Gabriela Sabatini's giant step toward winning the Virginia Slims Championships got a little help from Kimiko Date's leg.
Sabatini, seeking her first tournament title in 21/2 years, grabbed a spot in today's best-of-5-sets final when she outlasted the eighth-seeded Date 4-6, 6-0, 6-3.The Argentine right-hander will take on seventh-seeded Lindsay Davenport for the title and $250,000 in this season-ending event. Davenport advanced by defeating No. 5 Mary Pierce 6-3, 6-2 in Saturday's first semifinal.
Sabatini was one of the bright hopes on the women's tennis tour. She won this unique 16-player tournament in 1988 and took the U.S. Open two years later.
While she has not won a major tournament since then, she hasn't won a tournament of any kind since the Italian Open in May 1992. This is the 44th tournament she has played since, and will be appearing Sunday in her eighth final.
"I think the mental part has a lot to do with it," Sabatini said of her winless streak. "In 1990, I was mentally very focused and I played a great tournament, you know, at the Open when I won.
"Technically, today I think I'm a better player. But, of course, the mental part has a lot to do with it. If it is not there, I'm not there.
"But, talking about this tournament, everything is there mentally, physically, technically."
It may be prophetic that her first-round opponent was Martina Navratilova, playing in her final tournament before retiring as a singles player.
Sabatini sent Navratilova, the winningest player of all time, into retirement probably earlier than she expected or wanted. And Sabatini did it by playing her best tennis in years.
She needed to continue that to get past Date, who ousted third-seeded Conchita Martinez in the quarterfinal round Friday night. But Date strained the quad muscle in her right leg, an injury that bothered the Japanese right-hander against Sabatini.
It didn't keep her from trading baseline strokes with Sabatini, both running down shots from side to side, sending back what would be winners against almost any other players. For these two, however, at least one more shot was needed to close out a point.
"I was playing all out," Date said. "When you get to the end, that's all there really is to do."
Date won the final three games to take the first set, breaking Sabatini in the eighth and 10th games. But Sabatini, cheered on by the Madison Square Garden crowd of 16,838, roared through the second set.
After she held to begin the first set, Date took an injury timeout while a trainer worked on her leg.
Said Sabatini, "I'm hitting the ball much better. I'm feeling more confidence with my shots. I know what I'm doing on the court and I'm being more aggressive."
Davenport was aggressive from the baseline, outhitting Pierce in their long-range bombardments.
In this battle of sluggers, the 6-foot-3, 18-year-old Davenport took control early. She broke Pierce in the fourth game, then held on to wrap up the opening set in 31 minutes.
Gigi Fernandez and Natalia Zvereva successfully defended their doubles title, defeating Jana Novotna and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, the 1991 Virginia Slims Championships winners, 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3.
It ended a remarkable two days for Fernandez, a native of Puerto Rico who now lives in Aspen, Colo., and Zvereva of Belarus.
The world's top-ranked doubles team won their semifinal match Friday night by outlasting Patty Fendick and Meredith 4-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-2 in the semifinals and will meet Novotna and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario for this year's title. Novotna and Sanchez Vicario won the crown in 1992.
The eventual winners trailed 4-6, 1-5 before sending the second set into a tiebreak. They then fell behind 6-2 in the tiebreak, saving four match points before they could even considering winning the match.
They had to go three sets to win the title, but they never trailed in the final set.