Steffi Graf (born Elisabeth Högner; 20 January 1969) is a retired German professional tennis player and, later, a tennis commentator and occasional television presenter. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest female tennis players of all time. She won 22 major singles titles, second all-time to Margaret Court, and became the first woman in the open era to complete the calendar Grand Slam twice. Her record tally of 22 Grand Slam singles titles puts her fifth on the open era list behind Margaret Court (24), Serena Williams (23), Steffi Graf (22) and Billie Jean King (22)
She is also the most recent player to complete a calendar year Grand Slam and did so in 1988 and 1989. She won a record seven Wimbledon singles titles and 18 Grand Slam titles overall. Graf holds the records for consecutive weeks ranked world No.
1 by The Tennis Magazine in both 1989 and 1990, and had more weeks at No. 1 than any other player in history. In 1987, she became the youngest player to receive the Golden Slam award when she won all four majors in one calendar year for a total of 60 weeks.
In October 2012, Graf was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame at Newport, Rhode Island.
I like to laugh but on the court it is my work. I try to smile but it is so difficult. I concentrate on the ball not on my face.Steffi Graf
You can have a certain arrogance, and I think that's fine, but what you should never lose is the respect for the others.Steffi Graf
I suppose it's amazing how quick life goes by when you have children.Steffi Graf
