Tennis and Post career prospects
View(s):Gabriela Sabatini’s route
There is a ‘retirement age’ in most professions. In competition Tennis and for that matter in any sport, players face retirement when their performances begin to decline. It can be as early as 25. What happens then?
Many players have a good life after the competition career but not all. Gabriela Sabatini, the Argentinean girl, went out of professional Tennis at 26 and opted to take a new route not known before and became very successful. During the height of her career ‘Gabriela Sabatini’ was a name that attracted people from 1984 to 1996. It was said when she played in the side courts, stadium courts were empty and it was so.
Argentinean Tennis
The first Argentinean big name that comes to my mind is Guillermo Villas. Ion Tiriac of Romania managed Vilas into the lime light. Villas with Jose Clerk made a formidable Davis Cup team for Argentina in the early eighties. Little later appeared a teenager the ‘beautiful Sabatini’. Many would recall her memorable matches against Steffi Graf in the late eighties. (Steffi Graf a German has settled down with Tennis ace Andre Agassi in Las Vegas) Sabatini after her career used the best assets she had;
Gabriela Sabatini
her beauty and the name. Both became an attractive ‘brand’. A range of Cosmetics bear her name. Now Sabatini in her 40’s is a successful graceful and active lady in Buenos Aires. In the meanwhile graceful Juan Martin del Porto is keeping the Argentinean Flag flying in the world of Tennis.
What’s in a ‘name’
Recently two players became ‘news’ because of their names. Not for winning or losing but just for returning back into competition after injury lay off. The ‘names’ are Maria Sharapova and Jelena Jankovich. The name Roger Federer of Switzerland is still news even when he loses a match and big news when he wins. Former world’s number one the unstoppable Pete Sampras of USA was a big name in Tennis. Recently he was interviewed not as a Tennis player but as a ‘poker player’. This is the power of a ‘name’ through Tennis. Once a name is itched in the mind of a generation it becomes a ‘brand’. ‘Reward of Good-Will’, this is how it was explained to me by the 1967 Wimbledon finalist Germany’s Wilhelm Bungert. Boris Becker another German from recent times has his sports goods range with his name as the brand. It is one of the spin offs a player has in the post competition career. This phenomenon has put our Cricketers into the Parliament. So the appeal for a ‘sports name’ is universal. The still active simple Siberian girl Maria Sharapova has been selected as one of the top 10 entrepreneurs of 2013 by reputed economy watchers. This means she has thought about her post career life already. She too will set her sails with her name.
Pioneering Sabatini
Using sports popularity to launch commercial venture by players was and is not common. Commercial ventures are another high risk ball-game. The rules and the performances there are different. Through Tennis it was Sabatini that made this move first and went big time. Up to now she has proved herself to be a winner.
Born in 1970 Sabatini’s Tennis career started when she became the world’s number one junior in 1984. At 13 years of age she won the Miami Orange Bowl; the unofficial World Junior title. She was the semi finalist in the French-Open to Chris Evert when she was 15. From then on she went to become the world’s number 3 women’s player, winning US Open Title in 1990. She also won the year end women’s championships of 1988 and 1994. Sabatini retired from competition Tennis in 1996 due to 
personal reasons. She rarely plays Tennis now. She, like all Argentineans, has a passion for Equestrian activities. That keeps her active. Her current passion is cycling. She has taken part in Tour de France for the non professional, South African cycling tour and even today trains for two hours. These keep her fit and do not make her look 43.
I watched her play three times. Her Tennis had power. She was often photographed serving and it was her main weapon. The other dominating strokes were her back hand and Volley. Standing at 5 foot and 9 inches she approached the net with vigour. Passing her was very difficult and it was nearly impossible to lob over her. Her smashes were deadly and she could do it from anywhere on the court. The effective net game she had came from her ability to play good doubles. She won the US-Open doubles title twice with Steffi Graf. Altogether she has won 27 WTA singles titles and 13 Doubles titles. Sabatini was comfortable moving into the net than most of her contemporaries. On the whole she exhibited power in her game. That means hitting ground stroke and volley winners dominated her play. As a game-maker she had the ability to withstand immense punishment and turned the tides to her advantage by selecting the right game. She would also hang-in under immense pressure and wait for the right time. These are hall mark of a good player.
Singing and Perfumes
Surprise! She has always had a passion to sing and sang. After her professional career in Tennis she went for voice training. She does not perform publicly but something may be coming with a mega star soon. The Latinos are a colourful people. Her perfume brand is well established and now she is venturing into men’s needs too. On the whole she fostered her talents, followed her passions and stayed on until her goals were reached.
Sabatini’s post career life is a good example to all sportspersons to make their life good after their prime. Tennis needs initiatives to develop, survive and be creative to win. Sabatini had these and now she is using them in her post career activities to be happy. She is guided by her passions. She missed being number one in Tennis due to early retirement but Gabriela Sabatini is number one now.
George Paldano, former international player; Accredited Coach of Germany, ITF and USPTR; National Davis Cup and Federation Cup Coach
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