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Great Athletes

Steffi Graf

by Karen Gould

Sport: Tennis

Early Life

Stephanie Maria Graf was born on June 14, 1969, in Mannheim, a large industrial city in West Germany (now in Germany). Her parents, Peter and Heidi Graf, were semiprofessional tennis players. She has a younger brother, Michael. From about the age of three, Steffi showed an interest in playing tennis. She began hitting balls against the living room wall and across a makeshift “net” of string between two chairs. As her exceptional ability in the sport became apparent, her father moved the family to Brühl, a suburb of Mannheim, where he opened a tennis club and school. Under her father’s coaching, Steffi posted impressive wins in junior competition by the time she was twelve years old. Her most notable successes were winning the Orange Bowl twelve-year-olds tournament in 1981, the European fourteen-and-under tournament, and the European Circuit Masters in 1982.

Steffi Graf backhanding the ball in the semifinal match of the 1993 U.S. Open.

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(Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images)

The Road to Excellence

At the age of thirteen, Steffi became a professional on the international women’s tennis tour. While on the tour, she studied with a tutor. Her off-court interests included reading novels and books on current events, shopping, and popular music. In the early years of her professional tennis career, Steffi’s game advanced consistently, and she climbed steadily up the computer rankings. At the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, she won the tennis competition, which was then played as a demonstration sport.

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In 1985, building on her Olympic triumph, she did well in Grand Slam tournaments and reached the semifinals of the U.S. Open. In 1986, although she failed to win a Grand Slam tournament, she won eight other tournaments, defeating several top-ranked players. For these achievements, she was ranked number three and was named West German sportswoman of the year.

Steffi’s steady rise was based on elements that ensured her continued success as an athlete. First, she was motivated by a sheer love of tennis. Second, she benefited from strong family support. Third, and most important, she devoted much time to practice and training. As a result, she perfected powerful strokes, especially her forehand and serve. She brought great concentration, discipline, and determination to her game. As Steffi said: “All I want[ed] to do [was] play good tennis and have fun. I want[ed] so much to hit it hard—and have it go in.”

The Emerging Champion

In 1987, Steffi’s potential came to fruition. During that spring, she won several major tournaments, including the Lipton International Players Championship, the Italian Open, and the Ladies German Championship. Most important, she won her first Grand Slam tournament, the French Open, defeating the number-one player, Martina Navratilova, in a hard-fought three-set match. Although Steffi lost the Wimbledon and U.S. Open finals to Navratilova, her record for the year—including a win at the final tournament of the season, the Virginia Slims Championship—established her as the number-one ranked player in women’s professional tennis for 1987.

In 1988, Steffi dominated women’s tennis with an outstanding, record-breaking year. In addition to winning several other tournaments, Steffi earned a place in tennis history by winning the calendar Grand Slam: The Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open. She was only the fifth tennis player, man or woman, to accomplish this impressive feat. Steffi made this accomplishment even more historic by winning the gold medal in women’s tennis at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea. By winning the Olympic title in the first year that tennis was again a recognized event, Steffi became the only tennis player in history to win the “Golden Slam.” After she won the U.S. Open, she told the press that it was a “relief” to win the Grand Slam. “Now, there’s nothing else that people can tell me I have to do.”

Continuing the Story

Through 1990, Steffi Graf maintained her position as the top-ranked women’s tennis player. She had to face, however, significant challenges as she matured both personally and athletically. In tennis, younger players keep the competition strong. In 1989, Steffi won three Grand Slam tournaments and the Virginia Slims Championship, but she lost in the French Open final to the younger Spaniard, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario. The following year, 1990, was difficult for Steffi. She dealt with a broken thumb on her racket hand, a serious sinus condition that required surgery, and a personal crisis within her family. Although she won many of the tournaments she entered, she lost three of the four Grand Slam tournaments.

Despite these setbacks, Steffi maintained the strong competitiveness and sportsmanship that characterized her playing. She also continued working on her game with her coaching practice partner, Pavel Slozil, to strengthen weaker areas of her game and to increase her versatility. She won her first Grand Slam title since the 1990 Australian Open by capturing the 1991 Wimbledon singles title.

During the 1990’s, Steffi proved to be one of tennis’s all-time great champions. From 1992 through 1999, she won thirteen Grand Slam singles titles, including four Wimbledon titles, four French Open titles, three U.S. Open titles, and one Australian Open title. Dramatically, she won her last Grand Slam singles title of her illustrious career at the 1999 French Open by beating Martina Hingis in three sets. Steffi decided to retire from the women’s tour in 1999. In 2001, Steffi married fellow tennis superstar Andre Agassi. The couple had their first child the same year and their second child two years later. Steffi has been awarded numerous tennis-related honors, including induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2004.

Summary

Steffi Graf’s accomplishment in winning the 1988 “Golden Slam” assured her place in tennis history. During her career, she won more than one hundred singles titles, including twenty-two Grand Slam singles titles. With these twenty-two Grand Slam titles, Steffi ranked second all-time behind Margaret Court, who had twenty-four. Steffi’s style of tennis—a combination of hard, powerful strokes, exceptional foot speed, and great intensity—left a lasting mark on the sport.

Additional Sources

1 

Collins, Bud. Total Tennis: The Ultimate Tennis Encyclopedia. Toronto: Sport Media, 2003.

2 

Heady, Sue. Steffi: Public Power, Private Pain. Rev. ed. London: Virgin, 1996.

3 

O’Neil, Dana Pennett, and Pat Williams. How to Be Like Women Athletes of Influence: Thirty-one Women at the Top of Their Game and How You Can Get There Too. Deerfield Beach, Fla.: Health Communications, 2007.

4 

Parsons, John. The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Tennis: The Definitive Illustrated Guide to World Tennis. London: Carlton, 2006.

5 

Rutledge, Rachel. The Best of the Best in Tennis. Brookfield, Conn.: Millbrook Press, 1998.

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
Gould, Karen. "Steffi Graf." Great Athletes,Salem Press, 2009. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=Athletes_1811.
APA 7th
Gould, K. (2009). Steffi Graf. Great Athletes. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.
CMOS 17th
Gould, Karen. "Steffi Graf." Great Athletes. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2009. Accessed December 14, 2025. online.salempress.com.