Stefanie Maria Graf is a former World number 1
player in women's tennis. Her performance depended
mostly in her powerful forehand because of which she
was nicknamed Fraulein Forehand. She even cultivated
an impressive slice backhand and consistent volley.
Her serve was so accurate and powerful that it
travelled at the speed of 180 km per hr, which was
one of the fastest serve. She not only had an
amazing footwork but also her strokes were very
powerful.
Graf's first tournament as a professional was played
in October 1982, Germany. In that match, she lost to
Tracy Austin, who she defeated twelve years later.
Although she didn't win any titles for the next
three years, her rank was steadily increasing and
her skills improved rapidly. Defeating Chris Evert
won her first tour title in April 1986.
When tennis was re-introduced in 1988 Olympic games
after forty years, Steffi Graf took full advantage
of it by winning the Olympic gold medal in the
singles. The same year she won all the four Grand
Slam singles titles, making her the only women
tennis player to do so. This feat of hers' was
declared as the Golden Slam. She is also the only
female to win all the four Grand Slams, Wimbledon
Open, French Open, Australian Open and US Open, for
four times each. During this period the US Open and
Australian Open were played on grass unlike now
where all the venues have clay court. So Graf has
the credit of playing on all kinds of tennis courts.
From French Open in 1987 to US Open in 1996, she
played a total of thirty-six Grand Slam singles
tournaments, in which she made it to the finals of
twenty-nine tournaments and won twenty-one of them.
For three hundred and seventy seven weeks Graf was
ranked the Women's Tennis Association's Number 1
player. Any male or female tennis player could never
set this record. She won a total of seven Wimbledon
singles titles and six French Open singles titles.
From the 1987 French Open to 1990 French Open, Graf
made it to the finals of thirteen Grand Slams
consecutively and won nine of the thirteen.
A panel of judges of the Associated Press declared
her as the greatest female tennis player of the
twentieth century, in December 1999. Graf's
twenty-second Grand Slam title was her final one in
the 1999 French Open. She retired in the same year
and became the highest ranked player to retire at
third position in the world.
Her father Peter Graf, who was an aspiring tennis
coach, was responsible for introducing her to the
world of tennis. Although her training started at
the age of three, she began playing on the court
from the age of four. Her father kept a close watch
on her routine and lifestyle. She was always
expected to practice and that was the reason why she
didn't socialize much. But this narrow focus
drastically improved her performance. But later on
in life, she was involved in a controversy of Graf
tax scandal as she had some issues with her father.
After retiring from the tennis circuit in 1999, she
began dating Andre Agassi, who himself is an
ex-World number 1 male tennis player. They both got
married in October 2001 and Steffi gave birth to
their son Jaden Gil, four days after their marriage.
Their second child, a daughter, Jaz Elle, was born
in October 2003.
