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Entity reports on former tennis player, Steffi Graf.

Name: Stefanie Graf

Lifetime: June 14, 1969 – Present

What She’s Known For: Before twin powerhouses Venus and Serena ever graced the courts, another female player was making tennis history.

Tennis legend and Hall of Fame superstar Stefanie Maria Graf was born in Bruhl West Germany. Coached by her father, Peter Graf, she started playing tennis at age three and began her professional career at age 13, when she became the second youngest player ever to earn international ranking.

Graf would eventually go on to win all four Grand Slam tennis tournaments (the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open) and an Olympic Gold Medal in one consecutive year, becoming the first player in history to win the title of “Golden Gram Slam.”

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Why We Love Her: Graf boasts the longest reign of any female or male player in history with 377 consecutive weeks at No.1. In her 17-year tennis career, Graf earned $21,895,277 in career prize money and numerous accolades from the international tennis community.

Grantland describes a 1988 match between Graf and tennis superstar Martina Navratilova in which Graf’s impenetrable speed and unparalleled athleticism becomes clear. Like a hungry tiger waiting for the kill, “Graf stepped inside the baseline, pounced on a serve out wide, and, with a scything forehand, sent the ball into the far corner for a winner.”

Her tennis career took an unusual turn when a mentally ill fan, Gunter Parche, stabbed Graf’s opponent Monica Seles during a 1993 match in Hamburg Germany. Parche was obsessed with Graf and committed the horrific act in her name. Seles survived the attack, but missed over two years of tennis and continued to suffer psychological damage after the incident. Graf reclaimed the top ranking as a result.

When Graf retired from professional tennis in 1999, she was ranked number three in the world. Despite her unorthodox upbringing, Graf would go on to live a relatively normal life with her husband (tennis legend Andre Agassi) and their two children. Graf has largely remained out of the limelight, with the exception of her Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2004.

Today, she is focused on her charity, Children for Tomorrow, which works with children traumatized by war.

Fun Fact: It’s hard to imagine that Graf got her start by swinging a racket for her father, Peter, who promised she could have ice cream if she rallied 25 shots. He sawed off the end of a tennis racket and gave it to his three-year-old daughter to practice in their living room.

Graf’s unusual upbringing continued into her teens, with her father managing her every step of the way, including her “schedule, her commitments, her friendships” and her finances. Peter even forbade Stefanie from attending an award ceremony unless they could promise she could get home and be in bed by 9 p.m.

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