"For few days there was definitely not a very good way between us" - When Steffi Graf made Martina Navratilova 'unhappy' by skipping Wimbledon doubles
Steffi Graf once said that Martina Navratilova was not happy after she opted out of Wimbledon when the two were supposed to compete as a women's doubles team.
The year was 1995 and the two greats of the game received a wildcard for the tournament. However, Steffi Graf skipped the women's doubles event as a fitness precaution for the singles tournament, which she went on to win.
Three years later, the German spoke about the situation after her first-round win at the 1998 US Open. Graf said that Navratilova was not very happy about it and that things were not too good between the two for a few days.
"Oh, yeah. We did have some, or at least she wasn't very happy about it. I think that she said some things very quickly afterwards and she did, I think, acknowledge afterwards and realized that maybe I was, I was right of not playing. But, yeah, for a few days there, there was definitely not a very good way between us," Steffi Graf said.
Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova had a very close rivalry during which they played 18 matches, with their head-to-head tied at 9-9. The two locked horns in six Grand Slam finals, with the German coming out on top in four of them at the 1987 French Open, 1988 Wimbledon, 1989 Wimbledon and 1989 US Open.
The last encounter between the two took place in the final of the 1994 Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, with Graf winning 6-2, 6-4.
Steffi Graf won one Grand Slam doubles title in her career
Steffi Graf's doubles career was very modest compared to how she fared in singles. However, she did manage to win a Grand Slam doubles title in 1988 at Wimbledon, partnering Gabriela Sabatini. The pair beat Larisa Savchenko and Natasha Zvereva in the final. That year, she also won the singles title at the grass-court Major.
Graf and Sabatini reached three finals at the French Open in 1986, 1987 and 1989 but ended up on the losing side on each occasion. The pair reached two semifinals at the Australian Open and four semifinals at the US Open.
Steffi Graf's best mixed doubles performance came at the 1999 Wimbledon Championships when she reached the final four with John McEnroe before pulling out of the tournament.