1987 FORD AUSTRALIAN OPEN

Hana Mandlíkova’s Triumph at the 1987 Australian Open

Hana Mandlíkova overcame early challenges at the 1987 Australian Open, defeating Julie Richardson, Anne Smith, and Carling Bassett to reach the quarterfinals. She showcased dominance with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Lori McNeil and triumphed in a rain-delayed semifinal against Claudia Kohde-Kilsch. In the final, Mandlíkova defeated Martina Navratilova 7-5, 7-6, claiming her second Australian Open title. The victory marked a special moment as she prepared to become an Australian citizen.

2d Round : Hana Mandlikova vs Julie Richardson

Hana Mandlíkova’s Resilient Comeback Against Julie Richardson

Hana lost the first set and was down one break in the second. In the first set, Hana struggled to find her feet and made many mistakes against the young New Zealander, Julie Richardson, 162nd WTA. She recovered in the next two sets, which she dominated.

3rd Round : Hana Mandlikova vs Anne Smith

Mandlikova Dismisses Graf Hype, Advances in 1987 Australian Open

Mandlikova also won in straight sets and when the subject of Graf came up she, too, reacted.

Asked if she thought she was being overlooked when it was suggested that Graf was going to be the next No 1, Mandlikova said that Graf had not won a grand slam tournament.

“You know she is very, very young and you don’t know what is going to happen,” she said.
“You know she might fall in love, which I don’t think so … sorry.
“We will just have to wait and see whether she will be No 1.
“We had Andrea Jaeger, we had Tracy Austin, and I was there with them and I’m still there and that makes me very proud.”

Mandlikova, like the rest of the players, found the windy conditions hard to cope with as the hot northerly swept across the courts sending papers, cans and chairs rolling around. Mandlikova did not serve well but she was far too good for the American Anne Smith and won 6-3 6-2. To try to relax before the Open she played golf one day and went to the movies another.

“You have to try to think about something other than tennis because you know when it is tennis, tennis every day, every minute of the day, you get crazy,” she said.

She is working to discipline herself and not become involved in the pressure build-up for tournaments.

“In the past five years if I was seeded one or two I felt pressure,” she said.
“I felt if I was No 1 I had to win the tournament or if I was No 2 I had to get to the finals.
“That is the sort of pressure you put on yourself. But now I have to take it a day at a time.”

Mandlikova turned up at the press conference carrying a toy koala, obviously her new mascot from her soon-to-be adopted country.

4th Round : Hana Mandlikova vs Carling Bassett

Second-seed Hana Mandlikova had a tougher match than expected against Carling Bassett.The Canadian took her to 3 sets

Strangely enough, Hana has always had difficulty against Carling Bassett, even on grass. And yet Bassett‘s game (groundstrokes, two-handed backhands, no big serve) is in no way suited to the surface. After a good first set, Hana became entangled in the spider’s web laboriously woven by Bassett from the baseline, preventing her from settling at the net.

In the third set, Hana managed to regain control of the game, and concluded with ease.

Quarter finals : Hana Mandlikova vs Lori McNeil

Navratilova and Mandlikova Set Up Dream Final with Dominant Quarter-Final Wins

The best possible final in women’s tennis moved closer to reality yesterday when the two top seeds, Martina Navratilova and Hana Mandlikova, scored brilliant quarter-final wins in the $2.5 million Ford Australian Open at Kooyong.

The matches were played at the same time with Navratilova, the defending champion, on the centre court and Mandlikova on a nearby outside court.

For a while the scores kept pace and it became a contest to see which of their opponents would be able to win a game.

Mandlikova has rarely played better than yesterday when she wiped Lori McNeil out of the Open 6-0 6-0.

Semifinal : Hana Mandlikova vs Claudia Kohde Kilsch

Mandlikova Fights Through to Australian Open Final, Eyes Second Title and Citizenship

Hana Mandlikova advanced to the Australian Open final after a hard-fought victory over Claudia Kohde-Kilsch, winning 6-3, 0-6, 6-3. The match was interrupted twice by rain, but Mandlikova’s strong performance in the first and third sets secured her place in the final. Despite struggling in the second set, Mandlikova kept fighting, using her serve and volley game effectively. She expressed her happiness with the crowd and her recent application for Australian citizenship, making the win particularly special. Mandlikova will face Martina Navratilova in the final, aiming for her second Australian Open title.

Mandlikova was pushed to the maximum by Claudia Kohde-Kilsch as she stayed on course for her second Australian Open singles title. The 24-year-old Mandlikova won the event in 1980.

Mandlikova‘s victory over Kohde-Kilsch, in a match that was halted twice by rain, lifted her record against the tall German to 6-3. She has now won all three of their meetings on grass.

Rain delay crucial

She was at her best in the first set when she served well and used her suppleness and co-ordination to good effect. She broke Kohde-Kilsch‘s serve in the fourth and sixth games.

The fifth-seeded Kohde-Kilsch, aiming to reach the singles final of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in her career, rallied in the second set, frequently outmaneuvring Mandlikova, who appeared strangely listless.

Kohde-Kilsch was serving well and unleashed a series of well-timed passing shots.

But a rain delay at the start of the third set worked wonders for Mandlikova. She came out firing in the third set, racing to a 3-0 lead and went on to take the match in impressive style.

Mandlikova said the the stop-start nature of the match had made it extremely difficult for both players.

“I felt if I hung in there and put pressure on her, I would win, so I kept fighting,” she said. “The third set was very tough mentally. I had to fight very hard.
“Claudia is very difficult to play. She is inconsistent. She’ll hit a great shot, then hit a double-fault.
“I tried to come in at every opportunity. That is the way to play on these courts, which are like hard courts.”

Mandlikova qualified for the eighth Grand Slam final of her career. She has won three. Navratilova has captured 15 Grand Slam singles crowns, including three Australian Opens.

Kohde-Kilsch said she found the rain delay in the first game of the third set put her off her game, but she always felt she had a chance to win.

“I thought she’d get nervous if I could break back,” Kohde-Kilsch said. “I had my chances, but I didn’t take them.”

Mandlikova and Kohde-Kilsch were on court a total of one hour, 27 minutes.

”I am happy with the public and the way the fans treat me, it is really special for me to win this one,” said Mandlikova, who recently applied for Australian citizenship. ”I really feel it’s going to be my home.”

Mandlikova said she would be trying especially hard to defeat Navratilova on Saturday as she has recently applied for Australian citizenship.

”I really feel it’s going to be my home,” she said. ”I am happy with the public and the way the fans treat me. It is really special for me to win this one.”

Navratilova said she didn’t think the crowd at Kooyong would cheer significantly louder for Mandlikova. ‘

‘I have felt in the past the crowds at Kooyong are the fairest anywhere in the world,” she said.

Mandlikova, who has applied for Australian citizenship, said she felt very relaxed playing in Melbourne.

“I feel happy here and I have a lot of friends. I am very happy to be in the final and I just hope that I keep playing well,” she said.

Despite evidence to the contrary in Mandlikova’s lacklustre triumph over fifth-seeded Kohde-Kilsch, Navratilova said she believed Mandlikova was now playing more consistently.

“She is much tougher mentally now, but also more predictable,” said Navratilova.

‘Percentage tennis’

“She is playing more percentage tennis, but I’ve been playing better against her because I can concentrate more.
“They’ll want to see a close match and will support whoever is behind.

Mandlikova would love to win the title, not simply because of the prize money, but because Australia will become her home if and when she is granted Australian citizenship.

“I would love to win. Australia is going to be my home. I am happy with the people here. I am happy,” she said.

FINAL : Hana Mandlikova vs Martina Navratilova

Mandlikova Shines with Historic Victory Over Navratilova in 1987 Australian Open Final

HANA MANDLIKOVA was a Czech on the scoreboard but a new Aussie in the hearts of the fans at Kooyong Stadium in Melbourne yesterday as she ripped through the surprisingly sluggish defender, Martina Navratilova, to win the women’s singles title in the Australian Open championships.

Hana is now, of course, Mrs Jan Sedlak, wife of a Czech-born Sydney restaurateur, and plans soon to take up Australian citizenship. So it was all the sweeter when their Hana, following a last loose shot beyond her base-line, tumbled head-over-heels in the pure pleasure of victory. The score: 7-5, 7-6 (7-1).

The day belonged to the grinning Hana. The air was still. Flags hung limp round the stadium and it was bright and broiling to 120 degree F on Centre Court. Mandlikova didn’t mind.

‘I had been practising 10 days in Brisbane,’

she said afterwards.

‘And after Brisbane this place is an ice-box.’

Except for the rare moment she never lost that cool. She now has won four major titles: the French in 1981, the US in 1985, and the Australian also in 1980. Still she has lived in awe of her one-time countrywoman. Beating Martina is like beating a legend, said the leggy, seasoned winner, still only 24 years of age.

‘I’m so glad to win while she is still around.’

If she plays like she did yesterday, Navratilova, aged 30, won’t be around long. By her own confession, and after losing only 18 games up to the finals, could not remember playing so ineptly in a Grand Slam final. She put her problem succinctly:

‘I couldn’t get my rhythms going.’

Nor, she said later, could she banish from her mind her mixed doubles defeat late the previous evening.

‘I was very, very disappointed because I wanted to win triple,’

she said, referring to the women’s singles, doubles, and the mixed titles. She none the less began well, running her lithe rival round the court to take a 2-0 lead, but then Mandlikova‘s low, flowing backhands took over, piercing the champion’s thin veil of confidence. Fourth game, final point, Navratilova double-faulted: 2-2.

‘There was no reason to be tentative at that point,’ she later recalled. ‘But .. it started right there.’

Martina grew nervous. Her feet turned to lead. She netted volleys, one after another, lost all her powerful, swinging serve-volley fluency. Mandlikova aced her to go ahead, six games to five. Next game, final point, Navratilova again double-faulted and this time the set was gone. Towelling down, she slanted a glance at her advisers in the front row.

Navratilova, with 15 major singles titles, is one of the all-time great women players. Yet, insecure and innovative, she changes her entourage almost seasonally, and the 1987 collection includes a fellow for her footwork and Ginny Wade for her head. The fretting, introspective, ever-embattled Ginny Wade?

‘She takes a strategic role,’

Martina later explained, expanding Miss Wade’s role, which earlier in the week we had taken to be as sort of a social adviser.

‘Setting up game plans, plotting out what I will be doing in a match and what I should be thinking when things don’t go right on the court. That, and to make sure technically I’m doing the right things.
‘ Things were certainly going wrong from head to foot. ‘Slow down till you’re ready,’

she scolded herself aloud in the second set after rifling a serve some 6ft long. Briefly, the champion did slow down, recovering her form, and almost predictably Mandlikova suffered her familiar rush of blood and began playing with a fearful temerity.

In the tie-break, however, Hana broke straight away, never lost her command and at the kill had half a dozen match-points in hand. Navratilova was gracious in defeat, and thanked Miss Wade, her coach, and her dogs and cats back home in Fort Worth, Texas, in that order.