1984 Women's Singles

International interest in the Australian Open began to pick up in 1984, ESPN televising the event in the US for the first time. John McEnroe was a disappointing withdrawal from the tournament after injuring his wrist in practice. Path cleared, Mats Wilander romped to the final, pausing only long enough to crush two-time champion Johan Kriek 6-1 6-0 6-2 in a humiliating 63-minute semifinal. Wilander had a tougher battle against South Africa’s Kevin Curren in the championship match but fought his way to the trophy 6-7(5) 6-4 7-6(3) 6-2. With six-consecutive Slam titles to her name, Navratilova’s place in the women’s final looked assured as she stepped on court for her semifinal against Helena Sukova. Everything was going according to the script with the top seed racing to a 6-1 lead but little more than an hour later found herself returning a Sukova serve long on match point, waving goodbye to a 74-match streak in the process. Navratilova’s consolation came in the form of a calendar-year women’s doubles Grand Slam with Pam Shriver. In the singles final Sukova fought, but wasn’t able to prevent Evert from claiming her 132nd tournament title and 1003rd match win, 7-6(4) 6-1 6-2. For Evert it was the eleventh consecutive year that she’d won at least one major singles title.

Finals