The Steffi Graf vs. Martina Hingis 1999 French Open Final: A Watershed Event For Both Competitors

The 1999 women’s singles final at Roland Garros between Steffi Graf and Martina Hingis is one of the most famous in the history of tennis. It marked a culminating point in the incredible career of Steffi Graf as her 22^nd and final major singles title and an appropriate career bookend after her winning her first major title at the French Championships in 1987. For Hingis, it marked an incredible disappointment as it was the closest she would ever come again to winning another major singles title while also falling short of completing a “Career Grand Slam” after winning singles titles at the Australian Open, the U.S. Open and Wimbledon. Steve Flink, the International Tennis Hall of Fame member, journalist and author wrote of the final “It was a watershed event for both competitors” while including it in his book “The Greatest Tennis Matches of All Time” (for sale and download here: https://a.co/d/fmX4udC)

The match is summarized in the June 5 chapter of my book “On This Day In Tennis History” (for sale and download here https://a.co/d/1utbAre) as excerpted below.

1999 – Twenty-nine-year-old Steffi Graf claims her 22nd – and final – major singles title, upending Martina Hingis 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 in the women’s singles final at the French Open. Hingis serves for the title leading 6-4, 5-4, but Graf, inspired by the French crowd chanting “STEF-FEE, STE-FEE” breaks Hingis and wins eight of the next 10 games. “It was my greatest victory,” says Graf. “I came here without belief – but the crowd lifted me. At 1-0 in the third I knew the momentum was with me. She got tight. Then at 3-0, I got tight and she almost caught me. It was the craziest match. ‘Quit worrying,’ I told myself. ‘Go for your shots.’ I did.” The poor behavior of Hingis – and the accompanying boos and whistles from the French crowd – highlights the match as Hingis crosses the net to dispute a line call, takes an extended bathroom break at the end of the second set and serves underhanded on Graf’s first championship point. Chair umpire Anne Lasserre issues two warnings to Hingis and penalizes her a point, leaving her one step from a default. Following the loss, Hingis leaves the court, and, in tears, returns to the court, in the arms of her mother Melanie Molitor, for the trophy presentation. Writes Steve Flink in his book “The Greatest Tennis Matches of All Time” in which this match is featured, “The tennis had been exciting, the theater even better.”

In his “Greatest Tennis Matches of All Time” book, Flink discussed the implications of the final in his epilogue in his chapter on the Graf – Hingis epic, excerpted below.

EPILOGUE

Two weeks later, Hingis and Graf came into Wimbledon as the top two seeds. The tennis world eagerly awaited another dramatic meeting between the two champions. But Hingis had still not recovered from her wrenching loss in Paris. And something had gone fundamentally wrong in her professional and personal relationship with her mother. In her opening-round match, Hingis was beaten soundly by an Australian qualifier named Jelena Dokic, a sixteen-year-old ranked No. 129 in the world. Dokic upended the 1997 titlist 6-2, 6-0. The Australian played inspired and inventive tennis, overpowering Hingis from the backcourt, looking uninhibited from start to finish. It lasted fifty-four minutes. Hingis gave a desultory display.

In the press conference following the match, Hingis revealed that her mother had not been with her at the match and had gone home. She was bombarded with questions by reporters who wanted to know why Melanie Molitor had not been by her side for the first time at a major tournament. Hingis said that she and her mother had mutually decided they needed time apart. She explained, “With this tournament, my mother and I decided to have a little bit of distance from each other to work a little more on our private lives. We’ll see how it goes in the future.” As she approached her nineteenth birthday in September, Hingis was enduring the inevitable growing pains, coming to terms with a world where nearly everyone expected and almost demanded unbridled success from her year in and year out. Hingis remained a player of considerable importance. She finished 1999 and 2000 stationed at No. 1 in the world. But she never won another Grand Slam championship, concluding her career with five singles majors in her collection. The thirty-year-old German played her ninth Wimbledon final in 1999, scoring an impressive, three-set triumph over the gifted athlete Venus Williams along the way. In the final, however, Graf was unable to repeat what she had done in Paris. She lost to Lindsay Davenport of the United States 6-4, 7-5. Her chance for an eighth singles title on Centre Court was not realized.

Graf announced her retirement in late summer, withdrawing from the U.S. Open. Her career was winding down after eighteen years as a professional. She was the only player—male or female—to win every major championship at least four times.

Graf departed at the right moment, when she was still a great player, but no longer invincible. She had overcome a multitude of injuries, illnesses, and personal stress to become a champion of the highest order. Graf had begun her career competing against Evert and Navratilova. She ended her tenure in the era of Hingis and the Williams sisters. Through it all, she reflected the dignity and competitive resolve that has marked the highest standards of tennis.