60 Fun Facts About Steffi Graf

In which German city was Steffi Graf born in 1969?

The family moved to neighbouring Brühl when she was nine.

For a record how many weeks was Graf ranked world No. 1?

She also finished as year-end No. 1 a record eight times.

How many major singles titles did Graf win?

That is the second most of the Open Era and third most of all time.

What is the name for Graf's unique feat of winning every major at least four times?

No other player, male or female, has managed it.

At which tournament did a 13-year-old Graf become the youngest player to appear in a major main draw?

She was ranked No. 124 at the start of that first full professional year.

Who beat Graf in her first professional match, at Filderstadt in October 1982?

The former No. 1 won 6–4, 6–0.

What did the 15-year-old Graf win at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics?

No medals were awarded because tennis was not yet an official Olympic sport.

Where did Graf's father first teach his three-year-old daughter to swing a wooden racket?

She was on a court at four and playing tournaments at five.

Whom did Graf beat for her first WTA title at Hilton Head in 1986, never losing to her again?

She never lost to her again, winning their next seven meetings.

What was Graf's win–loss record in her 1987 breakthrough season, when she won her first major?

Both defeats came against Navratilova, who split their four meetings that year.

From August 1987, Graf held No. 1 for how many consecutive weeks, a record later tied by Serena Williams?

She was the first player other than Navratilova or Evert at the top since 1980.

What is the name for Graf's 1988 feat of winning all four majors and Olympic gold in one year?

She remains the only tennis player to have done it.

Graf's 1988 French Open final was the shortest major final ever. What was the score?

Natasha Zvereva won only thirteen points; a rain break split the play into nine and 23 minutes.

From what position was Graf trailing in the 1988 Wimbledon final before beating Navratilova?

She won 5–7, 6–2, 6–1.

Which two women had completed a calendar Grand Slam before Graf did in 1988?

Graf's is the only Grand Slam ever won on three surfaces, since the US Open moved to hard courts in 1978.

Whom did Graf beat in the gold-medal match at the 1988 Seoul Olympics?

The same opponent had lost to her in the US Open final a few weeks earlier.

Graf's only Grand Slam doubles title came at Wimbledon in 1988 with which partner?

The famously shy pair barely spoke at changeovers.

Who upset Graf at the 1988 season-ending championships, denying her a 'Golden Super Slam'?

It was only her third loss of the year.

Which 17-year-old ended Graf's run of five straight major titles in the 1989 French Open final?

Graf served for the match at 5–3 in the third and then won only three more points, blaming food poisoning and cramps.

What was Graf's match record in 1989?

Her 0.977 winning percentage is second in the Open Era only to Navratilova.

How many wins long was Graf's unbeaten streak when it ended in the 1990 Berlin final?

Only Navratilova's 74 is longer in WTA history.

Which German tabloid ran the 1990 story about Graf's father, leading to tears at a Wimbledon press conference?

Wimbledon threatened to shut down any press conference where the subject came up.

How many of the 1991 majors did Monica Seles win as she took over from Graf as the dominant player?

She also ended Graf's record 186-week hold on the No. 1 ranking that March.

Who beat Graf in the 1992 Barcelona Olympic final, leaving her with silver?

Four years earlier she had taken gold in Seoul.

In which city was Monica Seles stabbed by a Graf fan in 1993?

Günter Parche said he did it to help Graf regain the No. 1 ranking; Seles was out for more than two years.

During Seles's absence in 1993, how many of her 67 matches did Graf win?

She took three of the four majors and the year-end championships.

Graf's father was jailed for how long in the 1995 tax evasion case?

Prosecutors dropped the case against Graf herself in 1997 when she paid a 1.3 million Deutsche Mark fine.

The 1995 Wimbledon final against Sánchez Vicario is famous for a game at 5–5 in the third set lasting how long?

Graf also beat her in the French Open final that year.

Whom did Graf beat in the 1999 French Open final for her 22nd and last major?

She came from a set down and became the first Open Era player to beat the top three seeds in one major.

Who beat Graf in her ninth and final Wimbledon singles final in 1999?

Graf had survived three-setters against Venus Williams and Mirjana Lučić on the way.

Graf's much-publicised 1999 Wimbledon mixed doubles partnership was with which player?

They reached the semifinals before she withdrew to protect her hamstring for the singles final.

How old was Graf when she announced her retirement on 13 August 1999?

She was ranked No. 3 and said she was 'not having fun anymore'.

How many WTA singles titles did Graf win in her career?

Only Navratilova and Evert won more in the Open Era.

What nickname did Graf's signature inside-out groundstroke earn her?

Her intricate footwork was the other main weapon.

Graf won a record how many titles at the German Open in Berlin?

Her ninth came in her comeback spring of 1996.

What is the name of Graf's charitable foundation?

Proceeds from her later exhibition matches against Sabatini went to it.

Which fellow tennis great has Graf been married to since 2001?

They started dating after the 1999 French Open and wed with only their mothers as witnesses.

What are the names of Graf's two children?

Their son took up baseball rather than tennis.

In which US metropolitan area does the Graf–Agassi family live?

Their home is in the community of Summerlin.

Which racing driver did Graf date from 1992 to 1999?

The relationship ended the year she began dating her future husband.

In which year was Graf inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame?

She entered the German Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.

How many times was Graf named German Sportsperson of the Year?

The years were 1986 to 1989 and 1999.

Which BBC award did Graf win in 1988?

Her home town of Brühl also made her an honorary citizen that year.

Which name has Graf preferred to be called since 2001?

Her full name is Stefanie Maria Graf.

Asked in 2016 to name the greatest players ever, Serena Williams answered Graf and whom?

The Associated Press had already named Graf the greatest woman player of the 20th century.

Which two players' dominance did Graf end when she rose to the top in 1987?

In 1985 and early 1986 she had lost nine straight matches to the pair, all in straight sets.

Who was Graf's first coach alongside her father, with whom she practised up to four hours a day?

She often went straight from airports to the practice court.

Which player, together with Graf, is credited with popularising tennis in Germany?

Both were teenage sensations of the mid-1980s.

Who beat Graf in the 1990 Wimbledon semifinals, ending her run of 13 straight major finals?

Garrison had saved a match point against Seles in the previous round and had not beaten Graf in four years.

To which town did Graf's family move when she was nine, later making her an honorary citizen?

The municipality granted her the honour at the end of her Golden Slam year, 1988.

Graf's 1988 Grand Slam is the only one completed on how many different surfaces?

Every earlier calendar Slam predated the US Open's 1978 move to hard courts, so none combined grass, clay and hard.

Whom did Graf beat in the 1990 Australian Open final, her eighth major in the last nine she played?

Shortly afterwards she injured her right thumb cross-country skiing in Switzerland.

Which illness forced Graf to miss the 1992 Australian Open?

She returned in Chicago that year, her first tournament with a new coach after splitting from Pavel Složil.

Which former Swiss player became Graf's coach in 1992 after her father approached him?

He replaced long-time coach Pavel Složil, from whom she had split in 1991.

Who beat Graf in the first round of Wimbledon in 1994, her only loss there between 1991 and 1997?

It was her first opening-round defeat at a major in ten years.

Which body named Sánchez Vicario its 1994 World Champion even though Graf ended the year No. 1?

The WTA stood by its computer rankings and named Graf instead.

Which German did Graf beat in a five-set final at the 1995 season-ending WTA Championships?

The match ran two hours and 46 minutes and capped a year overshadowed by the tax investigation.

How much did Graf agree to pay in 1997 to settle the tax evasion case against her?

Prosecutors dropped the case once the fine was paid to the government and an unspecified charity.

Which South African handed Graf the worst defeat of her career, 6-0, 6-1 in 56 minutes, in Berlin in 1997?

A week later Graf had reconstructive knee surgery in Vienna and missed Wimbledon and the US Open.

Which car maker signed Graf to a ten-year endorsement deal in 1985?

She later played with Wilson Pro Staff racquets, switching to the 7.5 in 1996 and the 7.1 in 1998.