FULL VERSION 1991 - Graf vs Seles - Hamburg

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Copyrights - Unknown German Local Broadcasting: Live Audio & Video Direct from Hamburg, Germany.

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Thank you for your gracious use of this classic match!

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PertSnergleman's Review:
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"One of my all-time favourites... enjoy!"

For a fleeting moment in history, the Seles/Graf match-up was the hottest ticket in town, and in 1991 it was heading for greatness.

Steffi Graf challenged WTA's new superstar: Monica Seles in the final of the $350,000 Citizen Cup, which was completed over two days due to heavy rain.

Monica Seles of Yugoslavia replaced Steffi Graf of Germany as the world No. 1 on 11th March 1991, after Graf had held onto the top spot since 1987.

Graf sealed her Hamburgian triumph on her third match point after a total of two hours and 21 minutes, a majestic marathon of epic proportions. She earned $70,000 and her 56th career singles title (5th straight Citizen Cup in Hamburg).

'I am very pleased that I came to Hamburg,' said Graf, 20, who decided to enter the Citizen Cup four days before it started and received a wild-card entry.

'It was a great match,' Seles said, promising: 'I'm definitely going to come back next year.'

These words would haunt the talented young Seles just two years later...

Graf took the first set 7-5 with a break in the 12th game. She jumped to a 5-2 lead in the second set by breaking Seles in the fifth and seventh games.

But the 17-year-old Seles fought back, breaking Graf's serve twice and staving off two match points in the 10th game. Seles finally forced the dramatic second set into a tiebreaker, which she won 7-4.

'I was too hectic on the first two match points, and she just played too good,' Graf said.

Nobody could believe what the Citizen Cup in Hamburg had lurking in the depths of sporting tragedy just two years later...