Steffi Graf
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Stefanie Maria "Steffi" Graf (born June 14, 1969 in Mannheim, Germany) is a former World No. 1 woman tennis player from Germany. She is widely considered to be one of the greatest tennis players in history. During her career she won 22 Grand Slam singles titles. In 1988, she became the first player to achieve the "Golden Slam" – capturing all four Grand Slam titles and the Olympic Gold Medal in the same year. She was ranked the World No. 1 player for a record 377 weeks, and is the only player to have won all four of the Grand Slam titles at least four times each.
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Early career
Steffi was introduced to tennis by her father Peter Graf, a car and insurance salesman and aspiring tennis coach. At the age of three he began teaching Steffi to swing a wooden racket in the family's living room. She began practising on a court at the age of four and played in her first tournament aged five. She soon began winning junior tournaments with regularity, and in 1982 she won the European Championships 12s and 18s.
Graf played in her first professional tournament at the age of 13 in October 1982 at Filderstadt, Germany, and lost her first professional match 6-4, 6-0 to Tracy Austin. After the match, Austin dismissed Graf's abilities saying there were "hundreds" of kids like her in the United States.
At the start of her first full professional season in 1983, the 13 year-old Graf was ranked World No. 124. Though she did not win any titles in the next three years, she played improved consistently and her ranking steadily climbed to No. 98 at the end of 1983, No. 22 at the end of 1984, and No. 6 at the end of 1985. In 1984 she represented West Germany in the tennis demonstration event at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles and won the Gold Medal. Her schedule was closely controlled Peter Graf, who limited her play so that she would not burn out in the way many other young tennis stars had. In 1985, for instance, she played only 10 events leading up to the US Open; whereas another up-and-coming star, Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina, who was a year younger than Graf, played 21. Peter Graf also kept a tight reign on Steffi's personal life. Social invitations on the tour were often declined as Steffi's focus was kept very much on on-court play. Working with her father and coach Pavel Slozil, Graf typically practiced for up to four hours a day, often heading straight from airports to practice courts. This narrow focus meant that Graf made few friends on the tour in her early years, but led to a steady improvement in her play.
Graf finally won her first tour title in April 1986 at Hilton Head, South Carolina, defeating Chris Evert in the final. She followed this up with seven further tournament victories in 1986, and finished the year ranked World No. 3.
The main weapon in Graf's game was her powerful forehand, which earned her the nickname "Fraulein Forehand"'. Over time, Graf also developed a sliced backhand that was the best in the game. She built her powerful and accurate serve up to 105 mph. She was also extremely fast and athletic, chasing down balls that seemed unplayable. Though she chose tennis as her career, she was also a top 400 metre runner in her youth and could potentially have been a world-class athlete in that event.
Breakthrough year
Graf's Grand Slam breakthrough came in 1987. She started the year strongly, having already won six tournaments heading into the French Open, where she qualified for the final against the then-World No. 1 Martina Navratilova. Graf claimed her first Grand Slam title after winning an epic battle 6-4, 4-6, 8-6. Graf lost to Navratilova in the finals at Wimbledon and the US Open later that year. But she won three more tournaments after the French Open and did enough to claim the World No. 1 ranking from Navratilova in August 1987. She also helped West Germany win the Fed Cup that year.
"Golden Slam"
1988 is widely considered to be the pinnacle of Graf's career. She started out the year by winning the Australian Open, beating Evert in straight sets in the final. Then at the French Open, she successfully defended her title by hammering Natalia Zvereva 6-0, 6-0 in the final. Next came Wimbledon, where Navratilova had won six straight titles. After a tight start to the final, Graf took control in the second set and beat Navratilova 5-7, 6-2, 6-1. She then beat Sabatini in three sets in the US Open final to emulate the feat of winning all four Grand Slam singles titles in one year, previously achieved by only two women – Maureen Connolly (in 1953) and Margaret Court (in 1970). But with tennis becoming a full medal sport at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, there was one more feat which Graf could add. And she duly defeated Sabatini 6-3, 6-3 in the Olympic final to win the Gold Medal and achieve what the media had dubbed the "Golden Slam". Graf also won her only Grand Slam doubles title that year – at Wimbledon partnering Sabatini – and picked up a women's doubles Olympic Bronze Medal. She was named the 1988 BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year.
New challengers
Graf extended her Grand Slam winning streak to five events at the Australian Open in 1989, where she comfortably beat Helena Sukova in the final. The winning streak was ended at 1989 French Open, where a 16 year-old Spanish pretender Arantxa Sᮣhez Vicario beat her in three sets to become the French Open's youngest-ever winner. However the winning touch was quickly rediscovered as Graf beat Navratilova in three-set finals at both Wimbeldon and the US Open.
Few doubted that Graf would continue to dominate the women's game for years to come when she beat Mary Joe Fernᮤez at the start of 1990. But a new threat to her dominance emerged broke-through at the 1990 French Open where 16 year-old Monica Seles beat Graf in straight sets to further lower to youngest-ever winner record. At Wimbledon, Graf was unexpectedly beaten in the semi-finals by Zina Garrison. She the reached the US Open final, but lost in straight sets to Sabatini. Personal problems contributed to her difficulties. In the middle of the year, her father Peter was the subject of a paternity suit brought by a former Playboy model. The difficulty of answering questions about the matter came to a head at a press conference early in the tournament at Wimbledon, where Steffi broke down in tears. Wimbledon authorities then threatened to immediately shut-down any subsequent press conferences where questions about the issue were asked. (Tests eventually proved Peter was not the baby's father.) Though Graf remained the World No. 1 player at the end of 1990, her aura of invincibility had been broken.
A mixture of injury problems, personal difficulties and loss of form made 1991 a tough year for Graf. Seles established herself as the new dominant player on the women's tour, winning the Australian Open, French Open and US Open, and ending Graf's reign as World No. 1 in March. Seles did not play at Wimbledon, where Graf won her only Grand Slam final of the year following a tight three-set battle with Sabatini.
1992 was another year when Graf had to play second-fiddle to Seles on the tour. Seles again won the Australian, French and US Opens. Seles and Graf met in the French Open final which Seles won in a very close battle, taking the third-set 10-8. They then met again in the Wimbeldon final, where Graf comprehensively proved that she was still the tour's strongest grass court player, winning 6-2, 6-1. At the Olympic Games in Barcelona, Graf lost to Jennifer Capriati in the final and claimed the Silver Medal. However she did win her second Fed Cup with Germany.
All indications were that Seles continued to have the upper-hand at the start of the 1993, when she beat Graf in three sets in the final of the Australian Open. However a stunning turn of events changed everything on April 30 1993. During a quarter-final match between Seles and Magdalena Maleeva at the German Open in Hamburg, Seles was stabbed between the shoulder-blades by a member of the crowd during a change-over. As Seles was rushed to hospital, her attacker was taken into custody. It turned out that the assailant was G?Parche, a 38-year-old mentally-unstable fan of Graf from eastern Germany, who claimed that he committed the attack in order to help Graf reclaim the World No. 1 ranking, which Seles had held for the past two years. Graf visited Seles in hospital the following day. She reached the final of the German Open that week, where she lost to Sᮣhez Vicario. In difficult circumstances, Graf acted with dignity and expressed her sympathy and support for Seles.
Second period of dominance
The psychological effects of the attack kept Seles away from the tour for the next 28 months. With Seles off the scene, Graf won the remaining three Grand Slam titles in 1993 and regained the World No. 1 ranking.
The beginning of 1994 saw Graf beat Sᮣhez Vicario in the final of the Australian Open and, for the second time in her career, become the holder of all four Grand Slam titles simultaneously. However she lost in the semi-finals at the French Open, and then was shockingly eliminated in the first round at Wimbledon by Lori McNeil. She reached the final of the US Open, where she lost to Sᮣhez Vicario in three sets.
Injury kept Graf out of the Australian Open in 1995. She came back strongly to beat Sᮣhez Vicario in the finals of both the French Open and Wimbeldon. The US Open was Seles' first Grand Slam after returning from her long period away from the tour. Seles and Graf met in the final, and Graf won a dramatic battle 7-6, 0-6, 6-3.
In personal terms, 1995 was a very difficult year for Steffi as she was accused by the German authorities of tax evasion in the early years of her career. In her defence, all she could say was that her father Peter had been her financial manager, and all financial matters relating to her earnings at the time had been under his control. As a result, Peter Graf was sentenced to 45 months in jail. He was eventually released after serving 25 months. Prosecutors dropped their case against Steffi in 1997, when she agreed to pay a fine of 1.3 million Deutsche Marks to the government and an unspecified charity.
In 1996 Steffi again missed the Australian Open due to injury, and then successfully defended the three Grand Slam titles she won the year before. In a classic French Open final, Graf saved several match-points against Sᮣhez Vicario before taking the third-set 10-8. She then had straight-sets wins against Sᮣhez Vicario in the Wimbledon final and Seles in the US Open final.
While known for her business-like approach to the game, at times Graf displayed a sense of humor. During a tight 1996 semi-final match at Wimbeldon against Kimiko Date, Graf was getting ready to serve when a spectator yelled out "Steffi, will you marry me?". The whole stadium burst into laughter. Steffi caught the ball she was bouncing, turned to the fan, and yelled "How much money do you have?". Graf lost the set, but won the match 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.
Finals years on the tour
The last few years of Graf's career were beset by injuries – particularly to her knees and back. But this did not prevent her enjoying some final Grand Slam success as her career came to a close.
Injury problems caused Graf to miss much of the season in 1997. She lost the World No. 1 ranking to Martina Hingis and failed to win a Grand Slam title for the first time in ten years.
After missing almost half the season in 1998, she finished that year ranked World No. 9 (her lowest ranking since 1984).
But Graf still had a few more dramatic moments up her sleeve in 1999. At the French Open, she reached her first Grand Slam final for three years and fought back from a set and a break down in the second set to defeat the tennis world's new young star Martina Hingis in three sets. She then reached her ninth Wimbledon final, where she lost to Lindsay Davenport.
With a series of injuries refusing to go away, Graf announced her retirement from the tour in August 1999. She was ranked the World No. 3 at the time of her retirement.
During her career, Graf won 107 singles titles and 11 doubles titles. Her 22 Grand Slam singles titles are second only to Margaret Court, who won 24. Her career prize-money earnings totalled US$21,895,277. Her singles win-loss record was 900-115. She was ranked the World No. 1 for a massive 377 weeks (non-consecutive), including a record 186 consecutive weeks (from August 1987-March 1991) – more than any other man or woman player.
After retirement from the tour
Graf married Andre Agassi on October 22 2001 at his home in Las Vegas, with only their mothers as witnesses. Their son Jaden Gil was born on October 26, six weeks prematurely. Their daughter Jaz Elle was born on October 3 2003.
Graf is the Founder and active chairperson of 'Children for Tomorrow', a non-profit foundation with the goal of implementing and developing projects to support children who have been traumatized by war or other crises. She is also a WWF Ambassador. She appeared in "Otto, der Auߥrfriesische", loves animals and is keen on fashion and has created her own designs.
Graf was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2004.
Grand Slam finals
Wins (22)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
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| 1987 | French Open | Martina Navratilova | 6-4, 4-6, 8-6 |
| 1988 | Australian Open | Chris Evert | 6-1, 7-6 |
| French Open | Natalia Zvereva | 6-0, 6-0 | |
| Wimbledon | Martina Navratilova | 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 | |
| US Open | Gabriela Sabatini | 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 | |
| 1989 | Australian Open | Helena Sukova | 6-4, 6-4 |
| Wimbledon | Martina Navratilova | 6-2, 6-7, 6-1 | |
| US Open | Martina Navratilova | 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 | |
| 1990 | Australian Open | Mary Joe Fernᮤez | 6-3, 6-4 |
| 1991 | Wimbledon | Gabriela Sabatini | 6-4, 3-6, 8-6 |
| 1992 | Wimbledon | Monica Seles | 6-2, 6-1 |
| 1993 | French Open | Mary Joe Fernᮤez | 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 |
| Wimbledon | [[Jana Novotn | 7-6, 1-6, 6-4 | |
| US Open | Helena Sukova | 6-3, 6-3 | |
| 1994 | Australian Open | Arantxa Sᮣhez Vicario | 6-0, 6-2 |
| 1995 | French Open | Arantxa Sᮣhez Vicario | 7-5, 4-6, 6-0 |
| Wimbledon | Arantxa Sᮣhez Vicario | 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 | |
| US Open | Monica Seles | 7-6, 0-6, 6-3 | |
| 1996 | French Open | Arantxa Sᮣhez Vicario | 6-3, 6-7, 10-8 |
| Wimbledon | Arantxa Sᮣhez Vicario | 6-3, 7-5 | |
| US Open | Monica Seles | 7-5, 6-4 | |
| 1999 | French Open | Martina Hingis | 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 |
Runner-ups (9)
Year Championship Opponent in Final Score in Final 1987 Wimbledon Martina Navratilova 7-5, 6-3 1987 US Open Martina Navratilova 7-6, 6-1 1989 French Open Arantxa Sᮣhez Vicario 7-6, 3-6, 7-5 1990 French Open Monica Seles 7-6, 6-4 1990 US Open Gabriela Sabatini 6-2, 7-6 1992 French Open Monica Seles 6-2, 3-6, 10-8 1993 Australian Open Monica Seles 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 1994 US Open Arantxa Sᮣhez Vicario 1-6, 7-6, 6-4 1999 Wimbledon Lindsay Davenport 6-4, 7-5
External links
- The official Steffi Graf website (http://www.stefanie-graf.com/)