Graf–Seles rivalry Graf–Seles rivalry Steffi Graf and Monica Seles are retired professional tennis players who between 1989 and 1999 engaged in a rivalry for the best female tennis player. They competed in 15 matches. Seles, a left-handed player, demonstrated powerful and precise hitting from the baseline on both wings. Graf, in contrast, had a formidable forehand, in addition to her penetrating serve, but mostly sliced her backhand. Their head to head rivalry was especially notable for Graf being dominant on tour in Seles' first years and then Seles being dominant at the grand slams winning three of the four matches they played
Steffi Graf treatment. In the final, Navratilova led 6–3, 4–2 before Graf rallied to win 3–6, 7–5, 6–1 for her third Grand Slam singles title of the year. Victories at Zurich and Brighton preceded the Virginia Slims Championships, where Graf cemented her top-ranked status by beating Navratilova in the final in four sets. Graf ended 1989 with an 86–2 match record and the loss of only twelve sets. Her .977 winning percentage is the second-highest in the open era behind Navratilova. Graf defeated Mary Joe Fernández in the final of the Australian Open, which was her eighth Grand Slam singles title in