International Players Championships : Sabatini’s Big Spin Stops Evert in 3 Sets

Soon after her match against Chris Evert ended Saturday, Gabriela Sabatini jogged to the stands and hugged her coach, her mother, her father, two neighbors and an aunt.

Moments before, Sabatini said a kind of goodby to Evert, who at 34 may finally have reached the point where she can solve neither the mysteries of Sabatini’s topspin nor the passage of years.

Sabatini, 18, who was not born until two years after Evert had already played in her first professional tournament at 14, treated her elder with respect, then dispatched her in the third set to win the Lipton International Players Championship, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2.

The victory was worth $100,000, but it would be hard to put a price tag on the value of beating Evert in a three-set collision of players whose paths are taking different courses. “I felt very confident playing here,” said Sabatini, who lives part time near the International Tennis Center. “It means very much for me to win this tournament.”

Sabatini strengthened her hold on No. 3 in the rankings, but perhaps more important, the victory seems to represent a milestone in the changing of the guard in women’s tennis.

In the last four meetings against Evert, Sabatini has won three. And when Evert spoke to the crowd after the match, she said she may have played her last tournament in Florida.

Asked about retirement later, Evert backed off--again: “I’m not thinking about it, but you guys are, probably staying up all night.”

Evert may have to stay up a lot longer than that if she can figure out what to do with Sabatini’s looping topspin forehand. It is particularly menacing as it bounces high to Evert’s backhand and during the 2-hour 10-minute match, it was sometimes impossible to hit.

Sabatini won the first set easily, but Evert steeled her nerves in the second. She fell behind, 3-1, and still trailed, 3-4, 0-40, when she rallied.

Evert three times forced the game to deuce before winning on her second break point with a well-placed crosscourt backhand winner.

Evert broke Sabatini again to win the second set, sending a forehand crosscourt for a winner on set point. Evert appeared to be gaining strength. Sabatini did not think so.

“She was getting tired and I still had good shape,” Sabatini said.

In the third set, Evert served first, and quickly fell behind, 0-30. Evert lost her serve when she blooped a backhand into the net on the first break point.

“She just bore down,” Evert said. “She probably felt she had let it slip away a little in the second set.”

But Evert saw it slip away instead when she lost her serve a second time to trail, 3-0. It proved to be an insurmountable deficit.

Evert broke back to 3-1, but she was broken a third time to trail 5-2, which gave Sabatini an opportunity to serve out the match.

Would there be one last-ditch stand by Evert in what could be her final match in her home state?

Hardly. Sabatini won the game at love and served an ace on match point for good measure. Next came the hugs all-around for Sabatini. For Evert? She said she was still excited about playing.

“When you’ve been No. 1, you’re never completely satisfied, but I’m still excited about playing,” she said. “If I’m not excited about playing, I might as well hang up my rackets.

“I don’t have to win every tournament. When I lose, I’m depressed for about an hour. Then I realize I have another life.”

She’ll probably have another chance against Sabatini, too, when topspin and years may be easier to solve.