A commemorative plaque outside the venue in Seoul bears testament to the event: Historic Place for Golden Slam. Speculation was rife at the beginning of 1989 about the possibility of Graf winning another Grand Slam. Graf did not lose a set the whole tournament. 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. [141] Agassi has said that he and Graf are not pushing their children toward becoming tennis players. 3. Graf secured the World 124th position in her first year. The German, born on 14 June 1969 in Mannheim, was already showing the qualities that would lead to her being world no. However, Graf admitted in 1995 that she would have preferred having a two-handed backhand in retrospect. She then won her eighth German Open, but there were signs that her form was worsening as she almost lost to Julie Halard in a quarterfinal. It is undeniable that Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi had a successful professional relationship. But from 1990 onward, Graf hit fewer & fewer of those beautiful backhand drive/topspins for some reason. She always said: I never look back, I look forward, but she also said: You can't measure success if you have never failed. At the beginning of 1999 Graf played the warm up event to the Australian Open in Sydney; she defeated Serena Williams in the second round and Venus in the quarterfinals before losing to Lindsay Davenport in the semifinal. . In 2010, Graf participated in the WTT Smash Hits exhibition in Washington, D.C. to support the Elton John AIDS Foundation. 1 Martina Hingis of Switzerland. On this day in 1999, Steffi Graf bid adieu to the sport just weeks after winning the French Open and reaching the Wimbledon final. Serena was 17. [108] She was ranked world No. Venus Williams. It was important for me to win here, she said afterwards. Four consecutive indoor tournament victories in the autumn helped improve her season, but for the third consecutive year, she failed to win the Virginia Slims Championships, where she lost in the first round to Lori McNeil. [54] She then won her next four tournaments in Tokyo, Indian Wells, Delray Beach and Miami respectively. [63][64], A strained right calf muscle forced Graf to withdraw from the Australian Open. Margaret Court, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf and Serena Williams. [22] She began practising on a court at the age of four and played in her first tournament at five. In 2015, Graf was the recipient of the International Club's Jean Borotra Sportsmanship Award. First professional tournament: 1982 Porsche Grand Prix at Filderstadt, Germany Plays: right handed, one handed backhand Raquet: Dunlop / Wilson Former Clubs: HTC Heidelberg, LTTC Rot-Weiss Berlin, BASF Ludwigshafen Favorite Tournament: Wimbledon Favorite Surface: Grass court Former Coaches: Pavel Slozil (1986-1991), Heinz Guenthardt . No. [156], Graf was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2004 and the German Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.[157][158]. It was 1986, and Graf was 17. Notable features of Graf's game were her versatility across all playing surfaces, footwork and powerful forehand drive. Steffi Graf's 22 Grand Slam singles titles put her second on the list of major wins in the female competition since the introduction of the Open Era in 1968 . played a game called "Can you last an hour on court with Graf" because throughout her career she used to beat her opponents 6-0 6-1. 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. She subsequently withdrew from the Pan Pacific Open and had arthroscopic surgery performed on her left knee. Steffi Graf and Martina Hingis played out a thrilling final at the 1999 French Open, with the former winning 4-6, 7-5, 6-2. " ( . 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. She has appeared in many advertisements and television commercials with Andre Agassi including Canon Inc.[130] and Longines in 2008 (Agassi became Longines ambassador in 2007). At Tokyo 2020, current world no. Shortly after the stabbing, during a players meeting at the Italian Open in Rome, 17 of the world's top 25 WTA members voted against preserving Seles' world No. [101] She was also in Berlin to host a charity gala, as well as inaugurating a tennis stadium renamed the "Steffi Graf Stadion". [145], In 2001, Graf indicated that she preferred to be called Stefanie instead of Steffi. Natasha Zvereva, the 13th seed had shocked Martina Navratilova with a straight sets fourth round . Social invitations on the tour were often declined as Graf's focus was kept on practicing and match play. 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. The match was played over two days with Navratilova finally winning after saving three match points 61, 67, 76. That doesn't mean it will happen. Early life. At the French Open, Graf successfully defended her title by defeating Natasha Zvereva 60, 60 in a 34-minute final. Serena Williams, who will face Kerber in the final, beat Steffi Graf for the title at Indian Wells, Calif., in 1999. [143] Graf's mother and her brother also live there. She would either destroy opponents, clinically and . Kerber's opponent will be the defending champion, . Vicario was the no 2 seed while Graf was ranked no 1. Furthermore, Graf's backhand was, in a subtle way, an extremely aggressive shot. Her career prize-money earnings totalled US$21,895,277 (a record until Lindsay Davenport surpassed this amount in January 2008). That was the last competitive match Graf and Snchez Vicario would ever play against one another. Graf defaulted before the 1997 final of this tournament, which is classified as a walkover and, therefore, does not count as a loss on her official record. [124][125][126] In 2010, Graf and Agassi collaborated with Head and developed the new line of Star Series tennis racquets. It was like a death by a thousand cuts for her poor opponents who would be . In her professional tennis career, Steffi Graf spent 377 weeks as the No. And the year began as expected, with Graf extending her Grand Slam tournament winning streak to five events at the Australian Open, defeating Helena Sukov in the final. Her name was Martina Hingis. 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. [150] Flink said in 2020 that the jury was still out on (Serena) Williams as the greatest ever, but Williams' consistency over the long span did not match that of Graf or Navratilova. In their prime, they ruled their eras with their own dominating styles. 1, 64, 46, 86 after beating Sabatini in a three-set semifinal. Once was in Syndey early in the year at a small tournament, and again at Indian Wells, 1999. Nominated and voted the title Mother of the nation in her country, Germany, 2010. 1999 Germany Television Award for her outstanding performance as tennis player and her importance to the German public. Her singles winloss record was 900115 (88.7 percent). [77][78] In the French Open Graf was again beaten by Amanda Coetzer in straight sets, 61, 64. TMF. Feb 24, 2023. Graf began 1993 with four losses in her first six tournaments of the year: two to Snchez Vicario and one each to Seles and the 36-year-old Martina Navratilova. 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. Once again, she reached the final without conceding a single set. Graf then lost a closely contested final to Monica Seles, 26, 63, 810. [28][29][30][31] The official time of the match given on the scoresheet was 34 minutes; however, just 32 minutes of that was spent on the court, as a rain break split the match into two periods of play, of nine and 23 minutes. Stefanie Maria Steffi" Graf 1969614 GOAT Graf did not lose a set during the tournament and lost a total of only 29 games. Graf retired in August 1999 while ranked world No. Associations of International Sport Federations, Organising Committees for the Olympic Games. [133], In 1997, she left the Catholic Church, citing personal reasons. [123] In 2006, she signed an endorsement deal with Head. 1 was in peerless form on the clay courts of Roland Garros. Yet again, she dropped a minimal number of games on the DecoTurf surface at Flushing Meadows and took full advantage of Everts forfeit in the semi-final. Graf's Grand Slam tournament breakthrough came in 1987. Graf won a majority of her slams using her sharp slice backhand and her incredible forehand. [8] Furthermore, she is the only tennis player, male or female, to have won each major tournament at least four times. More than two years elapsed before Seles competed again. Graf warmed up for the US Open with easy tournament victories in San Diego and Mahwah. The weeks following Wimbledon [in 1999] weren't easy for me. [16] When asked in an interview to name the greatest players of all time, Serena Williams stated Graf and Roger Federer. 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. 1 Lindsay Davenport en route to the Philadelphia title. Answer (1 of 4): It isn't hard to replicate Steffi Graf's forehand, it's just not optimal. However, there was also a 15-year-old who shot into the scene in 1995 that would take the tennis world by storm. Proceeds from her match against Sabatini went to Graf's foundation, "Children for Tomorrow".[102]. [146], 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. In 1985 and early 1986, Graf emerged as the top challenger to the dominance of Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert. In an unusual arrangement, she paired with her coaches Pavel Sloil at Wimbledon in 1988 and Heinz Gnthardt in 1992 and 1996, also at Wimbledon. The Trials of Steffi Graf. Graf has a 20863 (76.8%) record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.[1]. American star Chris Evert, meanwhile, failed to take a set off Graf in three matches. Sela said: Is it possible to have another 1988 Golden Grand Slam Steffi Graf: yeah sure, anything's possible, like having all eight planets aligned in the solar system. A mixture of injury problems, personal difficulties, and loss of form made 1991 a tough year for Graf. . Graf won seven singles titles at Wimbledon, six singles titles at the French Open, five singles titles at the US Open, and four singles titles at the Australian Open. 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). The earliest sign that Steffi Graf was going to be one of the sport's all-time winners came at the end of a defeat. They have two children. The loss deprived her of the Golden Super Slam. [69] 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. . 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. Steffi Graf - 22; The former German tennis star is third on the list with 22 grand slam titles victories. "[89] Her endurance and superior footwork allowed her to excel on clay courts, where, in addition to six French Open titles, she won 26 regular tour events, including a record eight titles at the German Open. 2 Hingis and world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for a record 377 total weeks. She had an Adidas sneakers line known as the St. Graf Pro line. The assailant, a fan of German . On 13 August 1999, shortly after retiring with a strained hamstring from a second round match against Amy Frazier in San Diego, Graf announced her retirement from the women's tour at age 30. All Rights Reserved. When she was nine years old, her family moved to the neighboring town of Brhl. And Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, arguably the most accomplished sports couple there ever was, had good reason to be on campus that day. Steffi Graf with the Wimbledon trophy in 1989 after defeating Martina Navratilova 6-2, 6-7 (1), 6-1 in the final. Graf had a winloss record of 752 for a 97.4 winning percentage in 1987, both losses coming to Navratilova as they split the four matches they played during the year. At the end of the year, the municipality of Brhl, her hometown, gave her the title of honorary citizen. 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. Seles defeated Graf at the Australian Open 46, 63, 62. Graf then capped the year by beating countrywoman Anke Huber in a five-set final at the season-ending WTA Championships in 2 hours and 46 minutes. . [113] She often positioned herself in her backhand corner and although this left her forehand wide open and vulnerable to attack, her court speed meant that only the most accurate shots wide to her forehand caused any trouble. This narrow focus meant that Graf, already shy and retiring by nature,[24] made few friends on the tour in her early years, but it led to a steady improvement in her play. In a close French Open final, Graf again overcame Snchez Vicario, taking the third set 108. Though she did not win any title for the . Graf said after the final that it would be her last French Open, fueling speculation about her retirement.[84]. She won no titles during the next three years, but her ranking climbed steadily to world No. . 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. Stefanie ("Steffi") Graf | Former German Tennis Pro and Champion. [16], In March 2012, Tennis Channel picked Graf as the greatest female tennis player ever in their list of 100 greatest tennis players of all time. Shortly after the US Open, she underwent surgery to remove a bone spur in her right wrist. At age 13 she became the second youngest player ever to earn an international ranking. Graf again missed the Australian Open after undergoing surgery in December 1995 to remove bone splinters from her left foot. At the year-ending Virginia Slims Championships, Graf was upset by Pam Shriver, only her third loss of the year. Graf served for the match at 53 in the third set but lost the game and won only three more points in the match. At the Roland-Garros trophy ceremony, after she . [88] Sabatini said of the partnership: "doubles is all about communicating with each other, and we didn't communicate that much. [50][51], During Seles's absence, Graf won 65 of 67 matches,[52] three of four Grand Slam events and the year-end Virginia Slims championships. After victories in Montreal and San Diego, Graf reached the US Open final, where she lost in straight sets to Sabatini. Steffi Graf went on to win Wimbledon in 1996, beating Arantxa . Online", "GOAT Vote: Steffi or Serena? 1 Novak Djokovic could do the same if he wins gold, as could Roger Federer if he is involved in the Games. She was also inducted to the German Sport Hall of Fame. My father taught me that if you really do want to reach your goals, you can't spend any time worrying about whether you're going to win or lose. International Olympic Committee. Graf started 1988 by winning the Australian Open, defeating Chris Evert in the final 61, 76. She ended the 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1995, and 1996 tennis seasons as the worlds top-ranked player. Steffi Graf on how social media impacts the mental health of children. The following day, Andre Agassi won the mens singles tournament, coming back from two sets down to beat Russias Andrei Medvedev, and he and Graf later started dating. Martina Navratilova then defeated Graf 76, 67, 64 in a US Open semifinal, the first time she had beaten Graf in four years. 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).When she was nine years old, her family moved to the neighboring town of Brhl.She has a younger brother, Michael. LEAVE A . She then beat Snchez Vicario in the finals of both the French Open and Wimbledon. Steffi Graf was born in Mannheim, West Germany on June 14, 1969. SANCHEZ BEATS GRAF 17-YEAR-OLD WINS TITLE", "TENNIS - Sanchez Surprises Graf to Win the French Open", "Graf and Navratilova March to a Showdown", "WTA | Players | Head to Head | Steffi Graf", "TENNIS - Seles Struggles With Injury and W.T.A. 49 . As true as that forehand was, the mask was no less a lie. Unbeatable. 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]. Graf defeated Mary Joe Fernndez in the final of the Australian Open, which was her eighth Grand Slam singles title in the last nine she contested. It is true that Graf had one of the best forehands of her era, but that doesn't mean that it is mechanically perfect. I was not having fun anymore. The partnership was the subject of much discussion, as the two women, both known to be shy, usually kept communication to a minimum during changeovers and between points, a highly unusual situation in doubles. [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. Despite their differences, their careers, on and off the court . Her father was arrested in August and was sentenced to 45 months in jail. She did not drop a set en route to the final, defeating Czechoslovakias Hana Mandlkov in the quarter-final and compatriot Claudia Kohde-Kilsch in the semi-final. Performance timelines. In the middle of the second set, Graf suffered back spasms while reaching for a ball in the ad court. [61] She took the following nine weeks off, returning only for the Virginia Slims Championships where she lost in straight sets to Pierce in the quarterfinal. 1 ranking while she was sidelined. [80][81] [62] Although Graf ended the year ranked No. [45] In Berlin, she extended her unbeaten streak to 66 matches (second in WTA history to Navratilova's 74) before losing the final to Monica Seles, 46, 36. [32] That was the shortest-ever and most one-sided Grand Slam final ever and the only double bagel in a Major final since 1911. [154] Her unprecedented Golden Slam saw her receive the 1988 BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year. [137] She started dating Andre Agassi after the 1999 French Open and they married on 22 October 2001, with only their mothers as witnesses. Last edited on 20 February 2023, at 18:23, BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year, Learn how and when to remove this template message, 3 different Grand Slam titles won without losing a set, 2 titles won without losing a set in the same calendar year, Tennis records of the Open Era - women's singles, "Duden | Steffi | Rechtschreibung, Bedeutung, Definition", "The 10 most influential players in the history of tennis", "ON TENNIS; Graf Is Best, Right? This time, Navratilova beat Graf 76, 63, 62. In reaching and winning all four Grand Slam finals, Graf became the first player in history to contest and win 28 Grand Slam singles matches in a single year; albeit including the unplayed walkover against Evert in the US Open. Graf then won in Leipzig, with her 500th career victory coming in a quarterfinal against Judith Wiesner. Voted Germany's Sportswoman of the Century in 1999 by the German press. She made it to the final and took the first set against Snchez Vicario but lost the next two sets Sanchez Vicario's last victory over Graf. 1 . 1999 Prince of Asturias Award, one of the most important awards of Spain and named after the heir apparent of Spain. She then successfully defended her title at the US Open, defeating Monica Seles in the final. Home; Q & A; Blog; Contact; Taramati Baradari Resort, Weather Biarritz October, Central Gwinnett High School, Facts About Victoria, Australia, Quick Funeral Home Obituaries . [24] In 1985, for instance, she played only ten 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. By August 1999, Graf had already announced twice that it was going to be her final year on the tour. She won 22 Grand Slam Singles' teetles, an in 1988 wis the only tennis player tae achieve the "Gowden Slam", winnin, in the Singles, aw fower Grand Slam teetles an the Olympic Gowd medal in the semme year. Last edited on 28 February 2023, at 20:01, Learn how and when to remove this template message, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Steffi_Graf_career_statistics&oldid=1142150918, Virginia Slims Championships, New York City, WTA Tour Championships, New York, United States. Steffi Graf is seen as one of tennis' best ever players, winning 22 Grand Slams but 1988 was the year that will never be beaten. Graf won 6-0, 6-0. Steffi is the GOAT in women's tennis because she's the most dominant player to ever play this game. She is better than them all. She has a younger brother, Michael. 3, She was not included in the official year end ranking. (Twelve years later, Graf defeated Austin 60, 60 during a second round match at the Evert Cup in Indian Wells, California, which was their second and last match against each other. 124. Her father, an aspiring tennis coach, first introduced her to the game, teaching his . (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. [68] The match was poised for a final set to decide the . [138][139][140] They have two children, a son born in 2001 and a daughter born in 2003. Although Sabatini got the best of Graf in the semifinals of the season-ending Virginia Slims Championships, Graf still finished the year as the top-ranked player. (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. In 1986, she formed a partnership with rival Gabriela Sabatini. It would also be the last loss Graf would ever have to Novotna in a match she completed (she did have a loss after withdrawing with injury after the first set of a late 1996 match). 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. [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. #3. [37] He went on to add, "I saw what Steffi did to Sabatini at the Australian Open this year, and that was it. In the subsequent Amelia Island final on clay, Graf lost her first match of the year to Sabatini but returned to European clay with easy victories at Hamburg and Berlin. [153] She was elected as the German Sportsperson of the Year in 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989 and 1999. She would either destroy opponents, clinically and . Stefanie Maria "Steffi" Graf (German pronunciation: [tf gaf]; born 14 Juin 1969) is a umwhile Warld No. All Rights Reserved. [56][57] This was followed by a first-round straight-sets loss at Wimbledon to Lori McNeil, her only loss at Wimbledon between 1991 and 1997 and her first loss in a first round Grand Slam tournament in ten years. Graf lost twice to Sabatini during the spring, once on hardcourts in Boca Raton, Florida, and once on clay at Amelia Island, Florida. 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]. After Wimbledon, for the first time in my career, I didn't feel like going to a tournament. Only three other players have won the four majors plus the Olympic Games title, and never in the same calendar year. Her 0.977 winning percentage is the second-highest in the open era behind Navratilova.[44]. Graf began playing tennis with the encouragement of her father, who became her coach. [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. In August as a 15-year-old (and youngest entrant) representing West Germany, she won the tennis demonstration event at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. She has a brother named Michael. Chosen by World Economic Forum As Young Global Leader for 2008, Godmother of the Navigator of The Seas (Royal Caribbean Cruiselines), 2002.
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