Stefanie Graf

More Posts

More from Stefanie Graf:

Trending

  • 15 March 2012 We just had a really inspiring morning at Andre's school with the Canadian Tenors. The group, which has been very supportive of Andre's efforts in education, will be performing at The Smith Center, a new concert venue in Vegas, this weekend and they graciously took the time today to tour the school, share some encouraging words with the students and entertain us all with their incredible voices It was definitely a wonderful way to start the day.
  • 25 May 2012 Had a memorable day in Taipei yesterday. Started at the impressive Taipei Arena hitting balls with a group of very talented young players. I managed to get a little time to visit the Museum, see a beautiful temple and try some local fruit. Finished the day at a cocktail reception. Throughout it all the fans in Taiwan have been amazing.
  • 25 January 2012 Just got back from a short trip to New York for a ribbon cutting at Longines’ new shop inside Tourneau in midtown Manhattan. I was pleased and honored to attend last night’s ceremony. The celebration included a HydroConquest watch being raffled off with the proceeds benefitting Children for Tomorrow. It was a great end to nice day in the city.
  • 09 November 2011 Here is one of the ads that have been running internationally for the Nintendo campaign. They were all great fun to shoot, particularly working with the kids, who very much like the members of my own immediate family, thoroughly enjoyed beating me in Wii tennis and everything else.
  • 31 October 2011 Here are a few photos from this weekend's Grand Slam for Children.
  • 03 May 2012 Yesterday was the day for our annual media availability event sponsored by our partner Longines. It is always a nice event and its gives us both a great chance to raise awareness about Andre's educational initiatives and my foundation Children for Tomorrow. Now we're off and looking forward to a weekend at the Kentucky Derby which we've never attended before. I'll let you all know if I pick a winner.
  • 02 March 2011 nice shot by Marc Kayne
  • 31 October 2011 Here are a few photos from this weekend's Grand Slam for Children.
  • 10 September 2011 The photos are from a couple of nights ago, when Longines and Town and Country hosted the third annual Women who make a Difference Awards Dinner at the Hearst Hotel in New York. The award highlights women who have made a major positive impact on the lives of children in their communities. This year's honorees, Ann McGee of Miracle Flights for Kids, Ann Tisch of the Young Women's Leadership Network and Gracie Cavnar of Recipe for Success, were chosen from among many truly dedicated and accomplished nominees. Its a wonderful event that I couldn't be proder to take part in.
  • 09 December 2011 We recently got back from a baseball tournament at Lake Havasu which we all enjoyed. The pictures are from a nice walk we took around the lake near London Bridge. The stone benches, in particular, are quite an interesting and unique feature.
  • 31 October 2011 Here are a few photos from this weekend's Grand Slam for Children.
  • 07 August 2012 On my way back home now. While it's always a pleasure to visit London, this trip was an amazing experience. I'm glad that I had the opportunity to participate in the atmosphere at the Olympic Park: from the Adidas events with Fernando Gonzalez, to getting a first hand feel for the speed of the cycling in the Velodrome, to watching the Athletics in the Olympic Stadium that included the 100M finals, the long jump finals and Jessica Ennis’ gold medal win in the Heptathlon only added to the special memories from my trip. Here are a few photos from some of the events I watched and my time in one of my favorite cities.
Stefanie Graf Snapshot
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.
  • Stefanie Graf