FULL VERSION 1992 - Graf vs de Swardt - Wimbledon

*******************************************************************
Tournament Copyrights -
© 1992 All England Lawn Tennis Club (Championships) Limited
*******************************************************************
AELTC is registered in England and Wales under company number 07546773 with its registered office at The All England Lawn Tennis Club, Church Road, Wimbledon, London, SW19 5AE.
*******************************************************************
Rad to the Power of Cool Copyrights -
© 2022 PertSnergleman™ Channel
*******************************************************************

Thank you for your gracious use of this classic match!

Support us through Patreon!
  / pertsnergleman  

--------------------------------------------
PertSnergleman's Review:
--------------------------------------------

Steffi Graf nearly saw the defense of her third title crumble as suddenly as men's #1 Jim Courier's pursuit of his first.

Playing the last match on Centre Court, Graf dropped her first set to Mariaan de Swardt of South Africa, won the second set decisively and then needed to hang on for a 5-7, 6-0, 7-5 victory.

De Swardt put on a fierce display of serving that kept Graf on the defensive and almost resulted in the second biggest upset of the day.

Though many expected de Swardt to fold, she hung on to provide Graf with some nervous moments. De Swardt fought off a break point in the eighth game to even the set, then won the first point on Graf's serve. But in the end, Graf was too strong for her 21-year-old opponent, ranked 76th in the world. She won eight of the last 10 points and the match.

"It was a very difficult match," the 23-year-old German said of de Swardt, who is playing doubles here with Elise Burgin of Baltimore. "She really just played well. She served very well. Except for that one game in the first set, I don't feel bad at all for some reason."

Graf said, "Maybe my return wasn't as sharp as I wanted it to be, but I only struggled on one service game. It's just the way she played."

While the second-seeded Graf advanced to the fourth round, three lesser seeds fell:

-- No. 9 Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere was beaten 7-5, 7-6 (7-2) by Kristen Godridge, 19, of Australia, ranked No. 141.

-- No. 11 Jana Novotna was ousted 6-3, 6-3 by American Patty Fendick, ranked No. 68.

-- No. 16 Judith Wiesner was upset 6-1, 7-5 by Naoko Sawamatsu, who became the first Japanese woman to get this far.