Steffi Graf

Steffi Graf

Country	Germany[1]
Residence	Las Vegas, NV
Date of birth	June 14 1969 (1969--) (age 38)
Place of birth	Mannheim
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	64 kg (141 lb)
Turned Pro	1982
Retired	1999
Plays	Right; One-handed backhand
Career Prize Money	US$21,895,277 (1st in all-time rankings)
Singles
Career record:	902-115
Career titles:	107 (3rd in all-time rankings)
Highest ranking:	No. 1 (August 17, 1987)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	W (1988, '89, '90, '94)
French Open	W (1987, '88, '93, '95, '96, '99)
Wimbledon	W (1988, '89, '91, '92, '93, '95, '96)
U.S. Open	W (1988, '89, '93, '95, '96)
Doubles
Career record:	173-72
Career titles:	11
Highest ranking:	No. 5 (November 21, 1988)
Infobox last updated on: 17th September 2007 by Dajes13.

Stefanie Maria Graf (born June 14, 1969, in Mannheim, West Germany) is a former World No. 1 ranked female tennis player from Germany. Graf is widely considered to be one of the greatest female tennis players in history. Graf won 22 Grand Slam singles titles, second among male and female players only to Margaret Smith Court's 24. She also won 107 singles titles, which ranks her third on the list of most singles titles won during the open era, behind Martina Navratilova (167 titles) and Chris Evert (154 titles). In December 1999, Graf was named the greatest female tennis player of the 20th century by a panel of experts assembled by The Associated Press.^[2] Tennis writer Steve Flink, in his book The Greatest Tennis Matches of the Twentieth Century, named her as the best female player of the 20th century.^[3]

In 1988, tennis was reintroduced to the Olympic games as a medal sport after more than a forty-year absence. Graf won the Olympic gold medal in singles and all four Grand Slam singles titles that year, capturing the "Golden Slam," a term created in her honor.

She was ranked the Women's Tennis Association's No. 1 player for a record 377 total weeks - the longest of any player, male or female, since rankings began – and is the only player to have won all four Grand Slam singles tournaments (Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, the French Open and the Australian Open) at least four times each. Graf also holds the record (eight) for most years as year end number one. [1]

A notable feature of Graf's game was her versatility across all playing surfaces. She won six French Open singles titles (second to Evert) and seven Wimbledon singles titles (third behind Navratilova and Helen Wills Moody). She is the only singles player to have achieved a Calendar Year Grand Slam across all three types of tennis courts, as the other Calendar Year Grand Slams won by other players occurred when the Australian and U.S. Opens were still played on grass. Graf reached thirteen consecutive Grand Slam singles finals, from the French Open in 1987 through the French Open in 1990, winning nine of them. She played in 36 Grand Slam singles tournaments from the 1987 French Open through the 1996 U.S. Open, reaching the finals 29 times and winning 21 titles. Her 22nd and last Grand Slam title was the French Open in 1999. She reached 31 grand slam singles finals, third overall behind Evert (34 finals) and Navratilova (32 finals).^{[citation needed]}

Graf retired in 1999, giving her the distinction of being the highest ranked player ever to retire, retiring at No. 3 in the world.

Graf is married to the former World No. 1 men's tennis player Andre Agassi.

Playing style

The main weapon in Graf's game was her powerful forehand, which earned her the nickname "Fraulein Forehand." Graf also had a powerful backhand drive, but over the course of her career tended to use this less frequently, in preference for her very effective backhand slice. She built her powerful and accurate serve up to 180 km/h (112 mph), making it one of the fastest serves in women's tennis, and was a capable volleyer, but was often criticised for not using her volley more often. She was also very fast and athletic, chasing down balls that seemed unplayable. Her footwork was unique and instantly recognizable. Her powerful strokes are considered by many to have started the current trend of power baseline tennis that is common among professional women tennis players today.

Biography

Early career

Steffi was introduced to tennis by her father Peter Graf, a car and insurance salesman and aspiring tennis coach, who taught his three-year-old daughter how to swing a wooden racket in the family's living room. She began practicing on a court at the age of four and played in her first tournament at 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 in October 1982 at Stuttgart, Germany. She lost her first round match 6-4, 6-0 to Tracy Austin, a two-time U.S. Open champion and former World No. 1 player. Austin remarked of the then-thirteen year old Graf that "there are hundreds of girls like her in America." Twelve years later, Graf defeated Austin 6-0, 6-0 during a second round match in Indian Wells, California, which was their second and last match against each other.

At the start of her first full professional season in 1983, the 13-year-old Graf was ranked No. 124. She won no titles in the next three years, but her game improved consistently and her ranking steadily climbed: to No. 98 in 1983, No. 22 in 1984, and No. 6 in 1985. In 1984, she represented West Germany in the tennis demonstration event at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles and won the event. Her schedule was closely controlled by her father, who limited her play so that she would not burn out as many young tennis stars had. In 1985, for instance, she played only 10 events leading up to the U.S. 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 rein on Graf's personal life. Social invitations on the tour were often declined as Graf's focus was kept very much on practising and match play. Working with her father and then-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, already shy and retiring by nature, made few friends on the tour in her early years, but it 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 additional tournament victories in 1986 and finished the year ranked No. 3.

Breakthrough year

Graf's Grand Slam breakthrough came in 1987. She started the year strongly, with six tournament victories heading into the French Open. In the final, she defeated the World No. 1 Martina Navratilova in 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 four more tournaments after the French Open, including the season-ending Virginia Slims Championships at Madison Square Garden, and did enough to claim the World No. 1 ranking from Navratilova in August 1987, finishing the year with a 75-2 match record. She also helped West Germany win the Fed Cup that year.

Olympic medal record
Women's Tennis
Competitor for  West Germany
Gold	1988 Seoul	Singles
Bronze	1988 Seoul	Doubles
Competitor for  Germany
Silver	1992 Barcelona	Singles

"Golden Slam"

Nineteen eighty-eight 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 (6-1, 7-6) in the final. Then at the French Open, she successfully defended her title by routing Natalia Zvereva 6-0, 6-0 in a 34-minute championship match. 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, taking 12 of the last 13 games. She then beat Sabatini in three sets in the US Open final to duplicate 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). With tennis becoming a full medal sport at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Graf 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 and personal challenges

Graf extended her Grand Slam winning streak to five events at the Australian Open in 1989, where she defeated Helena Sukova in the final. The winning streak ended at the 1989 French Open, where 17-year-old Spaniard Arantxa Sánchez Vicario beat Graf in three sets. Graf, however, defeated Martina Navratilova in three-set finals at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open and in four sets in the final of the season-ending Virginia Slims Championships.

In 1990, most believed Graf would dominate the women's game for years to come when she beat Mary Joe Fernández in the final of the 1990 Australian Open, making it her eighth Grand Slam championship in the last nine she contested. Major personal issues arose, however, when Graf's father Peter was the subject of a fraudulent 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 Graf broke down in tears. Wimbledon authorities then threatened to immediately shut down any subsequent press conferences where questions about the issue were asked. The blackmail scheme eventually failed when DNA tests proved Peter was not the baby's father. In the same year at the French Open, 16-year-old Monica Seles beat Graf in straight sets. At Wimbledon, Graf was unexpectedly beaten in the semifinals by Zina Garrison. She then reached the U.S. Open final, but lost in straight sets to Gabriela Sabatini. Graf remained the top ranked player at the end of 1990, even though she did not win a Grand Slam event after the blackmail scandal broke.

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 U.S. 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.

Still struggling with injuries, in 1992 Graf won only one Grand Slam event, Wimbledon. A bout with German measles forced Graf to miss the Australian Open. Seles and Graf met in the French Open final, which Seles won in a very close battle, taking the third set 10-8. Seles and she met again in the Wimbledon final, with Graf winning 6-2, 6-1. Graf won all five of her Fed Cup matches, helping Germany defeat Spain in the final by defeating Sánchez Vicario 6-4, 6-2. At the Olympic Games in Barcelona, Graf lost to Jennifer Capriati in the final and claimed the silver medal. At the U.S. Open, Graf was upset in a quarterfinal by Sánchez Vicario 7-6(5), 6-3.

In 1993, Seles beat Graf in three sets in the final of the Australian Open. The burgeoning rivalry between them was then cut short. During a quarterfinal match between Seles and Magdalena Maleeva in Hamburg, Seles was stabbed between the shoulder blades by a mentally ill Günter Parche. He claimed that he committed the attack to help Graf reclaim the number one ranking. Almost two years elapsed before Seles competed again.

The indirect effects of Seles's injury on Graf's career is the subject of frequent speculation. Seles was number one at the time of the attack. In head-to-head matches, Graf never had a losing record versus Seles at any point in her career, and prior to the year the blackmail scandal first broke, Graf was undefeated versus Seles in three encounters. Seles, however, won four of the seven matches they played from 1990 through 1993, including a 3-1 advantage over Graf in Grand Slam tournaments. Graf retired with a 10-5 lifetime record over Seles, including a 6-4 winning record versus Seles in Grand Slam singles tournaments and a 5-2 winning record versus Seles while Seles was ranked #1.

Second period of dominance

Graf won three of four Grand Slam events in 1993, and in the beginning of 1994, Graf beat Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in the final of the Australian Open. For the second time in her career, Graf was the holder of all four Grand Slam titles simultaneously. She lost, however, to Mary Pierce in the semifinals of the French Open and then was surprisingly eliminated in the first round at Wimbledon by the American Lori McNeil. Graf reached the final of the U.S. Open, where she lost to Sánchez Vicario in three sets.

Injury kept Graf out of the Australian Open in 1995. She came back to beat Sánchez Vicario in the finals of both the French Open and Wimbledon. The U.S. Open was Seles's first Grand Slam event after the 1993 attack. Seles and Graf met in the final, with Graf winning 7-6, 0-6, 6-3. Graf then capped the year by beating countrywoman Anke Huber in a five-set final at the season-ending WTA Tour Championships.

In personal terms, 1995 was a difficult year for Graf as she was accused by German authorities of tax evasion in the early years of her career. In her defense, she stated that her father Peter was her financial manager, and all financial matters relating to her earnings at the time had been under his control. As a result, Peter 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, Graf again missed the Australian Open due to injury and then successfully defended the three Grand Slam titles she won the year before. In a close French Open final, Graf again overcame Sánchez Vicario, taking the third-set 10-8. Graf then had straight-sets wins against Sánchez Vicario in the Wimbledon final and Seles in the U.S. Open final. Graf also won her fifth and final WTA Tour Championships title with a five set win over Martina Hingis.

Final years on the tour

The last few years of Graf's career were beset by injuries, particularly to her knees and back. These injuries caused Graf to miss much of the tour 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 tour in 1998, she finished that year ranked ninth, her lowest ranking since 1984.

At the 1999 French Open, Graf reached her first Grand Slam final in three years and fought back from a set and two breaks down in the second set to defeat the top ranked Hingis in three sets. Graf also became the first player in the open era to defeat the first, second, and third ranked players in the same Grand Slam tournament by defeating second ranked Lindsay Davenport in the quarterfinals and third ranked Monica Seles in the semifinals. Graf said after the final that it would be her last French Open,^[4] fueling speculation about her retirement.

Graf continued her success after the French Open when she reached her ninth Wimbledon singles final, where she lost in straight sets to Davenport.

Graf announced her retirement from the tour in August 1999. She was ranked third in the world 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 (11 open era). Graf won 7 singles titles at Wimbledon, 6 singles titles at the French Open, 5 singles titles at the U.S. Open, and 4 singles titles at the Australian Open. She is the only person to have won at least four singles titles at each Grand Slam event. Her overall record in 56 Grand Slam events was 282-34 (89 percent) (87-10 at the French Open, 75-8 at Wimbledon, 73-10 at the US Open, and 47-6 at the Australian Open). Her career prize-money earnings totalled U.S. $21,895,277. Her singles win-loss record was 902-115 (89 percent). She was ranked No. 1 for 377 weeks (non-consecutive; overall record), including a record 186 consecutive weeks (from August 1987-March 1991) – the latter record was only recently surpassed by Roger Federer, and is still the outstanding record in the women's game.

Accolades

In an interview with ESPN Classic's SportsCentury series, Chris Evert said, "Steffi Graf's the best all-around player. Martina [Navratilova] won more on fast courts and I won more on slow courts, but Steffi came along and won more titles on both surfaces." Evert also has said that Graf's forehand was "the best in women's tennis".[2] Billie Jean King said in 1999 that she considered Graf to be the greatest female tennis player ever.[3] Navratilova said in 1996, "Steffi is the best all-around player of all time, regardless of the surface.”[4]

Personal life

With her father dominating her personal life until the Graf tax scandal in 1995, Graf often declined social invitations and made few friends on tour. Soon after retiring she made headlines off the court for dating Andre Agassi. They married in October 2001 with only their mothers as witnesses. Four days later Steffi gave birth, six weeks prematurely, to their son Jaden Gil (named for Andre's longtime trainer Gil Reyes). Their daughter, Jaz Elle, was born in October 2003.

Steffi has one younger brother Michael Graf (not the race car driver) and prior to Agassi, had a high profile seven year relationship with Michael Bartels. She has also been linked with Simply Red singer Mick Hucknall.

Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

At the 1992 Wimbledon champions banquet, she and husband-to-be Andre Agassi showed no interest in one another. However, in a 2006 Sports Illustrated piece, Agassi - who claimed he had been secretly pining for Graf as far back as 1990 - said that officials would not allow him to dance with her, which was a Wimbledon tradition.

Hugh Laurie sang a song about her on the show A Bit of Fry and Laurie.

Graf, known for her industrious and business-like approach to the game, could at times display a sense of humor. During a 1996 Wimbledon semifinal against Kimiko Date, a spectator yelled out, "Steffi, will you marry me?" Pausing momentarily as the stadium burst into laughter, she turned to the fan and yelled, "How much money do you have?"

Grand Slam singles finals

Wins [22]

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1987	French Open	Martina Navrátilová	6-4, 4-6, 8-6
1988	Australian Open	Chris Evert	6-1, 7-6
1988	French Open (2)	Natalia Zvereva	6-0, 6-0
1988	Wimbledon	Martina Navrátilová	5-7, 6-2, 6-1
1988	U.S. Open	Gabriela Sabatini	6-3, 3-6, 6-1
1989	Australian Open (2)	Helena Suková	6-4, 6-4
1989	Wimbledon (2)	Martina Navrátilová	6-2, 6-7, 6-1
1989	U.S. Open (2)	Martina Navrátilová	3-6, 7-5, 6-1
1990	Australian Open (3)	Mary Joe Fernández	6-3, 6-4
1991	Wimbledon (3)	Gabriela Sabatini	6-4, 3-6, 8-6
1992	Wimbledon (4)	Monica Seles	6-2, 6-1
1993	French Open (3)	Mary Joe Fernández	4-6, 6-2, 6-4
1993	Wimbledon (5)	Jana Novotná	7-6, 1-6, 6-4
1993	U.S. Open (3)	Helena Suková	6-3, 6-3
1994	Australian Open (4)	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6-0, 6-2
1995	French Open (4)	Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario	7-5, 4-6, 6-0
1995	Wimbledon (6)	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	4-6, 6-1, 7-5
1995	U.S. Open (4)	Monica Seles	7-6, 0-6, 6-3
1996	French Open (5)	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6-3, 6-7, 10-8
1996	Wimbledon (7)	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6-3, 7-5
1996	U.S. Open (5)	Monica Seles	7-5, 6-4
1999	French Open (6)	Martina Hingis	4-6, 7-5, 6-2

Runner-ups (9)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1987	Wimbledon	Martina Navrátilová	7-5, 6-3
1987	U.S. Open	Martina Navrátilová	7-6, 6-1
1989	French Open	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	7-6, 3-6, 7-5
1990	French Open (2)	Monica Seles	7-6, 6-4
1990	U.S. Open (2)	Gabriela Sabatini	6-2, 7-6
1992	French Open (3)	Monica Seles	6-2, 3-6, 10-8
1993	Australian Open	Monica Seles	4-6, 6-3, 6-2
1994	U.S. Open (3)	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	1-6, 7-6, 6-4
1999	Wimbledon (2)	Lindsay Davenport	6-4, 7-5

Grand Slam women's doubles titles

Win (1)

Year	Championship	Partnering	Opponents in Final	Score/Final
1988	Wimbledon	Gabriela Sabatini	Larisa Neiland Natasha Zvereva	6-3, 1-6, 12-10

Runner-ups (3)

Year	Championship	Partnering	Opponents in Final	Score/Final
1986	French Open	Gabriela Sabatini	Martina Navratilova Andrea Temesvari	6-1, 6-2
1987	French Open (2)	Gabriela Sabatini	Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver	6-2, 6-1
1989	French Open (3)	Gabriela Sabatini	Larisa Neiland Natalia Zvereva	6-4, 6-4

WTA Tour singles finals

Wins (107)

#	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent in final	Score
1.	April 13, 1986	Hilton Head, U.S.	VS	Clay	Chris Evert	6-4, 7-5
2.	April 20, 1986	WITA Championship, Florida, U.S.	VS	Clay	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	6-4, 5-7, 7-6(3)
3.	May 3, 1986	US Clay Courts, U.S.	VS	Clay	Gabriela Sabatini	2-6, 7-6(5), 6-4
4.	May 3, 1986	Berlin, Germany	VS	Clay	Martina Navrátilová	6-2, 6-3
5.	August 24, 1986	UNITED JERSEY, New Jersey, U.S.	VS	Hard	Molly van Nostrand	7-5, 6-1
6.	September 14, 1986	Tokyo, Japan	VS	Carpet (I)	Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere	6-4, 6-2
7.	October 12, 1986	European Indoors, Switzerland	VS	Carpet (I)	Helena Suková	4-6, 6-2, 6-4
8.	October 26, 1986	Brighton, Great Britain	VS	Carpet (I)	Catarina Lindqvist	6-3, 6-3
9.	February 22, 1987	VS OF Florida, U.S.	VS	Hard	Helena Suková	6-2, 6-3
10.	March 8, 1987	Miami, U.S.	VS	Hard	Chris Evert	6-1, 6-2
11.	April 12, 1987	Hilton Head, U.S.	VS	Clay	Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere	6-2, 4-6, 6-3
12.	April 19, 1987	WITA Championship, Florida, U.S.	VS	Clay	Hana Mandlíková	6-3, 6-4
13.	May 10, 1987	Rome, Italy	VS	Clay	Gabriela Sabatini	7-5, 4-6, 6-0
14.	May 17, 1987	Berlin, Germany	VS	Clay	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	6-2, 6-3
15.	June 6, 1987	French Open, France	GS	Clay	Martina Navrátilová	6-4, 4-6, 8-6
16.	August 16, 1987	Los Angeles, U.S.	VS	Hard	Chris Evert	6-3, 6-4
17.	September 27, 1987	Citzen Cup, Germany	VS	Clay	Isabel Cueto	6-2, 6-2
18.	November 1, 1987	European Indoors, Switzerland	VS	Carpet (I)	Hana Mandlíková	6-2, 6-2
19.	November 22, 1987	VS Championships, New York, U.S.	CH	Carpet (I)	Gabriela Sabatini	4-6, 6-4, 6-0, 6-4
20.	January 24, 1988	Australian Open, Australia	GS	Hard	Chris Evert	6-1, 7-6(3)
21.	March 6, 1988	US Hardcourts, U.S.	IV	Hard	Katerina Maleeva	6-4, 6-1
22.	March 27, 1988	Miami, U.S.	I	Hard	Chris Evert	6-4, 6-4
23.	May 15, 1988	Berlin, Germany	II	Clay	Helena Suková	6-3, 6-2
24.	June 5, 1988	French Open, France	GS	Clay	Natasha Zvereva	6-0, 6-0
25.	July 3, 1988	Wimbledon, Great Britain	GS	Grass	Martina Navrátilová	5-7, 6-2, 6-1
26.	July 31, 1988	Citzen Cup, Germany	IV	Clay	Katerina Maleeva	6-4, 6-2
27.	August 28, 1988	UNITED JERSEY, New Jersey, U.S.	IV	Hard	Nathalie Tauziat	6-0, 6-1
28.	September 11, 1988	U.S. Open, U.S.	GS	Hard	Gabriela Sabatini	6-3, 3-6, 6-1
29.	October 2, 1988	Olympics, Seoul	OT	Hard	Gabriela Sabatini	6-3, 6-3
30.	October 30, 1988	Brighton, Great Britain	III	Carpet (I)	Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere	6-2, 6-0
31.	January 29, 1989	Australian Open, Australia	GS	Hard	Helena Suková	6-4, 6-4
32.	February 19, 1989	Washington DC, U.S.	II	Carpet (I)	Zina Garrison Jackson	6-1, 7-5
33.	March 5, 1989	US Hardcourts, U.S.	IV	Hard	Ann Henricksson	6-1, 6-4
34.	March 19, 1989	VS OF Florida, U.S.	II	Hard	Chris Evert	4-6, 6-2, 6-3
35.	April 9, 1989	Hilton Head, U.S.	II	Clay