Quote:
Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague
There's a reasonable debate to be had there. Graf had tougher opponents in her day. The WTA has been hot garbage for most of the last decade. She's been beating up on that garbage. So you could make the argument.
The counterargument is of course that Graf would have won fewer if not for a certain stabbing.
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I'm going to have to agree. Graf had success in an era where most of the all time great women's players were still around. She faced Navratilova (maybe the best all around player ever IMO either sex) 18 times (six times in grand slams winning four). She has faced the following in Grand Slam finals;
-Navratilova (6)
-Chris Evert (1)
-Sabatini (3)
-Mary Joe Fernandez (2)
-Seles (6)
-Sanches Vicario (7)
-Hingis
-Davenport
Very few freebies and several all-time greats, multiple times as she played in an era where a lot of the top females took care of business in grand slams as she had to beat the best in nearly all of her grand slam finals. Sanchez Vicario in particular is a top 15 overall player ever and they played most of their careers in the same era. There's little doubt Williams has dominated her era but take a look at the opponents she played and compare to what Graf did. The quality of opponents in grand slam finals isn't even close.