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Steffi Graf: French Open
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Celebrating a season of intrigue and fluctuating fortunes, Pete Sampras and Steffi Graf were the sport's preeminent players in 1996, each for the fourth consecutive year. Sampras sealed his bid for continued supremacy with a triumph at the United States Open, while Graf replicated her astounding 1995 feat of sweeping the French, Wimbledon, and U.S. Open singles titles.
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In 1988, Steffi Graf won all four Grand Slams. She beat Chris Evert 6-1, 7-6 in the Australian Open women's singles final, Natalia Zvereva 6-0, 6-0 in the French Open women's singles final, Martina Navratilova 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 in the Wimbledon women's singles final and Gabriela Sabatini 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 in the U.S. Open women's singles final. The same year, she ... won the Olympic gold medal beating Sabatini 6-3, 6-3 in the Olympic women's singles final in Seoul, South Korea. This qualified her for the "golden slam". She was declared the Golden Slam Winner 1988. Tv
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Steffi Graf won an incredible 107 career WTA singles titles and 11 career doubles titles. She captured an astounding 22 Grand Slam singles titles: 4 Australian Open Championships (1988, '89, '90, '94); 6 French Open Titles (1987, '88, '93, '95, '96, '99); 7 Wimbledon Championships (1988, '89, '91, '92, '93, '95, '96); and 5 US Open Championships (1988, '89, '93, '95, '96). Moreover, Graf made nine additional Grand Slam final appearances: 1993 Australian; 1989, '90, '92 French; 1987, '99 Wimbledon; and 1987, '90, '94 US Open. Overall she reached 31 Grand Slam singles finals. At the conclusion of the 1995 US Open, she became the only player - male or female - to win each of the four major singles titles at least 4 times.
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When she attained the number one ranking with the Women's International Tennis Association (WITA) in 1987 and effectively moved past tennis superstars Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf never looked back. One of the dominant forces in the game of tennis, Graf possessed a blazing forehand and an unrivaled winning attitude. She dominated women's tennis for over a decade. When she chose to retire in 1999 following a series of injuries that made playing the game more of a burden than an enjoyment, Graf had compiled an incredible record of 902 wins and 115 losses on the professional tour, with an astonishing 107 career singles titles and 22 Grand Slam singles titles (only two shy of the record held by Margaret Court Smith). Graf ... became one of only five players in the history of the game to win tennis' Grand Slam, which she accomplished in 1988 by winning the four major tournaments—the Australian and French Opens, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open—all in one calendar year.
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Seemingly free of injury for the first time in years, Graf began 1994 by winning the Australian Open, where she defeated Sanchez Vicario in the final with the loss of only two games. She then won her next four tournaments easily. In the Key Biscayne, Florida final, she lost her first set of the year – to Natalia Zvereva – after winning 54 consecutive sets. In the Hamburg final, saw lost for the first time in 1994 after 36 consecutive match victories, losing to Sanchez Vicario in three sets. She then won her eighth German Open, but there were signs that her form was worsening as she almost lost to Julie Halard in a quarterfinal. Graf then lost to Pierce in a French Open semifinal and followed with a first-round loss at Wimbledon to Lori McNeil, her first loss in a first round Grand Slam tournament in ten years.
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At the start of her first full professional season in 1983, the 13-year-old Graf was ranked No. 124. She won no titles in the next three years, but her game improved consistently and her ranking steadily climbed: to No. 98 in 1983, No. 22 in 1984, and No. 6 in 1985. In 1984, she represented West Germany in the tennis demonstration event at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles and won the gold medal. Her schedule was closely controlled by her father, who limited her play so that she would not burn out as many young tennis stars had. In 1985, for instance, she played only 10 events leading up to the US Open, whereas another up-and-coming star, Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina, who was a year younger than Graf, played 21. Peter Graf ... kept a tight rein on Steffi's personal life.
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