who often frustrated opponents with variety and consistency. Stefanie ("Steffi") Graf | Former German Tennis Pro and Champion. Meanwhile, her naturally aggressive style of play, effective backhand slice and speed around the court made her even more dominant on fast surfaces such as hard courts, grass and carpet. [82] Upon her return Graf defeated world No. Graf then lost to Navratilova 75, 63 in the Wimbledon final, her first loss of the year. Despite their differences, their careers, on and off the court . 2 Hingis and world No. Though she did not win any title for the . [59][60] She began to wear a back brace and was unsure about playing the US Open but elected to play while receiving treatment and stretching for two hours before each match. [127], Graf has signed many endorsement deals throughout the years including a ten-year endorsement deal with car manufacturer Opel in 1985,[128] and Rexona from 1994 to 1998. '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. [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. 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. In addition to being great as players, they were also great as husband and wife. Steffi Graf vs. Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario ** **Head to Head: **28-8, Graf . Graf's schedule was closely controlled by her father, who limited her play so that she would not burn out. She was in hard-court action in the capital of the Republic of Korea on 20 September and breezed through the rounds conceding just one set, against the Soviet Unions Larissa Savchenko in the quarter-final before coming up against Sabatini once again in the gold-medal match on 1 October 1988. Suffering from food poisoning, she had struggled to beat Monica Seles in their semifinal 63, 36, 63 and said that she had menstrual cramps in the final. Victories at Hamburg and Berlin (beating Snchez Vicario in the finals of both) prepared her for the French Open, where she defeated Snchez Vicario in the semifinals after losing the first set 60. Graf lost twice to Sabatini during the spring, once on hardcourts in Boca Raton, Florida, and once on clay at Amelia Island, Florida. [151], Graf was voted the ITF World Champion in 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1995 and 1996. It was the days when the Williams . [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. 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. The Washington, D.C. tournament was notable because Graf won the first twenty points of the final against Zina Garrison. 3. This time, Navratilova beat Graf 76, 63, 62. She then beat Snchez Vicario in the finals of both the French Open and Wimbledon. "[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. [92][93], Graf also occasionally played mixed doubles, although she never won a title. Starting in the early 1990s, she used the slice almost exclusively in baseline rallies and mostly limited the topspin backhand to passing shots. 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. At the end of the year, the municipality of Brhl, her hometown, gave her the title of honorary citizen. 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. 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. Graf's father had approached Gnthardt during the 1991 Virginia Slims Championships. All Rights Reserved. She was one of the most fierce Tennis stars of her generation and tasted great success on every court. Graf was trailing Martina Navratilova in the final 75, 20 before winning the match 57, 62, 61. Venus Williams won her first Games titles 19 years ago, and she hasnt finished yet! [74] Graf had led 41 in the second set tiebreak, only to lose six points in a row and force a decider. Focus only on getting better. Extremely sound advice! Finally Graf was given a match but prevailed 6-3, 7-6 where she would meet a surprise opponent in the final. Steffi Graf and Serena Williams played just twice. We would just say the basic things, but nothing else. No medals were awarded as this was not an official Olympic event.[23]. 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. Graf did not lose a set the whole tournament. Graf ended 1989 with an 862 match record and the loss of only 12 sets. Torture and boredom, boredom and torture, that's how it is for Steffi Graf. She struggled at the German Open in Berlin where she lost a 60 set to the unheralded Sabine Hack before defeating Mary Joe Fernndez and Sabatini in three-set matches to claim her seventh title there in eight years. Five months later, the world no. 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). The difficulty of answering questions about the matter came to a head at a Wimbledon press conference, where Graf broke down in tears. Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi met for the first time during a tournament.Andre Agassi had been secretly pining for her since 1990, but she showed no interest in him.. At that time, Steffi Graf was dating Michael Bartels, a racing driver. She subsequently withdrew from the Pan Pacific Open and had arthroscopic surgery performed on her left knee. [100] In September 2004, Graf dispatched her former doubles partner Gabriela Sabatini, in straight sets, in an exhibition match played in Berlin, Germany. [41][42] Graf, however, recovered to defeat Martina Navratilova 62, 67, 61 in the Wimbledon final after defeating Monica Seles 60, 61 in a fourth round match, Arantxa Snchez Vicario in a quarterfinal, and Chris Evert in a semifinal. Her career prize-money earnings totalled US$21,895,277 (a record until Lindsay Davenport surpassed this amount in January 2008). 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. 98 in 1983, No. Next came Wimbledon, where Martina Navratilova had won six straight titles. Some noted observers, such as Margaret Court, suggested that Graf could achieve the feat a couple more times. 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. The match was poised for a final set to decide the . 3, She was not included in the official year end ranking. 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. Her overall record in 56 Grand Slam events was 27832 (90 percent) (8410 at the French Open, 747 at Wimbledon, 739 at the US Open, and 476 at the Australian Open). "[89] The pair played their last major tournament together at the 1990 Wimbledon Championships, losing in the quarterfinals. Though she lost the game to opponent Tracy Austin by 6-4, 6-0, this did very little to dishearten the young blood. This including playing basketball and working with specialists in nutrition, physical and mental strength. 3, having racked up a total of 107 tournament victories. Steffi Graf, a Tennis champ is married to husband Andre Agassi with two children. [79] Only one week later, she underwent reconstructive knee surgery in Vienna and subsequently missed the 1997 Wimbledon and US Open championships. [131][132] In 2015, she was appointed as the brand ambassador of Kerala tourism, for promoting Ayurveda in North America and Europe. The American then took her opponent to a tie-break in the second set, eventually going down 7-3. will, Steffi would don her stoical mask and use her cannon of a forehand, the most powerful weapon in the women's game, to overwhelm her opponents. Djokovic is now into his 378th week as the world number one, surpassing Steffi Graf's record for the most weeks at the top of the sport, a feat that prompted some of his young rivals to express . 1 Ranking", "Graf wastes no time reaching another final", "Roland-Garros - the 2021 Roland-Garros Tournament official site", "The 1988 French Open: how Agassi arrived, Graf ruled and Wilander won", "TENNIS; Graf Shuts Out Zvereva to Gain French Open Title", "Wimbledon; An Era Ends as Graf Beats Navratilova", "Forget Calendar Slam, "Surface Slam" Almost as Rare", "THE SEOUL GAMES: Women's Tennis: Graf Turns Her Slam Into a Golden One", "SURPRISE! She is better than them all. I feel I have nothing left to accomplish. 1 ranking while she was sidelined. Steffi Graf was already world number one, and just shy of 19 years old, when she began the 1988 season. [25] During that period, she lost six times to Evert and three times to Navratilova, all in straight sets. Wimbledon authorities then threatened to immediately shut down any subsequent press conferences where questions about the issue were asked. The German allowed Zvereva just 13 points, three of them in that one early game. She played Jelena Dokic in Christchurch, New Zealand, Amanda Coetzer in Durban, South Africa, and her former rival Arantxa Snchez Vicario in Zaragoza, Spain. [122][129] Other companies she has endorsed include Barilla, Apollinaris, Citibank, Danone and Teekanne. Tennis H2H Venus Williams vs Steffi Graf. Graf's 1988 Grand Slam remains the only one in history completed on three surfaces (grass, clay, hard court), as all other Grand Slams in tennis history were achieved prior to the introduction of hard court at the US Open in 1978.[35]. The Trials of Steffi Graf. n civa ani ajunge . She teamed with Ansley Cargill in women's doubles against Anna Kournikova and Likhovtseva but lost 52. Associations of International Sport Federations, Organising Committees for the Olympic Games. Graf retired at the age of 30 in 1999 while ranked as the world No. 49 . Angelique Kerber recalls memories of Steffi Graf at Wimbledon after becoming first German to win trophy since 1996 . Feb 24, 2023. [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. 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. 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).