"Steffi Graf is going to want to kill me"- When Arantxa Sanchez Vicario spoke out on facing the German ahead of Wimbledon 1989 QF
Steffi Graf and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario locked horns against one another on several occasions in their playing days. Their first encounter at a Grand Slam came in the final of the 1989 French Open, which the Spaniard won 7-6(6), 3-6, 7-5.
A few weeks later, the two would square off in the Wimbledon quarterfinals. Graf entered the grass-court Major as the defending champion and reached the last-eight after straight-set wins over Julie Salmon, Kimberly Kessaris, Anne Minter, and Monica Seles.
Here, she would take on seventh-seeded Sanchez Vicario, who won each of her last two matches in three sets.
Speaking ahead of her match against Steffi Graf, the Spaniard said that the former would want to "kill her" since she defeated her in the French Open final.
"She's going to want to kill me because I beat her in the French. But I think now, I'm really playing good and I don't know what's going to happen," Sanchez Vicario said.
Graf went on to defeat Sanchez Vicario 7-5, 6-1 in the quarterfinals to record her fourth win over the Spaniard in five meetings, by then, between the two. The German then defeated Chris Evert 6-2, 6-1 to set up a title clash against Martina Navratilova for the third successive year at Wimbledon.
She won 6-2, 6-7(1), 6-1 to successfully defend her title at the grass-court Major and claim her seventh Grand Slam singles title.
Steffi Graf won 28 out of 36 matches against Arantxa Sanchez Vicario
Steffi Graf and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario locked horns on a total of 36 occasions, with the former leading 28-8 in the head-to-head between the two.
The first meeting between them came in the second round of the United Jersey Bank Classic in 1988, with the German registering a comprehensive 6-2, 6-0 win. Graf faced Sanchez Vicario in seven Grand Slam finals and came out on top in five of those.
The last five matches between the two all came at Grand Slams, with their final encounter being the 1996 Wimbledon final, which Steffi Graf won 6-3, 7-5.
The German enjoyed an illustrious career, in which she won a total of 107 singles titles, including 22 Majors, which was an Open Era record for female players until Serena Williams broke it.
Graf's only Grand Slam doubles title came at Wimbledon 1988 where she partnered Gabriela Sabatini. The couple beat the Soviet pair of Larisa Savchenko and Natasha Zvereva to win the tournament.