Stefanie Maria "Steffi" Graf (born June 14, 1969 in Mannheim, Germany) is a former world No. 1 woman tennis player from Germany, and widely considered one of the greatest tennis players in history. She won 22 Grand Slam singles titles. In 1988, she became the first player to achieve the "Golden Slam" – capturing all four Grand Slam titles and the Olympic Gold Medal in the same year. She was ranked the Women's Tennis Association's No. 1 player for a record 377 weeks and is the only player, male or female, to have won all four Grand Slam tournaments (Wimbledon and the Australian, French and United States opens) at least four times apiece.
Early career
Steffi was introduced to tennis by her father Peter Graf, a car and insurance salesman and aspiring tennis coach, who taught his three-year-old daughter how to swing a wooden racket in the family's living room. She began practising on a court at the age of four and played in her first tournament at five. She soon began winning junior tournaments with regularity, and in 1982 she won the European Championships 12s and 18s.
Graf played in her first professional tournament in October 1982 at

, Germany; she lost 6-4, 6-0 to Tracy Austin, a two-time U.S. Open champion and former world No. 1 player. After the match, Austin dismissed Graf's abilities, saying there were "hundreds" of kids like her in the United States.
At the start of her first full professional season in 1983, the 13-year-old Graf was ranked No. 124. She won no titles in the next three years, but her game improved consistently and her ranking steadily climbed: to No. 98 in 1983, No. 22 in 1984, and No. 6 in 1985. In 1984, she represented West Germany in the tennis demonstration event at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles and won the gold medal. Her schedule was closely controlled by her father, who limited her play so that she would not burn out as many young tennis stars had. In 1985, for instance, she played only 10 events leading up to the US Open; whereas another up-and-coming star, Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina, who was a year younger than Graf, played 21. Peter Graf also kept a tight reign on Steffi's personal life. Social invitations on the tour were often declined as Steffi's focus was kept very much on on-court play. Working with her father and then-coach Pavel Slozil, Graf typically practiced for up to four hours a day, often heading straight from airports to practice courts. This narrow focus meant that Graf, already shy and retiring by nature, made few friends on the tour in her early years, but it led to a steady improvement in her play.
Graf finally won her first tour title in April 1986 at Hilton Head, South Carolina, defeating Chris Evert in the final. She followed this up with seven further tournament victories in 1986, and finished the year ranked No. 3.
The main weapon in Graf's game was her powerful forehand, which earned her the nickname "Fraulein Forehand"'. Over time, Graf also developed the best slice backhand in the game, as well as a consistent volley. She built her powerful and accurate serve up to 105 mph. She was also extremely fast and athletic, chasing down balls that seemed unplayable. Though she chose tennis as her career, she was also a top 400-metre runner in her youth and could potentially have been a world-class athlete in that event.
Breakthrough year
Graf's Grand Slam breakthrough came in 1987. She started the year strongly, with six tournament victories heading into the French Open. In the

f typically practiced for up to four hours a day, often heading straight from airports to practice courts. This narrow focus meant that Graf, already shy and retiring by nature, made few friends on the tour in her early years, but it led to a steady improvement in her play.
Graf finally won her first tour title in April 1986 at Hilton Head, South Carolina, defeating Chris Evert in the final. She followed this up with seven further tournament victories in 1986, and finished the year ranked No. 3.
The main weapon in Graf's game was her powerful forehand, which earned her the nickname "Fraulein Forehand"'. Over time, Graf also developed the best slice backhand in the game, as well as a consistent volley. She built her powerful and accurate serve up to 105 mph. She was also extremely fast and athletic, chasing down balls that seemed unplayable. Though she chose tennis as her career, she was also a top 400-metre runner in her youth and could potentially have been a world-class athlete in that event.
Breakthrough year
Graf's Grand Slam breakthrough came in 1987. She started the year strongly, with six tournament victories heading into the French Open. In the final, she defeated the world No. 1 Martina Navratilova in an epic battle, 6-4, 4-6, 8-6. Graf lost to Navratilova in the finals at Wimbledon and the US Open later that year. But she won three more tournaments after the French Open and did enough to claim the world No. 1 ranking from Navratilova in August 1987, finishing with a 75-2 match record. She also helped West Germany win the Fed Cup that year.
"Golden Slam"
1988 is widely considered to be the pinnacle of Graf's career. She started out the year by winning the Australian Open, beating Evert in straight sets in the final. Then at the French Open, she successfully defended her title by routing Natalia Zvereva 6-0, 6-0 in a 32-minute championship match. Next came Wimbledon, where Navratilova had won six straight titles. After a tight start to the final, Graf took control in the second set and beat Navratilova 5-7, 6-2, 6-1, taking 12 of the last 13 games. She then beat Sabatini in three sets in the US Open final to duplicate the feat of winning all four Grand Slam singles titles in one year, previously achieved by only two women – Maureen Connolly (in 1953) and Margaret Court (in 1970). But with tennis becoming a full medal sport at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, there was one more feat which Graf could add. And she duly defeated Sabatini 6-3, 6-3 in the Olympic final to win the gold medal and achieve what the media had dubbed the "Golden Slam". Graf also won her only Grand Slam doubles title that year – at Wimbledon partnering Sabatini – and picked up a women's doubles Olympic bronze medal. She was named the 1988 BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year.
New challengers
Graf extended her Grand Slam winning streak to five events at the Australian Open in 1989, where she comfortably beat Helena Sukova in the final. The winning streak was ended at the 1989 French Open, where a 17-year-old Spanish contender, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, beat her in three sets to become the French Open's youngest-ever winner. However the winning touch was quickly rediscovered as Graf beat Navratilova in three-set finals at both Wimbledon and the US Open.
Few doubted that Graf would continue to dominate the women's game for years to come when she beat Mary Joe Fernández in the final of the 1990 Australian Open. But a new threat to her dominance broke through at the 1990 French Ope