Germany's Steffi Graf won the Wimbledon Singles crown seven times in a stellar career that included a Golden Grand Slam in 1988.

Steffi Graf was definitely the player of her era, dominating the women’s game for over a decade to win 22 singles Grand Slam titles. That’s four more than Martina Navratilova collected, though the ex-Czech totalled many more when you bring her doubles achievements into the equation.

Hailing from Mannheim in Germany, the 5’9” Graf first came onto the Grand Slam scene in 1983 aged 14. Two years later her potential became evident as she reached the last four of the US Open, a few months after I first met her at her family home.

Looking back I can remember feeling that here was someone destined for the big time. Whilst quiet and modest, an underlying determination was always evident.

She revealed then that she had only played on grass “about four times”, and, whilst a keen admirer of Wimbledon champions Martina Navratilova – “I think her game is perfect" – plus Jimmy Connors’ “fighting qualities” and John McEnroe’s “touch and feel”, she didn’t expect to make much of an impact at SW19 for a few years to come.

And she was right. She won The Championships for the first time in 1988, having reached the final of all the five previous Slams, losing just two of them. That year was to prove her greatest year. She not only made the Grand Slam – winning all four majors in a calendar year, only the third woman to do so – she turned it into a Golden Slam by taking the Olympic title when tennis returned to the Games in Seoul.

She reigned as world No. 1 for a record 377 weeks and in total won 106 tour titles, all contributing to her US$21,895,277 prize-money fortune. She was named World Champion by the International Tennis Federation on seven occasions, another record.

Injuries started to affect her career in 1996 and during the ensuing years she underwent a series of operations to remove bone chips in her left knee and both feet. Chronic back pain also hampered her during this period but she eventually retired when she was beaten in a second round match by Amy Frazier in San Diego, in August 1999.

Her fans remain numerous and it was one of her more fanatical ones that shocked the world in April 1993 when he stabbed Monica Seles in the back during a change-over in a match played in Hamburg in order to help Graf regain the world number-one slot.

She won Wimbledon seven times and her last appearance at a Slam was at the 1999 final, when she lost in straight sets to Lindsay Davenport. She refused to confirm it would be her last Wimbledon and when later asked why she hadn’t, she simply replied: “It was Lindsay’s day.”

However, a few weeks earlier she had won the French for a sixth time in a classic encounter, destroying Martina Hingis 6-2 in the third set. It proved to be a traumatic experience for the Swiss, then No.1 in the world, who had come within three points of winning her first Roland Garros title. Hingis never recovered, losing in the first round of The Championships four weeks later.

Graf married Andre Agassi in October 2001 and gave birth to a son later that same month, and a daughter in October 2003.

As expected, on her retirement and subsequent marriage, Graf has avoided the limelight, preferring to watch her husband in action from the stands whenever possible. There has been no mention of any form of comeback, though she was ranked three when she announced her retirement.

But a buzz of excitement was felt in tennis circles when her husband announced, during Melbourne last January, that she had agreed to play Mixed Doubles with him at the French Open should he go on to win the Australian Open singles. He did, but was then forced to admit she hadn’t agreed and would not play!

A determined lady who never abused her position and was always considerate of others; admired world-wide for her graciousness in defeat and victory, she is sorely missed on the pro circuit. And the stroke which proved her most striking weapon, her sledgehammer forehand, has assured her of a place in tennis history.

Written by Barry Newcombe

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STEFFI GRAF

Singles Champion: 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996
Singles Runner-up: 1987, 1999
Doubles Champion: 1988