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Steffi Graf Profile |
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Birth Date: June 14, 1969
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Birth Place: Mannheim, West Germany
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Birth Name: Stefanie Maria Graf
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Height: 5'9"
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Biography |
Steffi Graf (born June 14, 1969 in Mannheim,
Germany) is a former World No. 1 woman tennis player from
Germany. She is generally considered to be one of the
greatest woman tennis players of all time. Graf won 22 Grand
Slam singles titles. In 1988, she became the only player to
achieve the "Golden Slam" – capturing all four Grand Slam
singles titles and the Olympic gold medal in the same year.
She was ranked the Women's Tennis Association's No. 1 player
for a record 377 weeks (the longest of any player, male or
female, since rankings began) and is the only player, male
or female, to have won all four Grand Slam singles
tournaments (Wimbledon, the US Open, the French Open and the
Australian Open) at least four times each.
A notable feature of Graf's game was her versatility across
all playing surfaces, exemplified by her winning 6 French
Open singles titles (second to Chris Evert) and 7 Wimbledon
singles titles (third behind Martina Navratilova and Helen
Wills).
Graf is married to the former World No. 1 men's tennis
player Andre Agassi.
The main weapon in Graf's game was her powerful forehand,
which earned her the nickname "Fräulein Forehand." Over
time, Graf also developed the best slice backhand in the
game, as well as a consistent volley. She built her powerful
and accurate serve up to 110 mph. She was also extremely
fast and athletic, chasing down balls that seemed
unplayable. Her footwork was unique and instantly
recognizable.
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 Filderstadt, Germany. She lost 6-4, 6-0 to Tracy
Austin, a two-time US Open champion and former World No. 1
player. After the match, Austin seemingly dismissed Graf's
abilities, saying there were "hundreds" of kids like her in
the United States. (In their only other career match, Graf
defeated Austin 6-0, 6-0 at Indian Wells in 1994.)
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 gold medal. 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 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 rein on
Steffi's personal life. Social invitations on the tour were
often declined as Steffi's focus was kept very much on
practicing 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 further tournament
victories in 1986 and finished the year ranked No. 3.
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.
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 (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 32-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). 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.
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
the 1989 French Open, where a 17-year-old Spanish contender,
Arantxa Sánchez 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 Wimbledon and the US Open, and
again in four sets in the final of the season-ending
Virginia Slims Championships.
Few doubted that Graf would continue to dominate the women's
game for years to come when she beat Mary Joe Fernández in
the final of the 1990 Australian Open. But a new threat to
her dominance broke through at the 1990 French Open, where
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 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.
1992 was another comparatively poor year for Graf. 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 Wimbledon final, where Graf comprehensively proved
that she was still the tour's strongest grass court player,
winning 6-2, 6-1. Some argue that her victory was easier
than it would have been because Seles didn't dare to
underline her strokes with her usual screams this time (she
received a warning for that in an earlier round). 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.
Seles beat Graf in three sets in the final of the Australian
Open (a match plagued by a controversial line call against
Graf when she was leading one set to love). However, a
stunning turn of events changed everything on April 30.
During a quarterfinal match between Seles and Magdalena
Maleeva at 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 Günter 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 No. 1 ranking, which Seles had held
for the past two years. Graf visited Seles in hospital and
cried publicly at a press conference the following day. She
reached the final in Hamburg that year. (Parche went on
trial twice for his attack on Seles and received a suspended
prison term of 2 years.)
Even today there is still a debate among tennis commentators
and fans whether Seles would have continued to win many
slams or whether the improved Graf of the mid-90ies would
have won most slams anyway.
Seles stayed away from the tour for the next 28 months
citing psychological effects. Graf won the remaining three
Grand Slam titles in 1993 and regained the top ranking.
The beginning of 1994 saw Graf beat Sánchez 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 to Mary Pierce in the
semifinals at the French Open and then was shockingly
eliminated in the first round at Wimbledon by the American
Lori McNeil. She reached the final of the US Open, where she
lost to Sánchez Vicario in three sets. (During the match
Graf felt the first effects of a bone spur in her back, a
condition that plagued her for the remainder of her career.)
Injury kept Graf out of the Australian Open in 1995. She
came back strongly to beat Sánchez Vicario in the finals of
both the French Open and Wimbledon. The Wimbledon final,
touted as one of the greatest women's finals at Wimbledon,
featured an exciting game in the penultimate set that lasted
20 minutes. 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. She then capped the year by beating countrywoman,
Anke Huber, in five sets in the final of the season-ending
WTA Championships at Madison Square Garden.
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 defense, 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 again overcame Sánchez Vicario, taking the
third-set 10-8. She then had straight-sets wins against
Sánchez Vicario in the Wimbledon final and Seles in the US
Open final. 1996 also saw Graf win her fifth and final WTA
Championships title with a five set win over Martina Hingis
in the final.
While known for her businesslike approach to the game, at
times Graf displayed a sense of humor. During a tight 1996
semifinal match at Wimbledon against Kimiko Date, Graf was
getting ready to serve when a spectator yelled out "Steffi,
will you marry me?" The spectators at Centre Court burst
into laughter. Steffi caught the ball she was bouncing,
turned toward the fan, and yelled "How much money do you
have?" Graf lost the set but won the match 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.
The last few years of Graf's career were beset by injuries;
particularly to her knees and back. But this did not prevent
her from 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 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, #1 ranked Martina Hingis, in three sets, in
what she called her most satisfying Grand Slam victory. She
also became the first player in the Open era to beat the #1,
#2, and #3 world ranked players in the same Grand Slam
tournament by defeating then #2 ranked Lindsay Davenport in
the quarterfinals and #3 ranked Monica Seles in the
semifinals. 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. Graf won 7 singles
titles at Wimbledon, 6 singles titles at the French Open, 5
singles titles at the US Open, and 4 singles titles at the
Australian Open. She is the only person to have won at least
4 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 US$21,895,277. Her singles
win-loss record was 902-115 (89 percent). She was ranked No.
1 for a massive 377 weeks (non-consecutive), including a
record 186 consecutive weeks (from August 1987-March 1991) –
longer than any other man or woman player.
Graf dated Michael Bartels for seven years. In early 1999,
rumors began to fly that she and Andre Agassi were an item.
They married on October 22, 2001 at his home in Las Vegas.
Their son, Jaden Gil, was born on October 26, six weeks
premature. Their daughter, Jaz Elle, was born on October 3,
2003. |
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Other
Information |
1988: Olympic gold medal, tennis singles.
Dated race car driver Michael Bartels for seven years.
Posed for the 1997 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in an
effort to "feminize" her image.
Father Peter Graf spent nearly two years in jail after being
convicted in 1997 of evading $7 million in taxes on her
earnings.
Only player to win all four Grand Slam singles titles twice
in 2 different decades.
Only player to win all four Grand Slam singles titles at
least four times.
Only player in history to win the Grand Slam on four
different surfaces (carpet, clay, grass, hardcourt).
Only player ever to beat the 1, 2, and 3 seeds in a Grand
Slam event.
Became the #1 player on the world on August 17, 1987, and
held the #1 ranking for a record 186 consecutive weeks until
March 10, 1991; was #1 for a record 377 weeks total.
At the age 13, became the second-youngest player ever to
earn an international ranking.
Son, Jaden Gil, born in Las Vegas. [26 October 2001]
Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year 1989
Heads non-profit foundation, Children for Tomorrow, which
supports and initiates projects that provide assistance to
children and families who have become the victims of war,
persecution, and violence.
Born at 4:40 AM CET (Central Europe Time)
Career Prize Money: $20,130,835.00
Print and TV ads for cell phone company T-Mobile with Agassi
debuted in Europe. The ads were shot/filmed in Las Vegas.
[26 April 2002]
Won a court case against Microsoft Germany over fake nude
photos of her that were posted on a Web site run by the
company. The photos were taken down in June at Graf's
request, but the company declined to sign a formal agreement
that they wouldn't appear again, and Graf sued. The state
appeals court in Cologne upheld a ruling last October by a
lower court, which had ruled that Microsoft Germany was
responsible for the content of the site and must ensure that
such pictures don't appear there. [27 May 2002]
Jaden Gil Agassi born 3 weeks prematurely at 3:30 a.m. at
Valley Hospital in Las Vegas, weighing 5 pounds, 14 ounces.
While it was thought the baby's name originated from the
Hebrew, meaning "God has listened," in a February 2002
interview, Graf disclosed that Jaden is a masculine form of
jade, a word she had always liked, and Gil was in honor of
Agassi's trainer, Gil Reyes. [26 October 2001]
Measurements: 35B/C-25-34 (at age 22 in the prine of her
career), (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)
3 October 2003: Daughter named Jaz born to Steffi and
husband Andre Agassi
Inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame on 11
July 2004.
Ranked #3 in a survey by German network ZDF searching the
100 best German sportsmen of all time (19 November 2004).
Sister of Michael Graf.
Upon the birth of Christian Sampras, son of Pete Sampras,
London bookmakers gave the baby a 2,000-1 shot to beat her
son, Jaden Gil Agassi, in a Wimbledon final.
She and Andre Agassi are the only two players in tennis
history to win all four Grand Slam singles titles and an
Olympic gold medal.
Won 22 Grand Slam single titles from 1987 to 1999:
Australian Open (1988-1990, 1994), French Open (1987, 1988,
1993, 1995, 1996, 1999), All England Championships(1988,
1989, 1991-1993, 1995, 1996), US Open (1988, 1989, 1993,
1995, 1996).
Was chosen "most admirable German woman" by the readers of
"Amica" magazine (September 2005). |
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