Good friends and former rivals Gabriela Sabatini and Monica Seles turned back the clock at Madison Square Garden.
Twenty-five years after their classic WTA Championships five-set final contested on the carpet court of the World's Most Famous Arena, the Hall of Famers were back at it playing the opening match of the BNP Paribas Showdown before Roger Federer faced Grigor Dimitrov.
The Seles-Sabatini rivalry dates back to their first professional meeting in another evening encounter in the 1988 Key Biscayne second round. Sabatini defeated a 14-year-old Seles that night and left quite an impression on the teenager.
"I was 14 years-old when I played Gabriela for the first time," Seles recalled. "I think I played the first night match of my career after losing to Chris Evert in my previous match. So I was excited. I was star struck by Gabriela. The great thing about Gaby was that Gaby treated you the same way if you won against her or lost against her."
Photo credit:Matt Chamlin
The Hall of Famers both enjoyed strong fan followings in New York at both the U.S. Open and the season-ending tournament at MSG.
It was a sharp stylistic contrast with Seles hovering atop the baseline hammering her two-handed groundstrokes into the corners, while Sabatini played heavy topspin off both wings and could close at net as well.
Photo credit:Matt Chamlin
"During my playing days, Gaby was the only female player who had the heavy topspin off both sides," Seles said. "And she could also mix it up with her slice backhand. She was a good mover and always a thinker out there. She would move that ball around and so I always had to think when playing points against her."
Nine-time Grand Slam champion Seles won 11 of 14 matches with Sabatini, including a dramatic 6–4, 5–7, 3–6, 6–4, 6–2 victory in the 1990 WTA Championships Final back in the days when the season-ending event was played at Madison Square Garden.
Sabatini earned some bragging rights winning the exhibition rematch at the Garden.
"For me one of the saddest days in my career was when the season-ending championships were moved from Madison Square Garden to Germany," Seles told the media before the re-match. "There's only one Madison Square Garden. The fans just live with you through every single point. When you play at Madison Square Garden, the fans are really close to you—you feel their energy—and as a player you thrive on that."
Sabatini said she hopes the World Tennis Day celebration inspires the next generation to hit the court and grow the game from this Garden Party.
Photo credit: Matt Chamlin; @WorldTennisDay