Steffi Graf

About Steffi Graf

Stefanie Maria "Steffi" Graf (born 14 June 1969) is a German former professional tennis player whose combination of speed, athleticism, and a powerful forehand made her one of the dominant players of her era. Born in Mannheim, West Germany, Graf began playing tennis as a young child and entered the professional ranks at 13. After steadily rising through the rankings, she won her first major singles championship at the 1987 French Open and became world No. 1 later that year.

Graf's defining season came in 1988, when she won the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and U.S. Open and then captured the singles gold medal at the Seoul Olympics. The achievement made her the first—and remains the only—tennis player to complete a calendar-year Golden Slam. Over her career, Graf won 22 major singles titles: four Australian Opens, six French Opens, seven Wimbledon championships, and five U.S. Opens. She remains the only player, male or female, to have won each of the four majors at least four times.

Graf won 107 WTA singles titles and spent a record 377 weeks as the world's No. 1-ranked woman, including 186 consecutive weeks. She retired in 1999 at age 30, shortly after winning her final major at the French Open, and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2004. Outside tennis, she founded Children for Tomorrow, an organization established to support children and families affected by war, persecution, and violence.