Gabriela Sabatini Biography

1970-

Argentine tennis player

Argentinean Gabriela Sabatini was a teen tennis phenomenon in the mid-1980s who, while popular on the circuit, never lived up to her potential as a player. While she had a great tennis game, she only won one grand slam singles title, the U.S. Open in 1990. Sabatini left professional tennis behind in the mid-1990s to concentrate on her work in the perfume business.

Born May 16, 1970, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sabatini was the daughter of Osvaldo and Beatriz Sabatini. Her father was an executive at General Motors, who later gave up his career to manage his daughter's tennis career.

Buenos Aires was the leading tennis city in South America, and Sabatini began playing when she was six years old. She wanted to play because her older brother was a junior player. Sabatini began taking private lessons a year later, and by the time she was 10 years old, she was the number one under-12 player in Argentina. From an early age, she was motivated to win and hated to lose.

Trains in Florida

Within a few years, Sabatini left Argentina to train with coach Patricio Apey in Key Biscane, Florida. In 1983, she began playing on the world junior tennis circuit. She was the youngest to win the Orange Bowl Girls 18 singles tournament. After being the number one ranked junior in the world in 1984, Sabatini felt she had nothing left to prove on the junior circuit.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Address: c/o Cosmopolitan Cosmetics, GmBH, Venloer Strasse 241-245, 50823 Koln Germany. Online: www.gabriela-sabatini.com.