Steffi Graf

Steffi Graf Biography

Tennis lost one of its most important players when Steffi Graf retired in August, 1999, following the TIG Tennis Classic in San Diego.

Stefanie Maria Graf was born on June 14, 1969 in Neckerau, Germany. Her father's name is Peter and her mother's name is Heidi. She has one brother named Michael. Steffi currently is dating a guy named Michael Bertels.

Steffi spent a total of 377 weeks at number 1, which is a world record. Her first ranking was at 214. She then went on to win 21 Grand Slam Single Titles, 1 Grand Slam Doubles Title. She won 7 at Wimbledon, 5 at the US Open, 6 at the French Open, and 4 at the Australian Open. She has a total of 103 Career Singles Titles. Her total career prize money is $20,130,835.

Steffi Graf began playing tennis when she was just four years old. But it wasn't until she was thirteen years old, on October 18, 1982, that she turned pro. In 1982, Steffi Graf was the second youngest player ever ranked in the WTA Tour ranking 124th. It wasn't until 1985 that she broke into the top ten. In 1988, not only did she win the Grand Slam, but she also was the champion of the Olypic Games. Therefore, her tremendous success was called the "Golden Slam". She is the only player to win all four Grand Slam tournaments in a single year(1990).