On this day: Born June 14, 1969: Steffi Graf, German tennis player
The pursuit of perfection in tennis has proved beyond all but one player in the modern era, Germany`s Steffi Graf. During her 17-year career Graf collected 22 Grand Slam singles titles and spent a record 377 weeks as world number one. Photo: Reuters
Arrival of Steffi Graf
Yet when reviewing Graf`s impact on her sport, there is only one place to start -- 1988. It was the year a 19-year-old Graf won the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, U.S. Open and Olympics. The Golden Slam. Photo: Reuters
Breaking Martina Navratilova's dominance
Women`s tennis for much of the 1980s was dominated by the iconic rivalry between Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert. A frizzy-haired girl from Mannheim had already begun turning heads in 1982 -- the year Graf debuted on the WTA Tour aged 13. By 1985 she was in the world`s top 10 and in 1987 beat Navratilova to win the French Open. Photo: Reuters
Dominating the tennis court
Graf began 1988 by winning the Australian Open without the loss of a set, beating Evert in the final. In the French Open final she thrashed unfortunate Russian teenager Natasha Zvereva 6-0 6-0 in 32 minutes -- the shortest Grand Slam final. Photo: Reuters
When winning became habit for Graf
At the US Open, Graf scythed through to the final where she beat elegant Argentine Gabriela Sabatini to become only the fifth player to complete the fabled `calendar year` Grand Slam and the only player to do it on hard, clay and grass. Gordon Jorgensen, then president of the USTA, gave Graf a bracelet with four diamonds to mark her feat and a few weeks later in Seoul it was gold after beating Sabatini again in the Olympic singles final. Photo: Reuters
Every story comes to an end
With Evert retiring and Navratilova waning, Graf needed a natural rivalry and in the emergence of Yugoslav teenager Monica Seles she found one, and some. Seles, only 16, snapped Graf`s 66-match winning streak by beating her in her own backyard at the 1990 German Open, and a few weeks later beat her again in the French Open final. In 1991-1992 Seles claimed six Grand Slam titles to Graf`s two and also beat her in the 1993 Australian Open final. Sadly the rivalry came to an almost tragic end months later when a deranged fan stabbed Seles at a tournament in Hamburg. Photo: Reuters
Beginning a new life with Andre Agassi
Graf won the remaining Slams in 1993 and also won three of the four in 1995 and 1996 before Martina Hingis emerged.Even when the inevitable slide began there was still one last flourish as Graf beat Hingis in a stormy 1999 French Open final, months before she retired, aged 30, to begin a new life with American great Andre Agassi whom she married in 2001. Photo: Reuters