By Bruce Emond
By Bruce Emond
Sabatini runs risk of becoming popular has-been
JAKARTA (JP): Gabriela Sabatini, one of the world's most
photographed and photogenic women, is a sponsor's dream.
Tall, svelte, with finely sculpted features and an easy smile,
the 24-year-old Argentinean is untiringly gracious as she poses
for numerous pictures and exchanges small talk as sponsors as
officials fete one of the queens of women's tennis at an evening
reception here before two exhibition matches against Indonesian
number one Yayuk Basuki last week.
"May I have a picture with you, Gaby?," another guest asks and
Sabatini kindly obliges, sandwiching her imposing physical
presence into a long line of smiling guests. Sabatini beams as
the photographer clicks away.
Sabatini's talented play has earned her more than US$7.5
million since she burst onto the women's circuit as a 14-year-
old, but it is her good looks and friendly disposition which has
increased her income at least four-fold through endorsements for
products ranging from sunglasses to perfume, clothing to camera
film.
Even today, with her ranking sliding after a nearly three-year
drought without a tournament title and a string of embarrassing
losses in major tournaments to players ranked hundreds of places
below her, Sabatini continues to pile up endorsement contracts.
In person, the Buenos Aires native appears much taller than
the 173 cm (5 7") listed in the Women's Tennis Association (WTA)
media guide. Her height is enhanced by a striking physique.
Sabatini is very big, although she has lost the chunkiness which
spurred one German magazine to scurrilously insinuate that it was
more than just good nutrition and weight training which accounted
for her rapid physical development.
Huge, clothes-hanger shoulders taper down to a slim waist and
long legs, a body which has led tennis hacks all over the world
to dub her the "Amazon from Argentina."
There is a distinct asymmetry in the definition of her limbs,
the tangible badge worn by all the world's top players. Her right
arm, the one she has used to groove her looping topspin
groundstrokes and sliced backhands since the age of seven, is
markedly larger than her left, the veins standing out like live
wires.
Genuine
It is difficult to write anything unkind about Sabatini. She
seems genuinely courteous and sweet, answering each and every
question with a gleaming smile on her face.
But her answers read like carefully scripted sound bites. "It
is great to be here in Jakarta. I will play my very best," she
says at the opening press conference to a group of clamoring
journalists, most of whom seemed to view Yayuk as a minor player
in the Sabatini extravaganza.
One-on-one interviews with Sabatini were not forthcoming. "We
would have to approve that with her agent in Washington, and the
time difference is so great that it would be very difficult to
contact him," says the agent handling the exhibition. "We have
to take care of Gabriela and make sure she doesn't get abused."
Abused seems an unusual choice of words to describe a request
for a 10-minute interview with a player who is receiving hundreds
of thousands of dollars to play two exhibition matches. The
point is made that it is the unapproachability of the top players
and perceptions that tennis is big business careening out of
control that has turned many spectators away.
"Gaby had an agreement to do one interview and she did that
already with the TV station," the agent responds curtly.
"Perhaps if your publication had contacted us earlier about
giving us some advertising space we could have worked this out."
Rumors
Sabatini's inaccessibility to the media does little to dispell
rumors that she is not very bright, the insinuations fueled by
other players and reporters which have hounded her for years.
Part of the problem may be attributed to Sabatini's early
difficulties in mastering English, or the fact that she left
school at the age of 13 and never continued her education, or
just plain jealousy.
Another factor may be that she is too easy-going, lacking the
intensity of the other top women.
While Sabatini is content to discuss her love of music or
clothes in press conferences, Steffi Graf will painstakingly
deliberate on weightier matters, breaking down in one interview
as she told of stopping her courtesy limousine to get out and
hand some money to a homeless man begging on the street.
Graf and Sabatini were once touted as the tennis rivals of the
1990s, to match those other legendary rivalries between Margaret
Smith Court and Billie Jean King in the 1970s and the epic
matches between Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova in the 1980s.
Flowing style
With her flowing style, the teenage Sabatini was compared to
Maria Bueno, the brilliant Brazilian serve-and-volleyer of the
1960s. But the expected rivalry and Sabatini's full talents have
never developed. Graf completed a Grand Slam and amassed a
lopsided win record over the Argentinian in the process.
Except for one Grand Slam victory over Graf in the U.S. Open
final in 1990 and a close run in the final of Wimbledon the
following year, Sabatini has become a perennial semifinalist.
Today, she travels the circuit from tournaments to lucrative
exhibitions, adored all over the world but unable to string
together enough victories to win a major tournament.
It may be appropriate, and perhaps a little cruel, to describe
Sabatini today as a has-been. She brings in the crowds, delights
them with her graceful play, but is not considered a real threat
to the top players.
Unless she can regain the form and desire of 1990, Sabatini
may find herself relegated to the role of a well-paid traveling
entertainer for the rest of her career.