Gabriela Sabatini, one of the best Argentine athletes in history, celebrates her 50th anniversary this Saturday and in a balance of her life affirms that she feels the passage of time although she would choose to be a tennis player again, if she went back in time. From Miami where the coronavirus quarantine found her and away from Zurich, where she lives, the ex-number 3 of the world and member of the Tennis Hall of Fame celebrates her 50th birthday with very little contact with the sport that made her transcend, but from which he retired at just 26 years old.
“Actually, it is one more year. I do the balances or statements at different times or situations that do not necessarily have to be on my birthday. I am a person like any other and of course I sometimes have lows. The passage of time I am sorry, “Gaby said in statements to the newspaper Perfil. In total, Sabatini conquered 27 titles with 632 victories and 189 defeats with the conquests of the US Open in 1990, the Masters of 1988 and 1994 and the silver medal at the Seoul Olympics as highlights of a time he shared with Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert and Monica Seles.
“Zurich is an excellent place for sports, pedaling in the mountains, swimming in the lake, drinking the best coffees. Zurich is in the center of Europe and that allows me to travel all the time, to know places. It is something that I love to do. It is already a way of life, “Gaby related about her usual life before this pandemic in statements to the newspaper La Nación. Regarding her experiences during this time of coronavirus in Miami, she related in dialogue with Clarín: “I got here just a few days before it all started. The flights have been canceled since then and now I hope they are enabled to be able to leave. But the most important thing is that both my loved ones and I are fine. In Miami, quarantine is not so strict and you can go for a walk or play sports, but I still stay in my apartment. The most difficult thing, like for everyone, is how to handle uncertainty and not knowing how long this will continue. “
In time to look back on his career, Sabatini told Telam: “During my career I faced difficult situations, traveled alone around the world, faced different types of pressures, far from home and missing my country and my people. I lived a totally different life than people my age. But in the end, all that effort was worth it. The best thing about my career was having won the US Open. Worst of all, maybe not having won that Wimbledon final against Steffi Graf. “” I feel like I'm a insider. In life I did all the things I wanted to do and I keep doing them. Having that possibility is a lot. The important thing is to feel good, I try to live a healthy life and live quietly. In short, I am happy and I love both the career I did and my life after tennis, “he concluded in statements to Radio La Red.