The 1980s Quiz
...well, the 1980s Quiz is here. Hope you know everything there is to know about breakdancing and the fall of the Berlin Wall... it'll give you
something to think about other than tennis.
==THE QUESTIONS==
1.From the list below, pick out all of the things that actually happened during the 1980s:
1.Martina Navratilova won six consecutive slam singles titles, but didn't accomplish a calendar-year "grand slam"
2.Chris Evert & John McEnroe won a US Open Mixed Doubles title
3.Steffi Graf won a grand slam doubles title
4.Tracy Austin won a Wimbledon Mixed Doubles title with her brother
5.Martina Navratilova & Pam Shriver completed a single season "Grand Slam"
in doubles
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2.Serena Williams failed in her stated bid for an undefeated season in 2003. By percentage, assuming at least 50 matches won with fewer than 10 losses, the Top 7 seasons in WTA history were all accomplished by either Martina Navratilova or Steffi Graf during the 1980s. Who had the "best" single season?
A.Graf in 1989
B.Navratilova in 1984
C.Graf in 1988
D.Navratilova in 1983
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3.The three youngest players to win $1 million (US) were a trio of 16-year olds in the 1990s -- Martina Hingis, Jennifer Capriati and Monica Seles. Who was the youngest to do so in the 1980s?
A.Andrea Jaeger
B.Steffi Graf
C.Tracy Austin
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4."Everyone complains about the Williams sisters hogging the grand slam titles these days, but most seem to have forgotten that 32 of the 39 grand slams contested during the 1980s were won by just three players -- Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert and Steffi Graf. Of the seven other slams played during the decade, I won four of them -- more than any other player besides the Big 3. Who am I?"
A.Hana Mandlikova
B.Tracy Austin
C.Evonne Goolagong
D.Helena Sukova
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5.Before the Russian Horde started to devise the plan for the expected future overthrow of the WTA a few years from now, the final years of the Soviet Union DID produce a few prominant female tennis stars in the late 1980s. In fact, two of them finished seasons ranked in the Top 10 in prize money during the decade. Who were they?
A.Natasha Zvereva & Elena Likhovtseva
B.Larisa Savchenko & Natasha Zvereva
C.Elena Likhovtseva & Larisa Savchenko
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6.Which rookie (*) earned the most money in a WTA season during the 1980s? (*)-defined as having played at least 8 WTA events in a season for the first time
A.Tracy Austin in 1980
B.Steffi Graf in 1984
C.Monica Seles in 1989
D.Arantxa Sanchez in 1989
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7.Serena Williams' winning streak to start the 2003 season was ended at 21. The all-time record for consecutive wins to begin a season was set during the 1980s? Who holds the record?
A.Martina Navratilova in 1983
B.Steffi Graf in 1987
C.Chris Evert in 1981
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8.In 2003, Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne are the only remaining players with a chance (though slim to no, in reality) to accomplish the rare "90/9" feat -- playing 90 matches in a season while losing no more than 9 times. The feat has been accomplished eight times, with three of the seasons coming during the 1980s. Martina Navratilova did it twice, in 1982 & 1986. Who was the other player to pull it off during the decade?
A.Steffi Graf in 1988
B.Chris Evert in 1981
C.Tracy Austin in 1980
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9.From the list below, choose all the players active in WTA singles at some point during 2002-03 who played in a Tour singles final in 1989:
M.Navratilova....Amy Frazier
Monica Seles.....Conchita Martinez
Nicole Pratt.....S.Farina Elia
Natasha Zvereva..A.Sanchez Vicario
Amanda Coetzer...Rachel McQuillan
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10.True/False. Of the 12 women who have held the WTA's #1 singles ranking, no one has ever done so without first having won a WTA singles title before she turned 18.
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**BONUS**
IF #10 TRUE: Which three of the 12 were the oldest when they claimed their first WTA title?
IF #10 FALSE: Which three failed to win their first WTA title before turned
18?
--[answer the same for both]--
A.Navratilova,V.Williams,S.Williams
B.V.Williams,Navratilova,Evert
C.Evert,Navratilova,Clijsters
==THE ANSWERS (1 point each unless noted)==
1.1,3,4 & 5. (1 point for each of the four correct) All happened during the 1980s except for the Evert/McEnroe Mixed Doubles title. Navratilova won six straight slam titles in 1983-84, but failed to win all four in a single season (and no one thought to give Martina's remarkable feat a cool nickname like "The Serena Slam," either). Graf won her only career slam doubles title at the 1988 Wimbledon with Gabriela Sabatini. Austin and her brother John won the 1980 Wimbledon Mixed Doubles title. Navratilova/Shriver completed the Doubles "Grand Slam" in 1984 (and also won the crown at the WTA Championships).
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2.D. Navratilova's 86-1 (.989 winning pct.) season came in 1983. #2 on the all-time list is Graf's 86-2 (.977) season in 1989. Graf's 1988 "Golden Slam" season (all four slams plus the Olympic Gold Medal) produced the #7 best year (72-3, .960).
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3.A. In 1982, Jaeger became the decade's youngest to reach $1 million in career earnings at 17 years, 5 months, 17 days. Austin did so in 1980, at 17 years, 7 months, 8 days.
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4.A. She's Czech-born Hall of Famer Mandlikova, who won the 1980 & '87 Australian, 1981 Roland Garros and 1985 US Open... but was never able to complete a career grand slam by winning Wimbledon (though she advanced to two finals). The other three unclaimed slam titles in the 1980s went to Goolagong ('80 Wimbledon), Austin ('81 US) and Arantxa Sanchez ('89 RG). Of note, Mandlikova lost four grand slam finals to either Navratilova ('86 Wimbledon) or Evert ('81 Wimbledon, '80 & '82 US). She did defeat Navratilova in the 1987 Australian final, and had her career-best moment in 1985 when she defeated Evert in the SF and then Navratilova in the final of the US Open. Mandlikova made a name for herself as a coach in the 1990s, guiding the often star-crossed career of fellow Czech-born Jana Novotna. In 1998, Novotna finally claimed the elusive Wimbledon title that had eluded Mandlikova as a player. Afterward, Novotna dedicated her victory to her coach.
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5.B. Ukrainian Savchenko (later Neiland), who won two WTA singles titles in her career, was predominantly a doubles specialist, briefly rising to #1 in 1992. In 1989, she finished #10 on the season's money list. Belarussian Zvereva was #8 on the prize money list in 1988, the year she lost the Roland Garros final to Steffi Graf (0-6,0-6) and stirred up controversy when she refused to turn over her winnings to the Soviet tennis establishment. Zvereva turned out to be the forerunner of the Soviet-turned-Russian coming tide years before the name of Kournikova was uttered around the tennis world, rising to a career-high of #5 in singles in 1989, and #1 in doubles in 1991 (a position she held as recently as August 1999). She made the Wimbledon SF in 1998, but her tendency to crack under pressure in big singles matches meant she only won four WTA singles titles in her career. She did win 82 doubles titles, though, with 20 of them coming at grand slams. At the beginning of the 2003 season, she ranked #13 on the all-time WTA money leaders list. Neiland, by comparison, stood as #26.
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6.C. Seles earned the most money in her rookie season of 1989 with $239,361 (US). The all-time "best" rookie year was by Venus Williams in 1997, when she earned $466,863.
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7.B. Graf started the 1987 season 45-0. Navratilova was 36-0 in 1983, while Evert was 33-0 in 1981.
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8.C. Austin played 96 matches in 1980, going 88-8. The other five times the "90/9" feat has been accomplished were by Chris Evert (1974 & '75) and Margaret Court (1969, 1970 & '73). Only Court (all three times) and Evert (in '74) lost no more than 9 times while playing over 100 matches.
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9.(add 1 point for each of the 7 correct answers) Navratilova, Seles, Sanchez Vicario, Martinez and Frazier all won WTA singles titles in 1989. Zvereva and McQuillan played in and lost finals that season.
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10.True. Since the computer rankings were instituted in November 1975, an odd prerequisite for the #1 honor has been established as all 12 women who've held the spot won a WTA singles title before they turned 18. Tracy Austin (the youngest-ever WTA titleist) and Jennifer Capriati won their first at 14. Monica Seles and Martina Hingis were 15. Chris Evert, Steffi Graf, Lindsay Davenport, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Kim Clijsters were 16. Martina Navratilova and Venus & Serena Williams were 17. For anyone looking forward to possibly a 13th #1 woman later this year, it should be noted that Justine Henin-Hardenne won her first title at age 16... so she's more than qualified. As of yet, Maria Sharapova, though, has yet to get HER "qualifying" title... but she's only 16. There's still time.
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BONUS: (1 point)
A. Navratilova waited the longest of the #1's for her first title, winning in Orlando (1974) at 17 years, 11 months. Venus was 17 years, 8 months when she claimed Oklahoma City in 1998; while Serena was 17 years, 5 months when she won the Paris Indoors in 1999. [In case you were wondering what this question has to do with the 1980s... well, nothing, other than the fact that three #1's -- Graf, Seles & Sanchez Vicario -- won their first singles titles during the decade. It was just too interesting a question to pass up.]
==SCORING==
20-18 - Steffi's "Golden Slam" was nothing compared to this
17-12 - Now you know what Martina felt like in 1984
11-6 - Like Andrea Jaeger, you burned out far too early
0-5 - Where's that "Back to the Future" DeLorean when you need it?
posted by Todd Spiker @ 8:31 PM
