One of the greatest players the sport of tennis has ever seen is Steffi Graf. She won 22 Grand Slam titles, had a career record of 900-115, and won 107 tournaments. Known as the “Fraulein Forehand”, Graf dominated the game of tennis behind her powerful groundstrokes.
During her career, Steffi Graf was ranked number one for 377 total weeks. No other player has been number one for so long.
Let’s take a closer look at her career and highlight why she would be a top favorite at the top-rated sportsbooks today.
Beginnings
Steffi Graf began her career in 1982 but her first professional season was in 1983 when she was just 13 years old. By 1985, she was number six in the world. During this season, she made the fourth round of Wimbledon at just 15 years old. Graf’s career was controlled by her father who made sure she did not play too many events to avoid burnout. The strategy was successful as she was able to have a long career.
In 1986, Graf won her first tournament and it was the first time she beat rival Chris Evert at the Family Circle Cup in South Carolina. In 1985 and 1986, Graf had lost to Chris Evert six times so this was a huge breakthrough for her. After getting her first win against Chris Evert, she never lost to her again, and defeated her seven more times.
In 1987, Graf was coming into the season strong, fresh off of a win over Martina Navratilova at the season-ending Virginia Slims championship. She carried that momentum into the season where she was able to win the Miami Masters tournament by defeating Navratilova in the semifinals and then Chris Evert in the finals. After Evert and Navratilova had dominated the tennis scene for so long, a new player had emerged and was now sitting firmly at the top.
She defeated Martina Navratilova in the French Open final for her first Grand Slam. Navratilova still had some more top tennis in her however and defeated Steffi Graf at the Wimbledon final and in the final of the US Open that season.
The losses in the Grand Slam finals were her only losses that year and she had a 75-2 record.
Golden Slam
In 1988, Steffi Graf won every Grand Slam Tournament. She was particularly dominant in the French Open where she defeated Natasha Zvereva in the final 6-0, 6-0 in only 34 minutes.
Steffi Graf ended Martina Navratilova’s streak of six straight titles at Wimbledon by winning at The All England Club and defeated Gabriela Sabatini in the final of the US Open to complete the Grand Slam.
On top of that, in 1988, Steffi Graf won the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Seoul. Now her achievement has been dubbed the “Golden Slam”.
Steffi Graf started 1989 with five straight tournament wins. She failed to defend her French Open title, falling to Arantxa Sanchez Vicario that season. She bounced back, however, and won Wimbledon and the US Open.
Family Business
She started 1990 with another win, defeating Mary Joe Fernandez for her 8th Grand Slam title in the last nine she had played. She had not lost since losing the French Open in 1989. She ended up winning 66 straight matches before losing in Berlin to Monica Seles.
She was not able to win a Grand Slam later that year as a scandal surrounding her father could have sapped her concentration. However, she still finished 1990 as the number one player in the world.
That would change in 1991 when Monica Seles won three of the four Grand Slams and ended Steffi Graf’s record of 186 weeks holding the number one title.
Back to Basics
In 1992, Graf was beset with sickness and was not able to reach the form she had found earlier. This year Monica Seles was at the top and Graf struggled to find her top form.
In 1993, she returned to the top of the sport once again. Although she started off slow, she was able to win three of the four Grand Slam events that year as well as the year-end Virginia Slim Championship. However, that year was marked with tragedy as her top rival Monica Seles was stabbed during a match in Hamburg.
Graf started off hot in 1994 when she won 5 straight tournaments including the Australian Open. However, she ended up developing a back injury and was not able to win another Grand Slam tournament that season. She still did play well in the other tournaments and was able to end the year as world number one.
Downfall
In 1995, she was struggling with injury and did not play in the Australian Open. She did bounce back and find her form in the French Open and Wimbledon. Steffi Graf also won the US Open that year in an inspiring tournament that was punctuated by Monica Seles’s return. Steffi Graf defeated Monica Seles in the final but everyone in the WTA was glad to have Seles back.
She had to have another off-season surgery at the end of 1995 and once again missed the Australian Open. She also once again returned strong to win the next three Grand Slam finals. 1996 would be the last year that she was at the top of her game.
Now struggling with multiple injuries, in 1997, she lost her number-one ranking and failed to win a Grand Slam title. She missed Wimbledon and the US Open that year with injuries and in 1998 she was still not her usual self. She had to undergo another surgery that season.
In 1999 she was able to reach two Grand Slam finals but she was unable to win. Realizing that her body had finally given out after years of dominating the tennis tour, she announced her retirement.
Legacy Established
Steffi Graf is one of the greatest women to ever play.
Her career overlaps that of other major stars such as Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis and Venus and Serena Williams. She played against multiple greats and was able to prove her greatness against many different styles.
The tennis world will never forget the style and the class of Steffi Graf, the “Fraulein Forehand”, a woman who all tennis players admire for her consistency of greatness.
