Steffi Graf

Born: 1969

Tennis

Stefanie Maria Graf was born in Mannheim in southwestern Germany. She is generally considered one of the greatest female tennis players of all time. Her main weapon in her game was her powerful forehand which gave her the nickname "Fräulein Forehand." She also had one of the fastest serves in women's tennis.

Graf became a tennis pro at the age of 13. Just six years later Graf won a "golden slam" taking all four major titles in professional tennis plus a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea in 1988. Graf ranked No. 1 among women tennis players for a record of 377 weeks. She also won a total of 22 Grand Slam singles titles. Graf is also the only player to have won all four Grand Slam singles tournaments (Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, the French Open and the Australian Open) at least four times.

She retired from tennis in August 1999 after winning the French Open for the sixth time. German sports journalists voted Graf "German Athlete of the Century," together with boxing hero Max Schmeling. In 1998 Graf founded Children for Tomorrow, a charity organization that supports traumatized children. She also is an active ambassador of the World Wildlife Fund. Graf is married to tennis star Andre Agassi with whom she has two children, son Jaden Gil and daughter Jaz Elle.