The weeks following Wimbledon [in 1999] weren't easy for me. Stefanie Graf was born on 14 June 1969, in Mannheim, Baden-Wrttemberg, West Germany, to Heidi Schalk and car-and-insurance salesman Peter Graf (18 June 1938 30 November 2013). Both dominated opponents with power and movement. Graf's father had approached Gnthardt during the 1991 Virginia Slims Championships. 1 for 186 consecutive weeks from 17 August 1987: incredible footwork, a devastating forehand, an effective backhand and a powerful, reliable serve an all-round game that proved successful on every surface. Kerber's opponent will be the defending champion, . She did not win a tournament but consistently reached tournament finals, semifinals and quarterfinals, with the highlight being her semifinal loss to Navratilova at the US Open. The Washington, D.C. tournament was notable because Graf won the first twenty points of the final against Zina Garrison. 1 was in peerless form on the clay courts of Roland Garros. 22 in 1984, and No. At the Olympic Games in Barcelona, Graf lost to Jennifer Capriati in the final and claimed the silver medal. A worthy opponent, she is an exceptional and versatile player to have dominated the international women's tennis scene for a long time. 1, 64, 46, 86 after beating Sabatini in a three-set semifinal. Torture and boredom, boredom and torture, that's how it is for Steffi Graf. . At the Roland-Garros trophy ceremony, after she . [21] Her father, an aspiring tennis coach, first introduced her to the game, teaching his three-year-old daughter how to swing a wooden racket in the family's living room. Argentinas Gabriela Sabatini reached her first ever final, but Graf secured a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 victory. [145], In 2001, Graf indicated that she preferred to be called Stefanie instead of Steffi. It was important for me to win here, she said afterwards. [155], In 2004, the Berliner Tennis-Arena was renamed Steffi-Graf-Stadion in honor of Graf. Selected for European Heroes in 2004 and 2005 by TIME Magazine. She lost twice to Sabatini in the early spring at the Lipton International and the Bausch & Lomb Championships, which now brought her to seven losses in her last eight matches against Sabatini; however, the Bausch & Lomb loss would be Graf's final loss to Sabatini, winning her next, and last eight matches against Sabatini.[49]. "[89] The pair played their last major tournament together at the 1990 Wimbledon Championships, losing in the quarterfinals. Sport - Tennis: Novak Djokovic equals Steffi Graf's record for most weeks as world number one: Novak Djokovic equals Steffi Graf's record for most weeks as world. [67][68], 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. While the Berlin tournament was being played, the largest-circulation German tabloid, Bild, ran a story about an alleged scandal involving Graf's father. [100] In September 2004, Graf dispatched her former doubles partner Gabriela Sabatini, in straight sets, in an exhibition match played in Berlin, Germany. Victories at Zurich and Brighton preceded the Virginia Slims Championships, where Graf cemented her top-ranked status by beating Navratilova in the four-set final. Steffi Graf on how social media impacts the mental health of children. "Steffi Graf is the best all-around player," said Evert, whose name is also mentioned as one of the all-time greats. Graf said after the final that it would be her last French Open, fueling speculation about her retirement.[84]. She was anchored in the top spot in the Women's Tennis Association rankings for a record 377 weeks, including 186 consecutive from August 1987 to March 1991. At Wimbledon, however, Graf captured her third women's crown, this time at Sabatini's expense. Stefanie Graf was awarded with the Golden Sports Pyramid, the highest distinction of the German Sports Fund in Herzogenaurach by the Adidas chairman Herbert Hainer on 24 June 2008. Grand Slam tournament performance timeline. It was decided to grant her a joint number-one ranking with Graf who took her first loss of the year in the first round to Amanda Coetzer. [122] Graf's racquets were strung at 29 kilograms (64 pounds), significantly above the 50-60 pound range recommended by Wilson. [117] Early in her career, Graf used the Dunlop Maxpower Pro and Maxpower Kevlar racquets and then played with the Max 200G racquet from 1984 to 1993[118][119][120][121] before switching to Wilson from 1994 to 1999. She won her first French Open title since 1988 with a three-set victory over Mary Joe Fernndez in the final. She basically became a backhand slice guru ,,, This became only single taint in Graf's tennis career. The US Open was Monica Seles's first Grand Slam event since the 1993 attack, with much anticipation again around a potential Seles-Graf final. Graf was ranked world No. Performance timelines. . She had just lost a three-set semifinal to No. (W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (WL) winloss record. Navratilova, therefore, . There really hasn't been anyone like her since. She first used the Wilson Pro Staff 7.0 lite, then switched to the Pro Staff 7.5 in 1996 and to the Pro Staff 7.1 in 1998. Steffi Graf, a Tennis champ is married to husband Andre Agassi with two children. Working with her father and then-coach Pavel Sloil, Graf typically practiced for up to four hours a day, often heading straight from airports to practice courts. 'The Ten' went one way; you went another", "The greatest female tennis player of the last 50 years: the fans' verdict", "Exclusive Interview with Steve Flink about the career of Chris Evert", "A celebration of Martina Navratilova's multifaceted legacy", "Special events and records at the 1988 Australian Open Tennis Tournament", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Steffi_Graf&oldid=1140574067, Golden Slam (4 majors + Olympic gold in same calendar year), Non-Calendar Year Grand Slam in addition to already winning a Grand Slam, 100% match winning percentage in 1 season, 100% match winning percentage in 3 separate seasons, 89.67% (278-32) match winning percentage overall, 5 calendar years winning 3+ Grand Slam titles, Defeated the top 3 seeded players in the same tournament, Reached the final of all four Grand Slams tournaments in a calendar year, Reached the final of all four Grand Slams tournaments in a calendar year three times, 5 years as wire-to-wire (all 52 weeks) No. At the French Open, Graf successfully defended her title by defeating Natasha Zvereva 60, 60 in a 34-minute final. Jaz Elle Agassi is best known as being a daughter of former tennis couple Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi.. Parents Wedding. She had some amazing rivalries with Hall of Fame opponents such as Navratilova, Evert, Sabatini and Seles. [79] Only one week later, she underwent reconstructive knee surgery in Vienna and subsequently missed the 1997 Wimbledon and US Open championships. I don't care who believes Court and Serena are greater than her because I don't subscribe to highest slam count is the be-all and end-all in GOAT. Seemingly free of injury for the first time in years, Graf began the year by winning the Australian Open, where she defeated Arantxa Snchez Vicario in the final with the loss of only two games. In 1987, Grafs career truly took off: she won her first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros, beating world no. [11][12][13][14] She won six French Open singles titles (second to Evert), seven Wimbledon singles titles, four Australian Open titles, and five US Open singles titles. The 1995 Wimbledon final is regarded as one of the most dramatic women's major finals in history as Graf and Snchez Vicario battled in a tight third set that included a 16-minute long, 13-deuce game on Sanchez Vicario's serve at 55. The teenager had taken part at the Los Angeles Games in 1984 when tennis made its Olympic return as a demonstration sport, 60 years after it was dropped from the programme. [90][91] She played her last Grand Slam doubles tournament at the 1999 Australian Open with Gorrochategui, losing in the second round. Graf developed a bone spur at the base of her spine due to a congenital condition of the sacroiliac joint. [47] She would work with him for the remainder of her career. Her gold medal came after victories in the Grand Slam tournaments at Melbourne, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and New York, giving rise to a new term: the Golden Slam. . She returned to win a small tournament at Mahwah just before the US Open where, in one of the most anticipated matches of the year, she encountered Navratilova in a semifinal. Furthermore, Graf's backhand was, in a subtle way, an extremely aggressive shot. Graf's Grand Slam tournament winning streak ended at the French Open, where 17-year-old Spaniard Arantxa Snchez Vicario beat Graf in three sets. n 1973 Steffi avea 3 ani cnd a luat prima oar n Brhl (Baden) o rachet de tenis n mn. Stefanie Maria Graf (/rf, rf/ GRA(H)F, German: [tfi af] (listen);[4][5] born 14 June 1969) is a German former professional tennis player. Although she now lives in Las Vegas, Stefanie Maria Graf was born in Mannheim, West Germany on June 14, 1969. On this day in 1999, Steffi Graf bid adieu to the sport just weeks after winning the French Open and reaching the Wimbledon final. Graf then lost to Navratilova 75, 63 in the Wimbledon final, her first loss of the year. Shortly after winning in Tokyo, Graf injured her right thumb while cross-country skiing in Switzerland and subsequently withdrew from the Virginia Slims of Florida and the Lipton Championships. [16] When asked in an interview to name the greatest players of all time, Serena Williams stated Graf and Roger Federer. . Graf is the only female athlete in the list of Forbes Top-30 Most recognizable and marketable athletes in 1995. Her year continued indifferently with losses in three of her first four tournaments, including a semifinal loss to Jana Novotn in Chicago. Her glittering career saw her occupy the world no.1 spot for a total of 377 weeks (a record), including a run of 186 consecutive weeks between August 1987 and March 1991. . Seles and Graf met in the final, with Graf winning in three sets, saving a set point in the first set. She played Jelena Dokic in Christchurch, New Zealand, Amanda Coetzer in Durban, South Africa, and her former rival Arantxa Snchez Vicario in Zaragoza, Spain. Highly emotional and sensitive, with a temperament more suited to a poet than to a professional athlete, Steffi had a poignant sadness about . The similarities and differences between Steffi Graf in 1988 and Serena Williams in 2015. Graf played a singles exhibition match against Kim Clijsters and a mixed doubles exhibition alongside husband Andre Agassi against Tim Henman and Clijsters as part of a test event and celebration for the newly installed roof over Wimbledon's Centre Court in 2009. [73] Graf came back to the tour in March, winning back to back titles in Indian Wells and Miami, followed by a record ninth title at the German Open in May and a quarterfinal defeat in Rome against Martina Hingis. After missing almost half of the tour in 1998, Graf lost in the third round at Wimbledon and in the fourth round at the US Open. Retiring from the sport in 1999, Graf's career remains one of the most looked upon in tennis history. According to her coaches Pavel Sloil and Heinz Gnthardt, Graf's superior sense of timing was the key behind the success of her forehand. Chosen by World Economic Forum As Young Global Leader for 2008, Godmother of the Navigator of The Seas (Royal Caribbean Cruiselines), 2002. Notable features of Graf's game were her versatility across all playing surfaces, footwork and powerful forehand drive. The Serbian tennis player this week surpassed Steffi Graf in the record of weeks at the top of the world ranking (both men's and women's) and there is curiosity to understand where Nole can arrive . However, she finished her year with a highlight, winning her first Virginia Slims Championships since 1989 by beating Arantxa Snchez Vicario in the final despite needing painkillers for a back injury. [144], In 1991, the Steffi Graf Youth Tennis Center in Leipzig was dedicated to her. The US Open ended anti-climactically as Navratilova defeated Graf in the final 76, 61. 1988 French Open. 1988 BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year, 1996 Most Exciting Player of the Year, by the WTA, 1998 Most Exciting Player of the Year, by the WTA, 1999 Most Exciting Player of the Year, by the WTA. The German allowed Zvereva just 13 points, three of them in that one early game. Graf was the first player other than Navratilova or Evert to hold the top spot since Tracy Austin in 1980.[27]. She is the only singles player (male or female) to have achieved a Grand Slam across three surfaces (grass, clay, and hard courts). In the fall, Graf won the Volkswagen Card Cup in Leipzig a day before her foot operation, losing only two games to Jana Novotn in the final. In 2010, Graf participated in the WTT Smash Hits exhibition in Washington, D.C. to support the Elton John AIDS Foundation. 1 ranking to Martina Hingis and failed to win a Grand Slam title for the first time in ten years in 1997. And on 5 June 1988, the match for the championship against the Soviet Unions Natasha Zvereva lasted a mere 34 minutes, with Zverera mustering only a few points in a 6-0, 6-0 whitewash. She is better than them all. Martina Navratilova included Graf at the top of her list of the greatest players ever. Some noted observers, such as Margaret Court, suggested that Graf could achieve the feat a couple more times. However, there was also a 15-year-old who shot into the scene in 1995 that would take the tennis world by storm. But from 1990 onward, Graf hit fewer & fewer of those beautiful backhand drive/topspins for some reason. [77] Whether this scandal affected Graf's form is open to debate. She partnered with doubles specialist Mark Woodforde at the Australian Open in 1994, with Henri Leconte at Wimbledon in 1991 and at the French Open in 1994, and with Charlie Pasarell at the US Open in 1984. Steffi Graf was born as Stefanie Maria Graf on 14th June 1969 in West Germany. She had an Adidas sneakers line known as the St. Graf Pro line. Graf is the first German to win the Spain's 'Prince of Asturias' award. Next up were the grass courts of Wimbledon, where Graf was never in any danger until the final, when she came up against six-time defending champion Navratilova, unbeaten since 1981. Steffi Graf, byname of Stephanie Maria Graf, (born June 14, 1969, Brhl, West Germany [now in Germany]), German tennis player who dominated women's tennis in the late 1980s and '90s, winning 22 Grand Slam singles titles. Graf then won her next three tournaments at Amelia Island, Charleston, and Berlin, culminating in a 62, 63 defeat of Navratilova in the final of the latter. Prosecutors dropped their case against Graf in 1997, when she agreed to pay a fine of 1.3million Deutsche Marks to the government and an unspecified charity.[72]. Like the exhibition match the previous year against Sabatini, proceeds went to "Children for Tomorrow". She has a younger brother, Michael. [14][13], An exceptionally versatile competitor, Graf remains the only player, male or female, to have won the calendar-year Grand Slam on three surfaces or to have won each Grand Slam at least four times. Graf won 6-0, 6-0. Steffi Graf was born in Mannheim, West Germany on June 14, 1969. The American then took her opponent to a tie-break in the second set, eventually going down 7-3. Proceeds from her match against Sabatini went to Graf's foundation, "Children for Tomorrow".[102]. 3, She was not included in the official year end ranking. Eighteen-time Grand Slam champion and former rival Chris Evert opined, "Steffi Graf is the best all-around player. . At the end of the year, the municipality of Brhl, her hometown, gave her the title of honorary citizen. 1 for 186 consecutive weeks (from August 1987 to March 1991; tied with Serena Williams, a record in the women's game) and a record total 377 weeks overall. Seles won the match on her fifth match point; Graf came within two points of winning the match a few games earlier. Tennis was a demonstration sport during the 1984 Olympic Games. TMF. 1 Martina Hingis of Switzerland. Talk Tennis Guru. She retired from tennis in 1999. She also won her fifth and final WTA Tour Championships title with a five set win over Martina Hingis, with Hingis cramping up in the fifth set. And stepping on the plane there was a big group of German athletes on it. Graf retired in August 1999 while ranked world No. In February 2000, Graf played against Kimiko Date at Nagoya Rainbow Hall in Tokyo, winning in three sets. Though she did not win any title for the . [104] As part of the event, billed as "Dream Match 2008", she defeated Martina Navratilova in a one-set affair 87, with Graf winning a tiebreaker 105. She would either destroy opponents, clinically and . . WATCH THIS STORY: When Roger Federer toyed his opponent so bad, he asked for advice from Andre Agassi in the crowd Wimbledon championships. [62] Although Graf ended the year ranked No. 667 (25-02-23) Best Rank. . At the 1999 French Open, Graf and Agassi . SAN DIEGO The shock was not that top-ranked Steffi Graf won another match, 6-0, 6-0. [25] During that period, she lost six times to Evert and three times to Navratilova, all in straight sets. [133], In 1997, she left the Catholic Church, citing personal reasons. [149], Tennis writer Steve Flink, in his book The Greatest Tennis Matches of the Twentieth Century, named Graf as the best female player of the 20th century. used to be curious about one player who will make the women's singles Grand Slam finals as the other name was always Steffi Graf. One was 19 and one is pushing 34. For the German painter, see. [152] She was voted the WTA Player of the Year in 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996. That was the last competitive match Graf and Snchez Vicario would ever play against one another. However, in the Federation Cup final in Vancouver, Canada, three weeks later, she defeated Evert easily 62, 61. Graf then won three consecutive indoor titles at Tokyo, Zurich, and Brighton, before once again contending with Navratilova at the season-ending Virginia Slims Championships in New York. After losing the Wimbledon final against the USAs Lindsay Davenport that same year, Graf retired from sport in August while she was still world no. International Olympic Committee. The match was played over two days with Navratilova finally winning after saving three match points 61, 67, 76. In the third and deciding set, Novotn had a point to go up 51 on her serve. 3, Jana Novotn, before losing in the semifinal to first-seeded Davenport. In 1988, Graf became the third women's star to win the Golden Slam. [66] In August Monica Seles made her much anticipated return to tennis at the Canadian Open. At the US Open, Graf beat Sabatini in a three-set final to win the Grand Slam by 63, 36, 61, a feat previously performed by only two other women, Maureen Connolly Brinker in 1953 and Margaret Court in 1970. After victories in Montreal and San Diego, Graf reached the US Open final, where she lost in straight sets to Sabatini. Graf began playing tennis with the encouragement of her father, who became her coach. Only results in WTA Tour (incl. 1999 Germany Television Award for her outstanding performance as tennis player and her importance to the German public. Graf remains one of the greatest champions in the history of her sport. In an interview with Stern magazine in July 1990, Graf stated, "I could not fight as usual."[46]. Graf reached 13 consecutive major singles finals, from the 1987 French Open through to . Then on 11 September in New York, Graf became the first woman to win all four Grand Slam tournaments in the same year since Australias Margaret Smith-Court in 1970. Seles established herself as the new dominant player on the women's tour, winning the Australian Open, French Open, and US Open and, in March, ending Graf's record 186 consecutive-weeks hold on the World No. The pair was moderately successful, winning the 1988 Wimbledon Championships together and reaching the finals of the French Open in 1986, 1987 and 1989. It was the longest French Open women's singles final in history, both in terms of time (3 hours and 3 minutes) and number of games played (40). The USAs Andre Agassi sealed his Career Golden Slam with the gold medal at Atlanta 1996, Spains Rafael Nadal did so at Beijing 2008 and American Serena Williams completed hers at London 2012. Illness caused her to miss Wimbledon,[26] and an accident where she broke a toe several weeks later also curtailed her play. June 4, 2020 marks the 32nd anniversary of Steffi Graf's ruthless lesson in the 1998 French Open final with Natasha Zvereva on the receiving end. 1 Lindsay Davenport en route to the Philadelphia title. She then successfully defended her title at the US Open, defeating Monica Seles in the final. Began playing Tennis: 1973 Turned Professional: 18.10.1982. [76] Graf played only one warm-up event ahead of the US Open, the Acura Classic in Manhattan Beach, California, where she lost to Lindsay Davenport in the semifinals. Graf was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 2004. Graf had a bone splinter in her right foot during this tournament (and for the next few months), finally resulting in surgery on 4 October.[53]. 3. [115], Early in her career, Graf wore Dunlop apparel, before signing an endorsement contract with Adidas in 1985. Steffi Graf with the Wimbledon trophy in 1989 after defeating Martina Navratilova 6-2, 6-7 (1), 6-1 in the final. Though she lost the game to opponent Tracy Austin by 6-4, 6-0, this did very little to dishearten the young blood. [124][125][126] In 2010, Graf and Agassi collaborated with Head and developed the new line of Star Series tennis racquets. [138][139][140] They have two children, a son born in 2001 and a daughter born in 2003. Graf, Kerber's idol . Following her tournament victory in German Open in Berlin, Graf suffered one of the worst defeats of her career in a French Open semifinal where she won only two games against Snchez Vicario and lost her first 60 set since 1984. She and Margaret Court are the only players, female or male, to win three majors in a calendar year five times (1988, 1989, 1993, 1995 and 1996). [116][13] Graf stated that grass was her favorite surface to play on, while clay was her least favorite. This was a major upset as Garrison had to save a match point to defeat Monica Seles in the quarterfinal, and was expected to easily fall to Graf, whom she had not beaten in four years. As usual, the defining shot of the day was the one that earned Steffi her nickname, Frulein Forehand. Graf then reached her ninth Wimbledon singles final, losing to third-seeded Davenport in straight sets. [101] She was beaten in two out of three matches, with each match being one set. Steffi Graf was born as Stefanie Maria Graf to Peter and Heidi Graf in Mannheim, Germany. Serena did that only for a few tournaments in her career while Steffi did . . The match was the Wimbledon women's singles semi-final between Ms Graf and Kimiko Date. In 1988, Graf became the first tennis player to achieve the Golden Slam by winning all four major singles titles and the Olympic gold medal in the same calendar year. [105] It was the first time in 14 years Graf had played Navratilova. Once again, she reached the final without conceding a single set. [134] During her career, Graf divided her time between her hometown of Brhl; Boca Raton, Florida; and New York City where she owned a penthouse in the former Police Headquarters Building in SoHo.
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