Instead after winning several important junior tennis tournaments including the European Championships 18s at age 13, Graf turned pro as a tennis player in October of 1982.

Graf enjoyed almost immediate success on the women's tennis tour and at the 1984 Olympic Games as a 15 year old, she won the women's tennis singles event in Los Angeles. Graf's extremely powerful forehand quickly became and still stands as the best forehand ever in women's tennis and earned her the nickname Fraulein Forehand.

In the three years of 1987, 1988 and 1989, Graf dominated women's tennis to become at that time the greatest female tennis player ever.

After winning her first singles grand slam title at Roland Garros in 1987, Graf finished the year with a 75-2 record with losses only to the legend Martina Navratilova of the USA. Graf would win 45 singles matches in a row that year.

In the following year 1988, Graf won all four grand slam titles (the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open) plus gold at the Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea to win the Golden Grand Slam and post a 72-3 match record for the year. Graf is the only winner ever of the Golden Grand Slam and the last tennis player to win the Grand Slam or to sweep all four grand slam titles in one calendar year. That year Graf won 46 matches in a row.

In 1989 Graf went an unthinkable 86-2 in match play with both losses third set matches with 7-5 decisive third sets. That year Graf would win the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open while winning 41 matches in a row.

Graf won her final grand slam title at Roland Garros in 1999 two years before marrying the former men's number one tennis player Andre Agassi of the USA.

profile by Ken Miller | as of Thursday, November 11, 2021