Steffi Graf

Germany

D22

Tennis




Country Germany
Date of birth 14-Jun-1969 
Era 1980s, 1990s
List of honours Olympic Gold: Women's Singles 1988; Australian Open: 1988, 1989, 1990, 1994; Roland Garros: 1987, 1988, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1999; Wimbledon: 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996; US Open: 1988, 1989, 1993, 1995, 1996
Steffi Graf
Profile One of only three female tennis players to win all four Grand Slam tournaments in the same year, Germany’s Steffi Graf began playing the game at the age of three but appeared in her first professional tournament only 10 years later. After 17 years in the professional game, Graf retired while still number three in the world having dominated the sport for over a decade. Five years after her professional debut, 17-year-old Steffi Graf reached her first Grand Slam final at the 1987 French Open, beating Martina Navrátilová in three sets to win her first Grand Slam title. A year later, Graf had what is widely regarded as the best year of her career, winning all four Grand Slams and adding Olympic gold in Seoul to complete the “Golden Slam”. Only Maureen Connolly (1953) and Margaret Court (1970) had previously won a calendar year Grand Slam in women’s tennis and it has not been achieved since. During her career, Steffi Graf won a total of 22 Grand Slam titles including at least one each year from 1987 to 1996. Even in her final year as a professional tennis player, Graf managed to reach two Grand Slam finals, winning the 1999 French Open a few weeks before her 30th birthday. She was the world number one for a record 378 weeks, reaching this pinnacle for the first time in August 1987 and made the final of 13 Grand Slams in a row between 1987 and 1990. Graf also won the end-of-season WTA Tour Championships five times. She is married to Andre Agassi and they live in Las Vegas.