I remember not being overly surprised by this result at that time. Lori almost always gave Steffi lots of trouble. And she demonstrated that the best way to play her was to catch her off guard at the net. Kudos to Lori for playing an inspired match. She also proved that it wasn't a fluke but getting all the way to the semifinals. And she was very close to winning that semifinal match as well. But even if she had won that match, I would not have liked her chances against Navratilova since the matchups favour Martina significantly.
@@carrerau7138 That's entirely possible but the match-ups do not favour her. If I'm not mistaken, Navratilova has a very commanding head to head against McNeil. I have to admit though that I have not seen any of their matches.
@@carrerau7138 I doubt it against n tennis history doesn't lie, look at the weather n streak and the total regardless of the age factor Mart. Navratilova was the best and has was n the most obvious t of any player..
@@gk891 Yes unlike Conchita who did have a strong head to head with old Navratilova already, so her beating Navratilova at that stage of her career, even on grass, should not have been much a surprise. Navratilova would have wished McNeil won that semi final and not Conchita.
before the 32 seeds era... Lori was top 20 here, but with only 16 seeds- this is what happens. Had they seeded on grass ability alone, Lori should have been top 10
If I had just gone by the highlights shown I never would have known McNeil won. Steffi must have made a lot of errors b/c it seems like 2/3 of the points shown here were Graf winners etc.
Going into this tournament Lori was World Ranked No17. The Grand Slams had a system of having only, 16 seeded players. That 'system' quickly changed to 32 Seeds, due the loss of the defending champ Steffi, losing in the 1st round, the first time in Wimbledons history. That said, Lori was a gifted grass court player and on the day, deserved her win. I hoped she'd go on to win the Tournament but Martina had other ideas... ...So did Conchita...
To be fair I think if Graf had been playing almost anyone else in the draw, including the top 10, she'd have won that match playing at the level she did. McNeil had already beaten Graf at the 92 YEC and had a better game than arguably anyone in the draw to trouble Graf on grass. Navratilova was really struggling in 1994 and Novotna didn't have the left handed advantage than McNeil had.
At least Graf can take consolation from the fact that she is not now the only defending female champion to go out in the first round of Wimbledon. But she is the only defending champion and #1 seed to lose so early.
@@keithdoherty3178 What do you mean? Hall Of Famer Ms. McNeil reached a singles career high of 9th in the world in the era of Graf, Navratilova, Evert, Sabatini, Mandlikova, Garrison, MJ Fernandez. Not bad for average -
This match was memorable because Graf lost in the first round. However, it wasn’t that a big a surprise as Steffi was falling off the great play of the earlier part of the year. The match was very patchy and Graf a shadow, quite fragile and not really emotionally in the match. However Lori played a consistent match and kept the pressure on. Nice that she also had a good tournament and made it to the semis rather than lose in the next round which is what we see so often nowadays.
@@alexpiper1115 they gave props to Lori. It’s not a bad take. Compared to steffi from 1 or 2 years prior, she was having a real dip that affected the quality of her tennis. No ones denying that Lori was the better of the 2 on that day, they’re just saying this was an uncharacteristically weak match from steffi
Always loved how Lori moved at net, so smooth and elegant, like novotna as well and also Sabatini, when they were coming to net and while at net the movement was singular and smooth, such great transition games. Navratilova was known as the best serve and vollyer ever but her movement at net was so athletic and muscular but the movement didn't seem as natural as the three I just mentioned. I always love watching Steffi's footwork. I don't think anyone has ever had such good, balanced and balletic footwork in the women's game, there were definitely ppl as fast if not faster than Steffi, Clijsters, Williams Sisters, Capriati when she got super fit, Sanchez Vicario. But the only person I can think moved with the same kind of "small step" speed, I'd think maybe Justine Henin.
Lori reminds me a bit of early career Pat Rafter - so balanced, confident and solid as a rock at net, but groundstrokes are so shaky and lacking confidence- always giving big margin cos you can see they don’t trust themselves
Yes and Lori would be a far better match up/opponent for Navratilova than Conchita, who actually had a good record vs the old version of Navratilova (she was 3-1 going into the final). Like most was hoping Navratilova would win that Wimbledon after the Championship was left wide open by Graf's exit, or a miracle McNeil Wimbledon title as the second biggest hope.
@@travisstrong5389 plus- Martina had played four serve and volleyers going into the final- including last year's RU Novotna, killing her 6161 in the final 2 sets- switching up and getting a baseliner in the final definitely threw a wrench in her game. Martina had played Conchita a month before in the Italian final, I think it was 76 76, so she thought, if she could do that well against her on clay, she'd cream her on grass- but, at the Italian, she played baseliners and was more ready for Conchita's game.
@@aagold76 Yes that is the big thing. Her draw did not properly prepare her to play a baseliner with great passing shots. Particularly as not only did she play a row of serve and volleyers, but not had particularly good passing shots at all when you look at who the players were. Even Novotna a top serve and volley player, who had strong groundstrokes to rally from the back as well, plus approach the net, was not an effective passer. Off the backhand she literally couldn't pass at all, as she had no drive backhand. Yes given the Italian Open result vs Conchita on her beloved clay, you would think on grass she would be in good shape, but as you said her draw in Italy prepared her well for Conchita, not so her draw at Wimbledon. Martinez playing McNeil in the semis, was a good warm up to play Navratilova. I am sure Navratilova still would have beaten McNeil in the final, particularly as you said her draw would have prepped her perfectly for playing another serve and volley player.
@@travisstrong5389 Also, Martina was passing as well as I ever saw her against Novotna- she was hitting this flick short backhand cross court that tore Jana to shreds- it would have been effective against Lori as well. I was hoping Martina would get a 10th, but I really liked Lori and would have been happy if she won... she'd be in the Hall of Fame instead of Conchita, they seem to base it only on slams these days.
@@aagold76 I don't think Lori would have ever made the Hall of Fame, even if she won that Wimbledon. No way. Conchita has over 30 career titles, 3 slam finals, 12 slam semis, so a Wimbledon title was enough to get her in. McNeil has a career nowhere near that if she wins the Wimbledon title instead. She doesn't even have a Tier 1 title, only 1 Tier 2 title at Eastbourne, and 5 of her 10 singles titles are Tier 5 or lower. She has 1 other slam semi at the US Open. And she has no womens doubles slams, and only 1 mixed doubles slam, so she wouldn't get in for that or combined singles/doubles either.
One of the very few, if only, time Graf lost 2 consecutive matches. She had just been blown off the court by Pierce at RG. Then this really high quality match. For about 3 weeks in the mid-90s, it looked like Steffi might actually have some post-stabbing competition. So much was her back injury that would fully come to light in her USO final loss to ASV 3 months later. Turns out the only player besides Monica who could best a healthy Steffi was Steffi.
I doubt something like this happened in the 70s and 80s. This is a testament to the increased depth in women's tennis from the 90s onwards. That's why it's questionable to compare players from completely different eras.
@@darkeneydarkeney8092 I find that interesting because Lori McNeil once said in an interview that she still sees Steffi every now and then these days and that Steffi is always warm and friendly to her.
How exactly was Steffi unlikeable? Aside from being one of the most popular players of her time she was respectful with her peers and always minded her own business unlike a Navratilova who loved to talk and complain about her rivals like Monica’s grunting or saying that Steffi lied about being injured to have an excuse in case of a loss
Steffi Graf kazanabileceği kolay bir grand slami Conchita Martinez 'e hediye etti.İlk turda basit hataları filede ve çimde iyi oynayan Lori MC Neil 'i cesaretlendirdi.Navratilova Sanchez Novotna Sabatini hiçbiri önünü kesemezdi eğer Graf MC Neil'ı ilk turda eleseydi.
Without the Seles stabbing and therefore Monica being in the draw Steffi would most certainly not have had to play McNeil in the first round on a wet afternoon. Since Steffi won Wimbledon in 1991-93 and also in 1995/96 it is quite safe to say that the Seles stabbing cost Steffi the 1994 Wimbledon title. She would have equaled Navratilova with 8 titles and also Serena with 23 slams in total. Sadly it was not meant to be.....
How many times lori slips on the court, while none to Graf, at wimbledon perhaps graf never slip at all... but so much sliping turn out to give rewards for lori beating graf ... Hmmmm
I remember not being overly surprised by this result at that time. Lori almost always gave Steffi lots of trouble. And she demonstrated that the best way to play her was to catch her off guard at the net. Kudos to Lori for playing an inspired match. She also proved that it wasn't a fluke but getting all the way to the semifinals. And she was very close to winning that semifinal match as well. But even if she had won that match, I would not have liked her chances against Navratilova since the matchups favour Martina significantly.
Navratilova was 37 years old 1994. Lori would have beaten her.
@@carrerau7138 That's entirely possible but the match-ups do not favour her. If I'm not mistaken, Navratilova has a very commanding head to head against McNeil. I have to admit though that I have not seen any of their matches.
@@carrerau7138 I doubt it against n tennis history doesn't lie, look at the weather n streak and the total regardless of the age factor Mart. Navratilova was the best and has was n the most obvious t of any player..
@@gk891 Yes unlike Conchita who did have a strong head to head with old Navratilova already, so her beating Navratilova at that stage of her career, even on grass, should not have been much a surprise. Navratilova would have wished McNeil won that semi final and not Conchita.
Great win for Lori McNeil. She had the guts to go to win this one.
before the 32 seeds era... Lori was top 20 here, but with only 16 seeds- this is what happens. Had they seeded on grass ability alone, Lori should have been top 10
Along with her buddy Zina Garrison-Jackson.
It's not like Steffi played poorly in this match. Lori McNeil simply played better.
How many other GOAT contenders have lost in the first round of a slam when #1 seed? That must be another golden Graf record.
To her discredit, gunther graf should not have been the #1 seed.
Still won 22 slams including golden slam in half time of Serena's 23 (without even lesser calendar version without gold)
If I had just gone by the highlights shown I never would have known McNeil won. Steffi must have made a lot of errors b/c it seems like 2/3 of the points shown here were Graf winners etc.
One of the most memorable Wimbledon matched of my lifetime.
I had forgotten it already after Wimbledon 1995.
@@carrerau7138🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😭🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@carrerau7138 Yet here you are.
@@DaveWesten-yh8rr I did forget that match again after my post last year.
At net McNeil has the hands of a surgeon-her volleys are surgical in their precision. Phenomenal touch, such gifted hands.
So cool to see serve and volley tennis.
WOW- that volley Lori hit around 9:50 mark- I've only ever seen Martina hit volleys like that
Going into this tournament Lori was World Ranked No17.
The Grand Slams had a system of having only, 16 seeded players.
That 'system' quickly changed to 32 Seeds, due the loss of the defending champ Steffi, losing in the 1st round, the first time in Wimbledons history.
That said, Lori was a gifted grass court player and on the day, deserved her win.
I hoped she'd go on to win the Tournament but Martina had other ideas...
...So did Conchita...
It didn’t change to 32 seeds until 2000…hardly shortly after this and nothing specifically to do with this loss.
To be fair I think if Graf had been playing almost anyone else in the draw, including the top 10, she'd have won that match playing at the level she did. McNeil had already beaten Graf at the 92 YEC and had a better game than arguably anyone in the draw to trouble Graf on grass. Navratilova was really struggling in 1994 and Novotna didn't have the left handed advantage than McNeil had.
At least Graf can take consolation from the fact that she is not now the only defending female champion to go out in the first round of Wimbledon. But she is the only defending champion and #1 seed to lose so early.
The more exciting days of just 16 seeds at a slam landed Graf this extremely tough first round as Lori was definitely worthy of a seeding on grass.
crazy good win.. wow
Love the way Lori strikes that forehand, although Steffi's is undeniably more powerful and versatile.
Really? Her groundstrokes were pretty average - Meaning Ms. McNeil''s
@@keithdoherty3178 Average or not, I like the way she strikes her forehand.
@@keithdoherty3178 What do you mean?
Hall Of Famer Ms. McNeil reached a singles career high of 9th in the world in the era of Graf, Navratilova, Evert, Sabatini, Mandlikova, Garrison, MJ Fernandez.
Not bad for average -
This match was memorable because Graf lost in the first round. However, it wasn’t that a big a surprise as Steffi was falling off the great play of the earlier part of the year. The match was very patchy and Graf a shadow, quite fragile and not really emotionally in the match. However Lori played a consistent match and kept the pressure on. Nice that she also had a good tournament and made it to the semis rather than lose in the next round which is what we see so often nowadays.
It's a little shocking for me that Lori hasn't had more quality results at Wimbledon. The surface suits her game perfectly.
sounds like a bad take. Lori played exceptionally and that's why she won the match.
@@alexpiper1115 they gave props to Lori. It’s not a bad take. Compared to steffi from 1 or 2 years prior, she was having a real dip that affected the quality of her tennis. No ones denying that Lori was the better of the 2 on that day, they’re just saying this was an uncharacteristically weak match from steffi
@@alexpiper1115 - exactly. Steffi played a great match but Lori played better.
Graf fans always make excuses . Graf played great but Lori played better
Always loved how Lori moved at net, so smooth and elegant, like novotna as well and also Sabatini, when they were coming to net and while at net the movement was singular and smooth, such great transition games. Navratilova was known as the best serve and vollyer ever but her movement at net was so athletic and muscular but the movement didn't seem as natural as the three I just mentioned. I always love watching Steffi's footwork. I don't think anyone has ever had such good, balanced and balletic footwork in the women's game, there were definitely ppl as fast if not faster than Steffi, Clijsters, Williams Sisters, Capriati when she got super fit, Sanchez Vicario. But the only person I can think moved with the same kind of "small step" speed, I'd think maybe Justine Henin.
Lori reminds me a bit of early career Pat Rafter - so balanced, confident and solid as a rock at net, but groundstrokes are so shaky and lacking confidence- always giving big margin cos you can see they don’t trust themselves
The court took a beating that day. All that sliding tore it asunder!
Wow, though Lori won of course, one would never know by watching these heavily Graf-biased highlights.🙄
was hoping Lori would make it to the final, sadly losing 10-8 in the 3rd to Conchita Martinez in the SF.
Yes and Lori would be a far better match up/opponent for Navratilova than Conchita, who actually had a good record vs the old version of Navratilova (she was 3-1 going into the final). Like most was hoping Navratilova would win that Wimbledon after the Championship was left wide open by Graf's exit, or a miracle McNeil Wimbledon title as the second biggest hope.
@@travisstrong5389 plus- Martina had played four serve and volleyers going into the final- including last year's RU Novotna, killing her 6161 in the final 2 sets- switching up and getting a baseliner in the final definitely threw a wrench in her game. Martina had played Conchita a month before in the Italian final, I think it was 76 76, so she thought, if she could do that well against her on clay, she'd cream her on grass- but, at the Italian, she played baseliners and was more ready for Conchita's game.
@@aagold76 Yes that is the big thing. Her draw did not properly prepare her to play a baseliner with great passing shots. Particularly as not only did she play a row of serve and volleyers, but not had particularly good passing shots at all when you look at who the players were. Even Novotna a top serve and volley player, who had strong groundstrokes to rally from the back as well, plus approach the net, was not an effective passer. Off the backhand she literally couldn't pass at all, as she had no drive backhand.
Yes given the Italian Open result vs Conchita on her beloved clay, you would think on grass she would be in good shape, but as you said her draw in Italy prepared her well for Conchita, not so her draw at Wimbledon. Martinez playing McNeil in the semis, was a good warm up to play Navratilova. I am sure Navratilova still would have beaten McNeil in the final, particularly as you said her draw would have prepped her perfectly for playing another serve and volley player.
@@travisstrong5389 Also, Martina was passing as well as I ever saw her against Novotna- she was hitting this flick short backhand cross court that tore Jana to shreds- it would have been effective against Lori as well. I was hoping Martina would get a 10th, but I really liked Lori and would have been happy if she won... she'd be in the Hall of Fame instead of Conchita, they seem to base it only on slams these days.
@@aagold76 I don't think Lori would have ever made the Hall of Fame, even if she won that Wimbledon. No way. Conchita has over 30 career titles, 3 slam finals, 12 slam semis, so a Wimbledon title was enough to get her in. McNeil has a career nowhere near that if she wins the Wimbledon title instead. She doesn't even have a Tier 1 title, only 1 Tier 2 title at Eastbourne, and 5 of her 10 singles titles are Tier 5 or lower. She has 1 other slam semi at the US Open. And she has no womens doubles slams, and only 1 mixed doubles slam, so she wouldn't get in for that or combined singles/doubles either.
One of the very few, if only, time Graf lost 2 consecutive matches. She had just been blown off the court by Pierce at RG. Then this really high quality match. For about 3 weeks in the mid-90s, it looked like Steffi might actually have some post-stabbing competition. So much was her back injury that would fully come to light in her USO final loss to ASV 3 months later. Turns out the only player besides Monica who could best a healthy Steffi was Steffi.
Bad Pizza Again.
Sounds like a typical Seles excuse to me.
@@carrerau7138 lol,it was actually Graf who used that as a excuse 😳
@@jamesdavidkmoss She never did that.
Steffi never used excuses.
@@carrerau7138 Yes she did and its a fact,are you really a Graf fan ??
Wimbledon 1994 was mainly hot apart from this one day and cold damp weather never suited Steffi. Great credit to Lori though
I doubt something like this happened in the 70s and 80s. This is a testament to the increased depth in women's tennis from the 90s onwards. That's why it's questionable to compare players from completely different eras.
first time seeing steffi give a nice handshake when losing lol
It wasn’t that nice lol
My thoughts exactly to be honest. Steffi was a great player but just so unlikeable.
@@darkeneydarkeney8092 I find that interesting because Lori McNeil once said in an interview that she still sees Steffi every now and then these days and that Steffi is always warm and friendly to her.
How exactly was Steffi unlikeable? Aside from being one of the most popular players of her time she was respectful with her peers and always minded her own business unlike a Navratilova who loved to talk and complain about her rivals like Monica’s grunting or saying that Steffi lied about being injured to have an excuse in case of a loss
Because Lori won the match politely 😊
Steffi Graf kazanabileceği kolay bir grand slami Conchita Martinez 'e hediye etti.İlk turda basit hataları filede ve çimde iyi oynayan Lori MC Neil 'i cesaretlendirdi.Navratilova Sanchez Novotna Sabatini hiçbiri önünü kesemezdi eğer Graf MC Neil'ı ilk turda eleseydi.
I thought steffi won this game, the way the editing was done. More winners of steffi shown, yet she lost. Bias editing in my opinion
Biased editing! 👎
Graf hadn’t lost two matches in a row since 1984.
Without the Seles stabbing and therefore Monica being in the draw Steffi would most certainly not have had to play McNeil in the first round on a wet afternoon.
Since Steffi won Wimbledon in 1991-93 and also in 1995/96 it is quite safe to say that the Seles stabbing cost Steffi the 1994 Wimbledon title. She would have equaled Navratilova with 8 titles and also Serena with 23 slams in total.
Sadly it was not meant to be.....
Navratilova had 9 titles, not 8.
Very tough 1st round match for an already "low" form Steffi.
How many times lori slips on the court, while none to Graf, at wimbledon perhaps graf never slip at all... but so much sliping turn out to give rewards for lori beating graf ... Hmmmm
Grafs was very unlucky having Lori ,a very very dangerous opponent for a first round match..........luck really plays a major part in a game
Had Seles been in the draw Steffi most probably would not have drawn Lori.
But would have won the tournament.