Performance timelines. Graf is the first German to win the Spain's 'Prince of Asturias' award. [47] She would work with him for the remainder of her career. 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. Seles won the match on her fifth match point; Graf came within two points of winning the match a few games earlier. I have complied some stats . She had to overcome three difficult three set matches en route to this final, against Mariaan De Swardt in the second round, Venus Williams in the quarterfinals and Mirjana Lui in the semifinals. Graf then reached her ninth Wimbledon singles final, losing to third-seeded Davenport in straight sets. For the German painter, see. [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. She would either destroy opponents, clinically and . In their prime, they ruled their eras with their own dominating styles. Less than three weeks after beating her in New York, Graf inflicted yet another defeat on the Argentinean, giving her no chance with an imposing 6-3, 6-3 victory. David Douillet writes judo history in Sydney in 2000. The loss deprived her of the Golden Super Slam. 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 played Jelena Dokic in Christchurch, New Zealand, Amanda Coetzer in Durban, South Africa, and her former rival Arantxa Snchez Vicario in Zaragoza, Spain. Date biografice. It was important for me to win here, she said afterwards. A worthy opponent, she is an exceptional and versatile player to have dominated the international women's tennis scene for a long time. Vicario was the no 2 seed while Graf was ranked no 1. [108] She was ranked world No. From 1991 until the end of her career, Graf would only play doubles sporadically, forming short-term partnerships with a variety of players, including Lori McNeil, Anke Huber and her best friends on the tour, Rennae Stubbs, Patricia Tarabini and Ines Gorrochategui. [101] She was beaten in two out of three matches, with each match being one set. She returned to win a small tournament at Mahwah just before the US Open where, in one of the most anticipated matches of the year, she encountered Navratilova in a semifinal. In the French Open final, Graf defeated Navratilova, who was the world No. The win elevated Graf to the world No. Sabatini served for the match twice, and was two points away from her first Wimbledon title. As usual, the defining shot of the day was the one that earned Steffi her nickname, Frulein Forehand. 1, Reached the final of every tournament played in a calendar year, Two streaks of 5 years with winning percentage of 90%+, 8 WTA Tier 1/Premier-5/Premier Mandatory clay titles, 89.63% win rate (147-17) in WTA Tier 1/Premier-5/Premier Mandatory events, This page was last edited on 20 February 2023, at 18:23. Her father, an aspiring tennis coach, first introduced her to the game, teaching his . Answer (1 of 4): It isn't hard to replicate Steffi Graf's forehand, it's just not optimal. She won there, comfortably beating Helena Sukov in the final after needing three sets to eliminate Gabriela Sabatini and Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere in the quarterfinals and semifinals respectively. She was successful, however, in the mixed doubles match. She lost a lengthy one-set singles match to Clijsters and also the mixed doubles.[106]. This including playing basketball and working with specialists in nutrition, physical and mental strength. In 1987, Grafs career truly took off: she won her first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros, beating world no. Online", "GOAT Vote: Steffi or Serena? 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 match was notable for its dramatic ending. [154] Her unprecedented Golden Slam saw her receive the 1988 BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year. The assailant, a fan of German . [8] Furthermore, she is the only tennis player, male or female, to have won each major tournament at least four times. She was absolutely right the term Golden Slam was born at that exact moment. [115], Early in her career, Graf wore Dunlop apparel, before signing an endorsement contract with Adidas in 1985. . 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. [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. [16] When asked in an interview to name the greatest players of all time, Serena Williams stated Graf and Roger Federer. The shock was who she did it against. A mixture of injury problems, personal difficulties, and loss of form made 1991 a tough year for Graf. Graf won four indoor tournaments after the US Open, including a pair of straight-set wins over Sabatini in the finals of Zrich and Worcester. Nominated and voted the title Mother of the nation in her country, Germany, 2010. Graf later stated it was the best tennis she had ever played in a Grand Slam final. After missing almost half of the tour in 1998, Graf lost in the third round at Wimbledon and in the fourth round at the US Open. She had some amazing rivalries with Hall of Fame opponents such as Navratilova, Evert, Sabatini and Seles. Graf did not lose a set during the tournament and lost a total of only 29 games. In 1985 and early 1986, Graf emerged as the top challenger to the dominance of Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert. Graf has a 20863 (76.8%) record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.[1]. Steffi Graf Youth Tennis Center was founded and dedicated October 1991 in Leipzig, Germany.Founder and Chairperson of Children for Tomorrow, a non-profit foundation with the goal of implementing and developing projects to support children who have been traumatized by war or other crises, and she is directly involved in the running of the . [citation needed] In the year of Graf's retirement, Billie Jean King said, "Steffi [Graf] is definitely the greatest women's tennis player of all time. used to be curious about one player who will make the women's singles Grand Slam finals as the other name was always Steffi Graf. Graf won 6-0, 6-0. Though she lost the game to opponent Tracy Austin by 6-4, 6-0, this did very little to dishearten the young blood. [105] It was the first time in 14 years Graf had played Navratilova. [58] Graf still managed to win San Diego the following month but aggravated a long-time back injury in beating Snchez Vicario in the final. Graf had a bone splinter in her right foot during this tournament (and for the next few months), finally resulting in surgery on 4 October.[53]. [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. "[38], Graf followed this with easy victories in her next four tournaments at Washington, D.C., San Antonio, Texas, Boca Raton, Florida, and Hilton Head. Graf warmed up for the US Open with easy tournament victories in San Diego and Mahwah. The Washington, D.C. tournament was notable because Graf won the first twenty points of the final against Zina Garrison. This is a list of the main career statistics of professional tennis player Steffi Graf. 1 ranking while she was sidelined. Graf lost twice to Sabatini during the spring, once on hardcourts in Boca Raton, Florida, and once on clay at Amelia Island, Florida. The assailant, a fan of German tennis star Steffi Graf, Top women's tennis player Monica Seles is stabbed by a deranged German man during a match in Hamburg. On 13 April 1986, Graf won her first WTA tournament and beat Evert for the first time in the final of the Family Circle Cup in Hilton Head, South Carolina (she never lost to Evert again, beating her six more times over the next three and a half years). Graf was the first player other than Navratilova or Evert to hold the top spot since Tracy Austin in 1980.[27]. She and Agassi, her husband, were on Team Elton John, which competed against Team Billie Jean King. who often frustrated opponents with variety and consistency. In 1996, Steffi Graf was famously proposed to by a fan as she was getting ready to serve. 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. 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 . 1 . [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. (not considered in winloss records). [76] Graf played only one warm-up event ahead of the US Open, the Acura Classic in Manhattan Beach, California, where she lost to Lindsay Davenport in the semifinals. Despite their differences, their careers, on and off the court . 2 Hingis and world No. As true as that forehand was, the mask was no less a lie. As the defending champion Graf lost in straight sets to Mary Pierce in the French Open semifinal. 1 Novak Djokovic could do the same if he wins gold, as could Roger Federer if he is involved in the Games. Her winning streak (unbeaten since the 1989 French Open loss to Arantxa Snchez) continued with victories in Tokyo, Amelia Island, and Hamburg. It is undeniable that Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi had a successful professional relationship. Graf developed a bone spur at the base of her spine due to a congenital condition of the sacroiliac joint. Steffi Graf vs. Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario ** **Head to Head: **28-8, Graf . 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. Opponent W L Win% TB W L TB% First Last MS DR A% DF% 1stIn 1st% 2nd% SPW RPW BPSvd% BPCnv% 40: Gabriela Sabatini [ARG] 29: 11: 72.5%: 14: 7: 7: 50.0%: . In the middle of the second set, Graf suffered back spasms while reaching for a ball in the ad court. [43] In the final, Navratilova led 63, 42 before Graf rallied to win 36, 75, 61 for her third Grand Slam singles title of the year. One was 19 and one is pushing 34. (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. At Wimbledon, Graf defeated Jana Novotn to win her third consecutive, and fifth overall, ladies' title. Her accuracy with the slice, both cross-court and down the line and her ability to skid the ball and keep it low, enabled her to use it as an offensive weapon to set the ball up for her forehand put-aways. [144], In 1991, the Steffi Graf Youth Tennis Center in Leipzig was dedicated to her. Graf became the first player in the open era to defeat the first, second, and third ranked players in the same Grand Slam tournament by beating second-ranked Davenport in the quarterfinals and third-ranked Seles in the semifinals. 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. . Steffi Graf was already world number one, and just shy of 19 years old, when she began the 1988 season. . [145], In 2001, Graf indicated that she preferred to be called Stefanie instead of Steffi. It was Graf's second consecutive loss to Novotna, and dating back to their 1991 Australian Open quarterfinal match, Jana had won three of their last five meetings. [39] In the Boca Raton final, Graf lost the only set she conceded to Chris Evert in their final seven matches.[40]. The facts: American Amy Frazier was Graf's final opponent. At Wimbledon, Graf lost in the semifinals to Zina Garrison, who with this victory broke Graf's string of 13 consecutive major finals. 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. 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. The experience of 88 in Seoul probably stands out, just coming from the US Open where I won the Grand Slam. She always said: I never look back, I look forward, but she also said: You can't measure success if you have never failed. "[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. 1 for 186 consecutive weeks (from August 1987 to March 1991; tied with Serena Williams, a record in the women's game) and a record total 377 weeks overall. Graf secured the World 124th position in her first year. [117] Early in her career, Graf used the Dunlop Maxpower Pro and Maxpower Kevlar racquets and then played with the Max 200G racquet from 1984 to 1993[118][119][120][121] before switching to Wilson from 1994 to 1999. Feb 24, 2023. Proceeds from her match against Sabatini went to Graf's foundation, "Children for Tomorrow".[102]. [145] She is the founder and chairperson of "Children for Tomorrow", a non-profit foundation established in 1998 for implementing and developing projects to support children who have been traumatized by war or other crises. She hit the sliced backhand harder and with more underspin than any woman I have ever seen. And Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, arguably the most accomplished sports couple there ever was, had good reason to be on campus that day. n civa ani ajunge . 1 German tennis player. . 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 winning streak ended at the French Open, where 17-year-old Spaniard Arantxa Snchez Vicario beat Graf in three sets. 1 Martina Hingis of Switzerland. 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. She then lost to Sabatini in her next three tournaments before winning the U.S. Hardcourt Championships in San Antonio, beating Monica Seles in the final. In the final, Evert was completely overwhelmed in the first set, losing 6-1. However, in the Federation Cup final in Vancouver, Canada, three weeks later, she defeated Evert easily 62, 61. Voted Germans greatest role model by TV14 magazine, 2004. 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. 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]. As a result, she hit her forehand with exceptional pace and accuracy. I feel I have nothing left to accomplish. [94] At the 1999 Wimbledon Championships, Graf formed a much-publicized partnership with John McEnroe, with whom she reached the semifinals before withdrawing due to concerns that her uncertain hamstring, coupled with a bout of bronchitis, would affect her in the singles final. In 2008 Graf lost an exhibition match against Kimiko Date at Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo. [109], Note: Graf's father had approached Gnthardt during the 1991 Virginia Slims Championships. 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. 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. After breaking Novotn's serve, Graf won the next four games to take the match 76, 16, 64. Graf won a majority of her slams using her sharp slice backhand and her incredible forehand. . 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for a record 377 total weeks. She was named the 1988 BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year. Her name was Martina Hingis. The match was played over two days with Navratilova finally winning after saving three match points 61, 67, 76. [141] Agassi has said that he and Graf are not pushing their children toward becoming tennis players. [131][132] In 2015, she was appointed as the brand ambassador of Kerala tourism, for promoting Ayurveda in North America and Europe. But from 1990 onward, Graf hit fewer & fewer of those beautiful backhand drive/topspins for some reason. In 2015, Graf was the recipient of the International Club's Jean Borotra Sportsmanship Award. [68] At the first round of the season-ending Chase Championships, Graf defeated world No. 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. She repeated the feat in 1993, 1995, and 1996. 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. Margaret Court, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf and Serena Williams. In the 1980s and '90s Graf was ranked the top woman player by the Women's Tennis Association . 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). Graf then defeated Sabatini 63, 63 in the gold medal match at the Olympic Games in Seoul and achieved what the media had dubbed the "Golden Slam". Since Graf skipped the Italian Open, she did not take part in the vote. I was not having fun anymore. Her parents are Heidi Schalk and Peter Graf. [138][139][140] They have two children, a son born in 2001 and a daughter born in 2003. [124][125][126] In 2010, Graf and Agassi collaborated with Head and developed the new line of Star Series tennis racquets. She retired from tennis in 1999. 1 Martina Navratilova, and reached two finals, at Wimbledon and the US Open, losing out to Navratilova in both. A commemorative plaque outside the venue in Seoul bears testament to the event: Historic Place for Golden Slam. Her glittering career saw her occupy the world no.1 spot for a total of 377 weeks (a record), including a run of 186 consecutive weeks between August 1987 and March 1991. 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! After surviving a scare in a three-setter against Amanda Coetzer in the first round, Graf reached the final with relative ease, while Seles went through her side of the draw in even more convincing fashion. Once again, she reached the final without conceding a single set. She won 7 Wimbledon, 6 French Open, 5 US Open and 4 Australian Open . The last few years of Graf's career were beset by injuries, particularly to her knees and back. 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. [17] Graf married former world No. Steffi Graf with the Wimbledon trophy in 1989 after defeating Martina Navratilova 6-2, 6-7 (1), 6-1 in the final. After victories in Montreal and San Diego, Graf reached the US Open final, where she lost in straight sets to Sabatini. All Rights Reserved. The Trials of Steffi Graf. They have two children. Opponent Score Loss: 1986: Year-end championships: Carpet (i) Martina Navratilova: 6-7 (8-10), 3-6, 2-6 Win: 1987: Year-end championships: She married fellow Olympic champion Agassi in 2001, and the pair have two children together. Associations of International Sport Federations, Organising Committees for the Olympic Games. The pair was moderately successful, winning the 1988 Wimbledon Championships together and reaching the finals of the French Open in 1986, 1987 and 1989. . 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. She then successfully defended her title at the US Open, defeating Monica Seles in the final. Voted The best female role model in sports in a survey by Barclays, sponsors of the Premier League, 2010. Graf also won the 1984 demonstration event at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, but this was for players aged 21 or under, and it was not an official Olympic event. [122][129] Other companies she has endorsed include Barilla, Apollinaris, Citibank, Danone and Teekanne. In the third and deciding set, Novotn had a point to go up 51 on her serve. Whether this scandal affected Graf's form is open to debate. The world of tennis is still waiting for another player capable of such a feat in the same calendar year! Graf vs Williams H2H MATCHES PLAYED All Rounds Final 1/2 1/4 First Second Third Fourth Qualifying q-First q-Second Pre-q Rubber 1 Rubber 2 Rubber 3 Rubber 4 Rubber 5 Robin Bronze N/A She did not win a tournament but consistently reached tournament finals, semifinals and quarterfinals, with the highlight being her semifinal loss to Navratilova at the US Open. 1 ranking. Steffi Graf: Steffi Graf has 22 grand slams to her name, most coming during the late 80s and 90s. 1999 Germany Television Award for her outstanding performance as tennis player and her importance to the German public. Graf then won in Leipzig, with her 500th career victory coming in a quarterfinal against Judith Wiesner. As true as that forehand was, the mask was no less a lie. At the 1999 French Open, Graf and Agassi . Illness caused her to miss Wimbledon,[26] and an accident where she broke a toe several weeks later also curtailed her play. 1999 Prince of Asturias Award, one of the most important awards of Spain and named after the heir apparent of Spain. 1 player. [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. 1 men's tennis player Andre Agassi in October 2001. At the French Open, Graf successfully defended her title by defeating Natasha Zvereva 60, 60 in a 34-minute final. After several months injury lay off, Graf returned to play in the German Open in Berlin in front of a home crowd and had the worst defeat of her career in the quarterfinal, when Amanda Coetzer beat her in just 56 minutes 60, 61. Official match time was 34 minutes, which charitably included two minutes of rain delay. Her toughest battle came against rising star Martina Hingis in the semifinal, with Hingis unable to convert on five set points. In July, a left knee injury forced Graf to withdraw from the Summer Olympics in Atlanta. 1 Lindsay Davenport en route to the Philadelphia title. She is now a naturalized American citizen, and has even been nominated as one of 2022's Great US Immigrants by Carnegie Corporation of New York. [100] In September 2004, Graf dispatched her former doubles partner Gabriela Sabatini, in straight sets, in an exhibition match played in Berlin, Germany. 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 started the year strongly, with six tournament victories heading into the French Open, with the highlight being at the tournament in Miami, where she defeated Martina Navratilova in a semifinal and Chris Evert in the final and lost only 20 games in the seven rounds of the tournament. She would later become the world's number one female tennis player. In 1988, Graf became the third women's star to win the Golden Slam. . The difficulty of answering questions about the matter came to a head at a Wimbledon press conference, where Graf broke down in tears. Pause, rewind, play: Steffi Graf - only player to win all four Majors and the Olympic gold in a year. At the Roland-Garros trophy ceremony, after she .
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