Biography for
Steffi Graf More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

14 June 1969, Mannheim, West Germany [now in Germany]

Birth Name

Stefanie Maria Graf

Nickname

Fraulein Forehand
Die Gräfin

Height

5' 9" (1.75 m)

Mini Biography

Steffi Graf started playing tennis at age 3, coached by her father, Peter. Under the area's tennis program, as the best girl, she would usually play against the worst boy -- who was usually Boris Becker. After winning the German and European Juniors, she turned pro on 18 October 1982. The next day, she lost to Tracy Austin, who was less-than impressed, telling reporters that there were "hundreds of girls" like Graf back in the States. Peter kept a tight rein on Steffi's career to ensure that she wouldn't "burn out" as she climbed up the rankings. She finally won her first title on 13 April 1986, defeating Chris Evert at the Family Circle Cup. She would win 107 WTA tournaments, including 22 Majors. In 1988, she joined Don Budge, Rod Laver, Maureen Connolly, and Margaret Court as the only players in tennis history to win a calendar-year Grand Slam, and the only one to win it on four different surfaces.

She found herself at the center of a near-tragedy on 30 April 1993. As then-arch rival Monica Seles was resting during a changeover at the Hamburg Open, a man made his way through the stands, and plunged a knife into her back. At first, it was thought the attack was prompted by the conflict in Seles's Yugoslavia. But it turned out Guenter Parche was a Graf fan, and reasoned that if he took Seles out, Graf would regain the #1 ranking. The attack reverberated across sports. It also changed the course of tennis history. Seles was off the court for 27 months, and never regained her dominating form. Graf visited Seles in the hospital, but didn't comment publicly about the incident until 2004.

Graf retired on 13 August 1999 after beating Martina Hingis at Roland Garros, and losing to Lindsay Davenport at Wimbledon. By this time, she was dating Andre Agassi, whom also won Roland Garros, but was a finalist at Wimbledon that year. With only their mothers as witnesses, they were married on 22 October 2001 at his Las Vegas home. Their son, Jaden Gil, was born four days later. Their daughter, Jaz Elle, was born on 3 October 2003.

Famous for her killer instinct and business-like approach, at times she displayed a sense of humor. During a tight 1995 Wimbledon match against Kimiko Date, she was serving when a fan yelled out "Steffi!" Everyone, including Steffi, burst out laughing. Composing herself, she readied to serve when the fan shouted "Steffi! Will you marry me?" The stadium burst into peals of laughter and play was delayed for a couple of minutes. Steffi readied to serve, tossed the ball, caught it, turned, and yelled to the fan: "How much money do you have?" Graf lost the set, but won the match to face (and defeat) Arantxa Sánchez Vicario for the title.

IMDb Mini Biography By: ldavis-2

Spouse

Andre Agassi

(22 October 2001 - present) 2 children

Trivia

The first and (to date) only player to win the Grand Slam and an Olympic gold medal (1988).

Posed for the 1997 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in an effort to "feminize" her image.

Father Peter Graf spent nearly two years in jail after being convicted in 1997 of evading $7 million in taxes on her earnings.

Only player to win all four Grand Slam singles titles twice in two different decades.

Only player to win all four Grand Slam singles titles at least four times.

Only player to win the Grand Slam on four different surfaces (carpet, clay, grass, hard court).

Only player ever to beat the three top seeded players in a Grand Slam event.

Was the #1 singles player for 186 straight weeks, broken by Roger Federer in August 2007. Her stay at #1 for a record 377 weeks total still stands.

At the age 13, became the second-youngest player ever to earn an international ranking.

German Sportswoman of the Year for four consecutive times from 1986 to 1989 and in 1999.

Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year 1989

Heads the non-profit foundation Children for Tomorrow, supporting and initiating projects that provide assistance to children and families who have become the victims of war, persecution and violence.

Born at 4:40 AM CET (Central Europe Time)

Career Prize Money: $20,130,835.00

Born to Peter Graf, a car and insurance salesman, and then-wife Heidi Graf, she started playing tennis at age 4.

Won a legal battle against Microsoft Germany about fake nude photos of her that were posted on a Web site run by the company. The photos were replaced in June at Graf's request, but the company declined to sign a formal agreement that they wouldn't use them again, so Graf sued. The state appeals court in Cologne upheld a ruling last October by a lower court, which had ruled that Microsoft Germany was responsible for the content of the site and must ensure that such pictures don't appear there (27 May 2002).

Gave birth to Jaden Gil Agassi, 3 weeks prematurely, on 26 October 2001 at 3:30 AM at Valley Hospital in Las Vegas, weighing 5 pounds, 14 ounces. While it was thought the baby's name originated from the Hebrew, meaning "God has listened," in a February 2002 interview, Graf disclosed that Jaden is a masculine form of jade, a word she had always liked, and Gil was in honor of Agassi's trainer, Gil Reyes.

Gave birth to her daughter Jaz Elle on 3 October 2003.

Inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame on 11 July 2004.

Ranked #3 in a survey by German network ZDF searching the 100 best German sportsmen of all time (19 November 2004).

Older sister of Michael Graf.

Upon the birth of Christian Sampras, son of Pete Sampras and Bridgette Wilson-Sampras, London bookmakers gave the baby a 2,000-1 shot to beat Jaden Gil Agassi in a Wimbledon final.

She and Andre Agassi are the only two players in tennis history to win all four Grand Slam singles titles and an Olympic gold medal.

Won the Australian Open (1988-1990, 1994), French Open (1987, 1988, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1999), Wimbledon (1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996), US Open (1988, 1989, 1993, 1995, 1996).

Was chosen "most admirable German woman" by the readers of "Amica" magazine (September 2005).

When they both won the singles' event at Wimbledon in 1992, she showed no interest in her later husband Andre Agassi at all. The officials didn't allow him to dance with her at the tournament's banquet, although he had been secretly pining for her as far back as 1990.

Resides with her family in Las Vegas.

Is mentioned in "I'm in Love with Steffi Graf", sang by Hugh Laurie on "A Bit of Fry and Laurie" (1987).

Niece of Christel Ginepri, who acts as her spokesperson.

Two months after he resigned as Agassi's business manager in October 2008, Perry Rogers sued Graf for $50,000 in management fees.

Daughter-in-law of Mike Agassi.

Sister-in-law of Phillip Agassi and Tami Agassi.

Personal Quotes

Sometimes I wish I could have been a bit more relaxed. But then I wouldn't have been the same player.