-paris-1987-die-vorhand-war-ihre-staerkste-waffe-40f872b77f82492ea69cdd01d8173b6a-80312630/2,w=1280,c=0.bild.jpg" width="1280" alt="Steffi Graf im Finale von Paris 1987: Die Vorhand war ihre stärkste Waffe" data-zoom-title="Steffi Graf im Finale von Paris 1987: Die Vorhand war ihre stärkste Waffe
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Steffi Graf in the 1987 Paris final: The forehand was her strongest weaponFoto: Getty Images
By the way: The little revenge for Paris came just one day after the singles final. On Sunday, Navratilova and Pam Shriver beat Graf and Gabriela Sabatini 6-2, 6-1 in doubles. Interested but no longer.
