Over the years, Wimbledon has witnessed some of the finest women’s singles finals.
As Italy’s Jasmine Paolini takes on Czechia’s Barbora Krejcikova in Wimbledon 2024 final on Saturday, Sportstar takes a look at five of the most epic summit clashes at the grass Major.
Martina Navratilova vs Steffi Graf (1988)
Germany’s Steffi Graf (left) is patted on the back by USA’s Martina Navratilova (right) after the 1988 Wimbledon final. | Photo Credit: GETTY IMAGES
Navratilova is the most successful women’s singles player at Wimbledon with nine titles in the Open Era. The Czech-born American entered the 1988 final looking to lift the coveted Venus Rosewater Dish for the seventh straight year. At the peak of her career, the then 31-year-old was the favourite to clinch the championship.
However, Graf, a new kid on the block, from erstwhile West Germany, who had lost to Navratilova in the 1987 final, was prepared for redemption. Graf went on to dethrone the defending champion with a 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 score, a win that would usher in a new era in women’s singles. Graf would go on to win six more Wimbledon titles.
Steffi Graf vs Jana Novotna (1993)
Britain’s Duchess of Kent (right) comforts Czech Republic’s Jana Novotna as she presents her with the runner-up trophy following her loss to Steffi Graf in the Wimbledon final on July 4, 1993. | Photo Credit: THE HINDU ARCHIVES
“Don’t worry Jana. I know you can do it,” were the Duchess of Kent’s consolatory, yet prophetic words. Novotna did eventually triumph in 1998, but the Czech weeping over the Duchess’s shoulders after choking in the final set to lose 7-6(6), 1-6, 6-4 is still one of Wimbledon’s enduring images.
So much that Graf’s ruthlessness, which drove her to stage a comeback after being down a double break, is sometimes forgotten.
Serena Williams vs Venus Williams (2002)
USA’s Serena Williams (left) celebrates with the trophy after beating her sister Venus Williams (right) in the Wimbledon final on July 6, 2002. | Photo Credit: GETTY IMAGES
Before Serena, there was Venus. The latter came into the 2002 final on the back of consecutive championship titles in 2000 and 2001. However, Serena wasn’t an inexperienced campaigner. Despite going professional a year after her elder sister, Serena was the first one between the siblings to win a Grand Slam (Australian Open, 1999).
Serena defeated Venus 7-6(4), 6-3 in the 2002 Wimbledon final to clinch her first Grand Slam title on grass. The siblings would go on to set up a repeat of the final in the 2003 edition, where Venus would be defeated once again by her younger sister.
Maria Sharapova vs Serena Williams (2004)
Over the years, the list of women’s singles finalists and runners-up has stayed trued to the age-old adage of ‘change is the only constant’. After winning two back-to-back titles, it was time for a newcomer to rattle the power order that Serena had built.
This newcomer was Russia’s Maria Sharapova, who was 17 years old when she made her first Grand Slam final. Without giving the American any chance of taking the match to the third set, the teenaged prodigy defeated the seasoned professional 6-1, 6-4.
While this would be Sharapova’s only Wimbledon singles title, the Russian would later feature in the 2011 final against Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova, which the Czech would comfortably go on to win.
Venus Williams vs Lindsey Davenport (2005)
USA’s Venus Williams celebrates with the trophy after beating Lindsay Davenport in the 2005 Wimbledon final. | Photo Credit: REUTERS
Venus’ 4-6, 7-6(4), 9-7 victory over the top-seeded Davenport gave her a third Wimbledon singles title, but only after she had saved a match point on her serve in the 10th game of the final set and played a great deal more courageous tennis in the points and games that followed to put an end to her nearly four-year drought.
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