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Career in Review
Steffi Graf Biography
Was coached by Heinz Gunthardt from 1990-99; previously coached by father, Peter, and Pavel Slozil...Married Andre Agassi on October 22, 2001; gave birth to son Jaden Gil on October 26, 2001, and daughter, Jaz, on October 3, 2003...Father's name is Peter; mother's name is Heidi; has a younger brother, Michael...Enjoys animals, and appeared in a 1999 Wildlife Foundation calendar...Also enjoys all kinds of music, impressionist and modern art, reading, playing cards and photography... 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 foundation and makes regular financial contributions to the organization.
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ò Announced her immediate retirement on August 13, 1999; last match was on August 3, 1999, in San Diego, where she retired in the third set of a second-round match to Amy Frazier (had received a bye in the first round) due to a left hamstring strain, but did not retire from the Tour due to injuries; was world-ranked No. 3 when she announced her retirement, becoming the highest-ranked player to retire (since computer rankings began in November 1975)
ò Won 1999 Roland Garros to earn her 22nd Grand Slam singles title, second all-time behind Margaret Court's 24, and her sixth Roland Garros title, second behind Chris Evert's seven; during the tournament, became the first player in the Open Era to defeat the world's top three players in one tournament
ò Finalist at 1999 Wimbledon, her last; won 900th career match with her fourth-round win at Wimbledon, the third woman to pass that milestone in the Open Era
ò On May 13, 1996, began 332nd week as the No. 1 player in the world, breaking Martina Navratilova's record of 331 total weeks at No. 1; held the No. 1 ranking a total of 377 weeks (non-consecutive); fell to No. 2 on March 31, 1997 when Martina Hingis became No. 1
ò Reigned as No. 1 ranked player for record 186 weeks consecutively (August 17, 1987-March 10, 1991), more than any man or woman; during this time, competed as No. 1 player for three and a-half years (1,310 days); the last match she played as No. 1 during record-breaking reign was in Boca Raton final, losing to Gabriela Sabatini 6-4, 7-6(8-6) on March 10, 1991
ò Dropped off the WTA Tour Rankings on June 8, 1998 for the first time since debuting January 17, 1983, due to lack of play; reappeared on the rankings the following week at No. 91 after playing in Birmingham
ò Collected 100th career singles title at 1996 Wimbledon, becoming the third woman in the Open era to reach that milestone (Navratilova, 167 and Evert, 154 are others); ended career with 107 titles
ò Underwent minor surgery on her right wrist to remove a bone spur on September 18, 1998, following the US Open; returned to action in November 1998 in Leipzig, where she was unseeded for the first time since 1985 Miami; went on to win the title and surpass Martina Navratilova as the top prize money-winner in women's sports ever (ended career with $21,895,277)
ò Became the first unseeded player in the Open Era to defeat the top two players in the world in the same tournament when she won 1998 Philadelphia, defeating No. 1 Lindsay Davenport in the final and No. 2 Martina Hingis in the quarterfinals; it was the 13th time for the feat to be achieved by eight different women; in next match in the first round of the season-ending championships, defeated No. 3 Jana Novotna to become the first player to defeat the world's top three players in four matches
ò In 1998, became the first player to qualify for the season-ending championships ranked as low as No. 22 in the point standings with less than two weeks left to qualify; after the championships, with wins over No. 3 Jana Novotna and No. 6 Monica Seles, became the eighth player to re-enter the Top 10 (since computer rankings began in 1975) when unranked at some point in the previous 12 months
ò Played in 31 Grand Slam finals, third behind Chris Evert (34) and Martina Navratilova (32)
ò By winning 1995 US Open, became the only woman of all time to win each of the four Grand Slam singles titles at least four times
ò Won a minimum of seven tournaments a year for 11 straight years 1986-96; won at least one title a year for 14 years, 1986-1999
ò By winning 1994 Australian Open, became second woman to win a non-calendar Grand Slam (Martina Navratilova being the other in 1983/84); in 1988, became fifth player and third woman to win the Grand Slam capturing all four Grand Slam events in a calendar year, the first since Margaret Court in 1970; completed a Golden Grand Slam by winning a gold medal in singles at 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea (won Silver Medal at 1992 Olympics and won 1984 Olympic Tennis Demonstration in Los Angeles as the youngest competitor in tournament)
ò In winning streaks, owns the second (66), seventh (46), eighth (45) and ninth (44) longest streaks in the Open Era (Navratilova owns longest of 74 set in 1984)
ò Reached 21 consecutive finals 1986-88 (Martina Navratilova holds record at 23 consecutive finals set in 1983/84; Monica Seles reached 21 consecutive finals 1990-92); reached 20 consecutive finals in 1993-94
ò Won 45 consecutive Grand Slam matches starting at the 1995 Roland Garros and ending in a fourth-round loss to Amanda Coetzer at the 1997 Australian Open (won six consecutive Grand Slam titles in that span, did not play in the 1996 Australian Open)
ò Finished with an 86-2 (.977) record in singles in 1989, second best since 1980; also finished with a 75-2 (.974) record in singles in 1987, fourth best since 1980; Navratilova has best record 86-1 (.989) in 1983
ò Aggravated injury to her left knee, causing her to default semifinal match at 1996 Leipzig experiencing inflammation of the patella tendon in her left knee, the same injury she suffered at 1996 Wimbledon; the default marked the first time in her professional career to pull out during a tournament; pulled out during a tournament for a second time, retiring during the 1996 Philadelphia final due to a back injury; defaulted the final of the 1997 Pan Pacific Open against Martina Hingis in February due to reaggravating the patella tendon in her left knee; underwent surgery on the left knee on June 10, 1997; suffers from chronic back pain due to a bone spur in sacroiliac; underwent surgery on December 15, 1995 for removal of loose bone chips in left foot, forcing her to miss the 1996 Australian Open; on October 4, 1993, had minor surgery to remove bone fragments from right foot; broke right thumb skiing on February 9, 1990
SINGLES
Winner (107): 1999 - Roland Garros ; 1998 - New Haven, Leipzig, Philadelphia; 1997 - Strasbourg; 1996 - Roland Garros , Wimbledon , US Open , Chase Championships, Indian Wells, Miami, Berlin; 1995 - Roland Garros , Wimbledon , US Open , Tour Championships, Paris Indoors, Delray Beach, Miami, Houston, Philadelphia; 1994 - Australian Open , Miami, Tokyo [Pan Pacific], Indian Wells, Delray Beach, Berlin, San Diego; 1993 - Roland Garros , Wimbledon , US Open , Virginia Slims Championships, Delray Beach, Hilton Head, Berlin, San Diego, Toronto, Leipzig; 1992 - Wimbledon , Boca Raton, Hamburg, Berlin, Leipzig, Zurich, Brighton, Philadelphia; 1991 - Wimbledon , San Antonio, Hamburg, Berlin, Leipzig, Zurich, Brighton; 1990 - Australian Open , Tokyo [Pan Pacific], Amelia Island, Hamburg, Montreal, San Diego, Leipzig, Zurich, Brighton, Worcester; 1989 - Australian Open , Wimbledon , US Open , Virginia Slims Championships, Washington DC, Boca Raton, San Antonio, Hilton Head, Hamburg, Berlin, San Diego, Mahwah, Zurich, Brighton; 1988 - Australian Open , Roland Garros , Wimbledon , US Open , Miami, San Antonio, Berlin, Hamburg, Mahwah, Brighton, Olympics; 1987 - Roland Garros , Virginia Slims Championships, Miami, Los Angeles, European Indoors, Boca Raton, Hamburg, Berlin, Rome, Hilton Head, Amelia Island; 1986 - Berlin, Amelia Island, Hilton Head, Indianapolis, Pan Pacific, Zurich, Brighton, Mahwah.
Finalist (31): 1999 - Indian Wells, Wimbledon ; 1997 - Tokyo [Pan Pacific]; 1996 - Philadelphia; 1994 - Hamburg, Montreal, US Open ; 1993 - Australian Open , Miami, Hamburg, Philadelphia; 1992 - Amelia Island, Roland Garros , Olympics; 1991 - Boca Raton, Amelia Island; 1990 - Berlin, Roland Garros , US Open ; 1989 - Amelia Island, Roland Garros ; 1988 - Boca Raton; 1987 - Wimbledon , US Open ; 1986 - Miami [V.S. of Florida], Boca Raton [Lipton], Tour Championships; 1985 - Berlin, Mahwah, Fort Lauderdale; 1984 - Stuttgart.
DOUBLES
Winner (11): 1993 - Hamburg (w/Stubbs); 1992 - Hamburg (w/Stubbs); 1989 - Mahwah (w/Shriver); 1988 - Wimbledon , Miami (both w/Sabatini); 1987 - Amelia Island (w/Sabatini); 1986 - Berlin, Brighton (both w/Sukova), Indianapolis, Zurich (both w/Sabatini), Tokyo [Pan Pacific] (w/Bunge).
Finalist (7): 1989 - Roland Garros (w/Sabatini); 1987 - Roland Garros (w/Sabatini); 1986 - Roland Garros , Chicago (both w/Sabatini), Mahwah (w/Sukova), Hilton Head (w/Tanvier); 1985 - Berlin (w/Tanvier).
ADDITIONAL