"I was so angry... I wasn't stalling, I was trying to see" - When Martina Navratilova was booed by Wimbledon crowd during final against Steffi Graf
Martina Navratilova was upset with the Wimbledon crowd during the 1988 final against Steffi Graf, as they booed her, mistakenly believing she was intentionally stalling the match. The Czech-born American was competing for her ninth Wimbledon title.
Navratilova defeated Sabrina Goles, Elly Hakami, Karen Schimper, and Larisa Savchenko to advance to the quarterfinals. The six-time defending champion then overcame Rosalyn Fairbank and her close friend Chris Evert to set up a clash with Graf in the final.
The German, on the other hand, entered the championship match after defeating Hu Na, Karine Quentrec, Terry Phelps, Mary Joe Fernandez, Pascale Paradis, and Pam Shriver.
The women's singles final at Wimbledon in 1988 was a rematch of the previous year's final, where Martina Navratilova had defeated Steffi Graf. This time, however, it was Graf's turn to prevail. Despite a shaky start, she recovered to win 5-7, 6-2, 6-1, lifting her first Grasscourt Major trophy.
There was a moment in the match that made Navratilova "angry." With her opponent leading 3-0 in the final set, she paused to wipe raindrops from her glasses and the crowd, mistakenly thinking she was stalling deliberately, began to boo. The 18-time Major champion later admitted to the media (via The New York Times):
''I was so angry. I wasn't stalling, I was trying to see.''
Martina Navratilova after losing to Steffi Graf in Wimbledon 1988 final: "You can't be greedy, 8 ain't so bad"
During the conversation with the media, Martina Navratilova praised her opponent Steffi Graf. She mentioned that she had no regrets about losing, as she believed she lost to a "better player" and had "passed her torch."
"This is how it should happen,'' Navratilova said. ''I lost to a better player on the final day. This is the end of a chapter, passing the torch if you want to call it that.''
''Getting ready for the final has always been easy for me. I wasn't nervous or uptight. But Steffi was hitting winners all over the place. She gets to balls no one else can. I got blown out the last two sets," she added.
Navratilova added that while winning Wimbledon one more time would have been wonderful (which she did in 1990 for the last time), she expressed contentment with her eight trophies.
"Steffi is a super player and a nice human being. If she can keep winning, great. It's possible I can win Wimbledon again, I would love to win it one more time. But you can't be greedy. Eight ain't so bad, you know," she said.