Her name was Martina Hingis. A worthy opponent, she is an exceptional and versatile player to have dominated the international women's tennis scene for a long time. In July, a left knee injury forced Graf to withdraw from the Summer Olympics in Atlanta. [92][93], Graf also occasionally played mixed doubles, although she never won a title. 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]. [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. . Having also won bronze in the womens doubles with Claudia Kohde-Kilsch in Seoul, her Olympic record stands at four podium finishes, including two titles counting the one she won in Los Angeles aged 14 when tennis was a demonstration sport! [153] She was elected as the German Sportsperson of the Year in 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989 and 1999. She partnered with doubles specialist Mark Woodforde at the Australian Open in 1994, with Henri Leconte at Wimbledon in 1991 and at the French Open in 1994, and with Charlie Pasarell at the US Open in 1984. Serena Williams, who will face Kerber in the final, beat Steffi Graf for the title at Indian Wells, Calif., in 1999. 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. Seles won the match on her fifth match point; Graf came within two points of winning the match a few games earlier. And on 5 June 1988, the match for the championship against the Soviet Unions Natasha Zvereva lasted a mere 34 minutes, with Zverera mustering only a few points in a 6-0, 6-0 whitewash. [156], Graf was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2004 and the German Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.[157][158]. [74] Graf had led 41 in the second set tiebreak, only to lose six points in a row and force a decider. 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. At the Roland-Garros trophy ceremony, after she . 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. Having suffered from leg cramps since the middle of the third set, Graf ran off the court seconds after match point to seek medical treatment. 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. 1 men's tennis player Andre Agassi in October 2001. The match was poised for a final set to decide the . Steffi Graf was a dominant force in tennis during the late 1980s and for much of the 1990s. Graf and Kohde-Kilsch lost in the semifinals to Jana Novotn and Helena Sukov 75, 63. Tennis H2H Venus Williams vs Steffi Graf. 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. . 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. Is it possible to have any other year Steffi Graf: yep, it would be like Monica's or Serena's type of dominance. 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. First Grand Slam victory of the year for Graf: 6-1, 7-6. In the third and deciding set, Novotn had a point to go up 51 on her serve. She soon began taking the top prize at junior tournaments with regularity, going on to win the European Championships 12s and 18s in 1982. This page was last edited on 28 February 2023, at 20:01. She was absolutely right the term Golden Slam was born at that exact moment. Though she did not win any title for the . 1988 French Open. 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. Shortly after the US Open, she underwent surgery to remove a bone spur in her right wrist. Graf's father had approached Gnthardt during the 1991 Virginia Slims Championships. Key; W F SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A . He claimed that he committed the attack to help Graf reclaim the world No. Martina Navratilova included Graf at the top of her list of the greatest players ever. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for a record 377 total weeks. 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. 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. Online", "GOAT Vote: Steffi or Serena? Steffi Graf was already world number one, and just shy of 19 years old, when she began the 1988 season. 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. This including playing basketball and working with specialists in nutrition, physical and mental strength. 1 was in peerless form on the clay courts of Roland Garros. However, Graf admitted in 1995 that she would have preferred having a two-handed backhand in retrospect. [47] She would work with him for the remainder of her career. Graf remains one of the greatest champions in the history of her sport. 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. Her toughest battle came against rising star Martina Hingis in the semifinal, with Hingis unable to convert on five set points. On this day in 1999, Steffi Graf bid adieu to the sport just weeks after winning the French Open and reaching the Wimbledon final. . Graf is the first German to win the Spain's 'Prince of Asturias' award. Serena did that only for a few tournaments in her career while Steffi did . [82] Upon her return Graf defeated world No. She then successfully defended the three Grand Slam titles she won the year before. [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. [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. 667 (25-02-23) Best Rank. Graf played a singles exhibition match against Kim Clijsters and a mixed doubles exhibition alongside husband Andre Agassi against Tim Henman and Clijsters as part of a test event and celebration for the newly installed roof over Wimbledon's Centre Court in 2009. Even though she lost the opening set, Graf went on to prevail in three sets. 22 in 1984, and No. 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. Steffi Graf went on to win Wimbledon in 1996, beating Arantxa . Instead of being hailed as the undisputed female GOAT, people will always talk about her mysterious backhand deficiency. She then successfully defended her title at the US Open, defeating Monica Seles in the final. 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. Following her tournament victory in German Open in Berlin, Graf suffered one of the worst defeats of her career in a French Open semifinal where she won only two games against Snchez Vicario and lost her first 60 set since 1984. 1 ranking while she was sidelined. (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. Graf lost an Australian Open quarterfinal to Jana Novotn, the first time she did not reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam singles tournament since the 1986 French Open. It actually had several major flaws, especially based on today's understanding of stroke. Steffi Graf: Steffi Graf has 22 grand slams to her name, most coming during the late 80s and 90s. 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. The 1995 Wimbledon final is regarded as one of the most dramatic women's major finals in history as Graf and Snchez Vicario battled in a tight third set that included a 16-minute long, 13-deuce game on Sanchez Vicario's serve at 55. Graf did not lose a set the whole tournament. Graf reached 13 consecutive major singles finals, from the 1987 French Open through to . The 19-year-old Graf lost the first set 7-5 before getting the measure of her rival and fighting back to take the next two sets 6-2, 6-1. At Wimbledon, Graf defeated Jana Novotn to win her third consecutive, and fifth overall, ladies' title. Stefanie Maria "Steffi" Graf; 14. 1969, , ) . All Rights Reserved. Her father was arrested in August and was sentenced to 45 months in jail. All Rights Reserved. 1999 Prince of Asturias Award, one of the most important awards of Spain and named after the heir apparent of Spain. She would either destroy opponents, clinically and . As usual, the defining shot of the day was the one that earned Steffi her nickname, Frulein Forehand. "[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. Seles defeated Graf at the Australian Open 46, 63, 62. Tennis was a demonstration sport during the 1984 Olympic Games. The similarities and differences between Steffi Graf in 1988 and Serena Williams in 2015. Graf beat opponents with spectacular precision, and Williams had a power game, unlike any woman in professional tennis. AP Photo/Bruno Mosconi. Graf is the only person to have won the 'Golden Slam' (1988). Grand Slam tournament performance timeline. I've always looked up to her and the way she approached the game" : Pete Sampras But the world of tennis is still waiting for another player capable of securing a Golden Slam in one year. Chicago was notable, however, for being the first tournament Graf played with her new coach, former Swiss player Heinz Gnthardt. I have complied some stats . [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. Next came Wimbledon, where Martina Navratilova had won six straight titles. Steffi Graf was born as Stefanie Maria Graf to Peter and Heidi Graf in Mannheim, Germany. At the French Open, Graf successfully defended her title by defeating Natasha Zvereva 60, 60 in a 34-minute final. 49 . . Selected for European Heroes in 2004 and 2005 by TIME Magazine. 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. 1 for 186 consecutive weeks from 17 August 1987: incredible footwork, a devastating forehand, an effective backhand and a powerful, reliable serve an all-round game that proved successful on every surface. At the end of the year, the municipality of Brhl, her hometown, gave her the title of honorary citizen. 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. . In their five previous head-to-head matches, Graf had defeated Martnez each time. Though she lost the game to opponent Tracy Austin by 6-4, 6-0, this did very little to dishearten the young blood. Graf then went on to reach the quarterfinals of the Australian Open before losing to Monica Seles in two sets. As a result, she hit her forehand with exceptional pace and accuracy. thesportslegends. [115], She built her powerful and accurate serve up to 183km/h (114mph), making it one of the fastest serves in women's tennis and was a capable volleyer. In the womens tournament, Williams could repeat the achievement if she competes in what will be her fifth Olympic Games. Shortly after winning in Tokyo, Graf injured her right thumb while cross-country skiing in Switzerland and subsequently withdrew from the Virginia Slims of Florida and the Lipton Championships.