Steffi Graf

The female Federer. Won on every surface convincingly. Didn't have a losing head to head record against any top ranking player. A truly remarkable human being. Simply the best female singles player of all time.

Number one!

Greatest player!

Best player and best personality

Other than the continuing rise of Federer and the looming question mark it causes, I find it much easier to rate the men's side. It is tougher on the women's side, even if one limits the conjecture to the open era. All things considered, I'd have to go with Graf. Had they been in their prime at the same time, Martina is the only player I can think of who could have seriously stood in her way. Like Borg on the men's side, Steffi had a certain "Cool" - a confidence about her that the Williams sisters could never rattle; and I don't think Evert would have had the tenacity to stay with her. I think to call her a legend may be a bit of an understatement.

guess monica's stabbing is overrated...suppose hingis was stabbed after aus 99, eveyone wud hav said oh hingis !!she was d best.. she cud hav easily won more than 24 slams.. but did that happen?did she win a slam after that??? NO!! hingis used to dominate davenport(almost a veteran at that time), but then after that davenport started dominating hingis!! why cudnt hav steffi done the same?? seles is a gr8 player agreed, but i dont think she has ever beaten steffi convincingly.. it was always tight and during her prime seles won those.. steffi cud hav easily made a comeback against her just like davenport or even for that matter capriatti..at the most steffi wud hav had 2 slams less if monica hadnt be stabbed... that wud still leave her with 20 slams !! one more than navaratilova...

greatestever no doubt

Forever the Queen of Tennis

Undeniably great. Her grand slam total is so high as she never had a truly great long term rival. She started to dominate in 1987 just when Martina began her worst run of form in decades. Graf won title after title, including her first French open whilst Martina did not win any title from November 1986 to July 1987. Hence Graf's reign began just as Martina, Evert and Mandlikova were in decline. The other factor as people keep pointing out is the stabbing of Seles in 1993. At the time of the stabbing Seles had been totally dominant in the Grand slams for the previous two and half years. That left only Sabatini and Sanchez-Vicario to compete with Graf. Graf also did not have the longevity of Martina. Graf retired in 1999 aged 30 whereas Martina was 30 when Graf won her first grand slam title. It is not true that Graf overcame recent players such as Davenport and the Williams sisters. There games were just maturing as Graf retired, it would have been interesting to see how she fared ag... Read more

Its now 7 years since Graf declared her career finished. And as more time goes bye we notice what an extraordinary player she was: we see the new stars come - and go. And we remember that she was able to compete with at least three generations of players: Navratilova and Evert. Sabatini, Sanchez and Seles. The Williams-Sisters, Davenport and Hingis. Her career started in 1987. 7 Years she finished as the worlds number 1 player. Some years she was just number 2. At the end there where perhaps players which hit harder. But Graf was still able to beat them. But where are these opponents today? They are playing one or two extraordinary years - and than they are burned out or lost their motivation. As more times goes bye we see that Grafs stands over all of them. Some words about the "stabbing" of Seles which seems the most discussed point: I agree with Sabarish: in fact Seles was the only player to threaten Graf ever. But even in Seles dominant years the competition between them was... Read more

Everyone tells you why steffi is the greatest by telling how she is the only one to win all four grandslams 4 times or how she dominated the game for so long. Her detractors say she would not have won so many if Monica had not been stabbed. I would like to tackle the second issue first. What if Thomas mMuster had not met with that accident that took him away from Tennis for so long. What if Martina Hingis were still playing. What if Tracy Austin had not injured herself. Tennis history is full of such tragedies just as real life is. One cannot go on with the what if syndrome. The fact is that Steffi Graf stayed on despite her own personal tragedies and despite the great blemish to her name- the stabbing of Monica. She stayed on and played the game she loved and beat the players who dominated the sport both before and after her pinnacle years. And she made so many of us fall in love not only with the game of tennis but with life itself, for her resilience, grace and dignity ... Read more

Steffi is clearly the very best player of all time, male or female. She won the Grand Slam in 1988, won each of the Grand Slams at least 4 times, and won the second most number of Grand Slam titles, 22 Grand Slam titles. No other person's record is as close as hers.

No. 1 ever! no one else comes close in terms of Steffi's achievements.

Jun 15, 2004 Graf, queen of the lawn By Bob Carter Special to ESPN.com Steffi Graf's the best all-around player. Martina won more on fast courts and I won more on slow courts, but Steffi came along and won more titles on both surfaces,says Chris Evert on ESPN Classic's SportsCentury series. The beginning came neatly wrapped in irony, one teen tennis queen across the court from a future one. In 1982, Steffi Graf, a 13-year-old German and the youngest phenom to turn professional, played her first match against Tracy Austin, a 19-year-old American who had won the U.S. Open three years earlier. After winning 6-4, 6-0 in Filderstadt, Germany, Austin downplayed Graf's skills by saying there were hundreds like Graf back in the U.S., girls with game. The analysis turned into a monstrous mis-hit, for Graf wasn't like the other kids, before or after her, whether they were named Austin or Jaeger, Sabatini or Seles, Capriati or Hingis. Some started on the women's tour with more hype or endo... Read more

Greatest singles player of all time!

Steffi was the second best after Martina Navratilova, or maybe third after Chris in my opinion. She may take 22 grand slam and became golden grand slam in single calendar year. But she was only a single-focused-specialist player, never won any doubles title. And her shine quickly overshadowed two years later by teen age Seles for more than three years, 1990-1993, that time Graf's achievement was poor, only took 2 grand slam meanwhile young and powerful Seles had 8 grand slams, if only the mad fan did not viciously stab Seles at the back, Graf would not as bright as she was and it could be Seles who would come out as the best player. I'm sure about it and I know Graf realize the same thing as well. The proof was that Graf could rise again after the incident, coincidence? I don't think so. In 1995 she had personal problems (her father) but it did not matter at all, Graf still reigned. That's why I could not consider Graf as the best female player, the Seles incident was the only but fata... Read more

SHE IS NOT THE NUMBER ONE, SHE IS 6 OR 7!!!

no question: the greatest player ever. the most amazing is her constancy over more than a decade and her ability to play successfull at most different surfaces (contradiction to seles, who wasn`t able to rule on grass). grafs greatnes becomes as more impressive as we see, how difficult it is for the younger players to stay on top just more than some months. the williams: nearly burned out and injured all the time. hingis: just a short period able play competetive tennis. the belgiums: too often injured just in the beginning of their careers. graf, navratilova, court, conolly, evert...

first of all: i m a big big graf-fan and followed her development since i read about a ten year old girl that was named the wunderkind and told a german newspaper: once i ll be number one in the world. i saw here playing when she defeated as 11 years old german opponents in their twenties. at least its a question of personal belief if shes the best of all time between lenglen, court, evert or navratilova. i think a lot of facts speak for that: that she was able to win on all surfaces. how often she won in a much shorter period - in comparison to navratilova or court for example. that she was able to beat all generations- also the so called young wildes. that she was the first and only person to win the grand slam on 4 different surfaces. and the golden slam. think of her willpower.and how much she devolped the game. when she appeared on the tour she didnt just defeat, she destroyed her opponents. i m rembering that she won the french open 1988 in a bit more than 30 minutes. nobody el... Read more

Dominated her era like no-one has since. How many other Grand Slam winners have there been? Yes, Navratilova was more durable, but, minus Wimbledon, her career wasn't that impressive. Graf gets the nod for greater versatility -- grass, clay, she won anyway. Had injuries not shortened her career, Graf could have dominated tennis into the 21st century.

Steffi Graf is the greatest player of all time. She won 22 GS singles titles. She won 107 singles titles. Against Monica Seles, these are the facts. Prior to the stabbing, a dreadful day in the history of sport, Graf was leading the head-to-head 6-4. At that point, Seles led 3-2 on Clay. It was 1-0 Graf on indoor courts, 2-0 Graf on grass and 1-1 on hard courts. In 1991, the year in which Monica reached the summit of the rankings in March, the two met twice. That was a year in which Graf was very inconsistent and was losing regularly to Sabatini, for example...5 times she lost to her. That was also the year in which she lost in the French semis to Sanchez 6-0 6-2. Still, in the two matches they played - one on clay and one on hard court, Steffi Graf beat Seles twice in straight sets. In 1992, Monica's best year, the met twice more. Graf missed the Australian in January which Seles won. Monica squeezed out a win at the French 1008 in the third. Clearly that match could hav... Read more

sometimes its so funny to read commentaries - like that ones from KANGAROO or UNDERSPIN. i loved them in a very special way - cause they are so ridiculos: to give graf one point is a big joke. when the same person votes mandlikova with 3. lies make that comment not better: graf visited seles at the same day at hospital in hamburg. and there she cried at her bed. thats what monica tells about that. later she called her from time to time to ask how she is. that also seles said. that shows a pretty nice personality and fine character - so please dont produce lies. this is a bit cheap. of course i can understand when there s a lot of ENVY. to be a seles fan is ok. i appreciate here too and very much. she is a great player at all. but having a look on the FACTS OF SPORT the numbers (10:5) tell another story. seles was playing fine beginning of the 1990s. but at the same time graf was in a deep personal crises. yes, seles won till 1993 sometimes - but lets be honest: just very very tightly... Read more

Overall somewhat over-rated; her chief rival generally dominated her in the prime of both their careers, that is, until Seles was stabbed. Furthermore, Navratilova and esp Evert were already past their primes by 1988, when Graf really started to dominate. Thus, in light of this, Graf's statistic of 22 majors is a bit deceptive and should probably contain an asterik. As a tennis player, Graf was highly ambitious and obviously tough to beat, but she was also extremely self-absorbed and isolated and did not give back to the game like King, Evert and others did. In this respect, she resembles Ivan Lendl, except that he at least warmed up a bit late in his career.

A very boring personality combined with an ice cold persona and you have Steffi Graf. This woman never smiles even now and seems like she has been sucking on lemons too long. Very ungracious to not show at last some humanity to Seles in that Hamburg hospital that day and her personality shows it. Graf was NOT one of the greatest at all. She played in an era where the next best player was Sanchez-Vicario...Need I say more? In 1992 at Wimbledon Seles was 'gagged' (something they should do to Sharapova too if they had an ounce of consistency) in the final after other players like Navratilova complained about her grunting. Thus the crown was literally handed to Graf. Very unfair and I hope Martina and others never forget they denied Seles a Wimbledon crown to go with all the others.....Graf was a not very nice person even colder than Evert, and baby thats cold.....

Simply the best on all surfaces and in all conditions. Her forehand remains the single most dominant shot in the history of tennis and her athleticism was incredible. Monica Seles was incredible, but had a loosing win-loss record against Graf BEFORE the stabbing as well as after, so she can hardly be regarded as superior to Graf. Seles never won Wimbledon either. Natratilova was great, but Graf made her look slow. I would be intrigued to know how Graf and Serena Williams would compete against each other, at their best - two wonderful athletes with different power games. I think mentally Graf was rock-solid and her confidence deep-set. The game misses her. I think Alicia Molik has watched a few Steffi Graf matches too.

the greatest of all time female tennis player

Best athlete in ladies tennis

When Steffi Graf starting losing to Seles, it was because she was so distracted by the international press' constant reference to her fathers mishandling of her finances and alleged sexual affair. Steffi was deeply hurt by this and it definitely affected her when she stepped on court, knowing that they entire audience knew about her father's indiscretions. Tennis is 50 percent mental and 50 percent physical. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out.

22 GS Singles and had she not stopped playing the Australian (using that time to heal injuries) and not retired early, she would have at least 5 more! No argument here.

No need to argue about it. She is the greatest.

u ignorant people who are so adamant about the stabbing - it is totally irrelevant when it comes to Steffi Graf's greatness - know your facts people - at the very prime of monica seles (should u call it) steffi graf would beat her at one event in san antonio, tx (hardcourt), another event in germany (claycourt), and another significant event when Graf demolished monica seles in the 1992 Wimbledon's final (grasscourt), in my opinion her best match ever - all these three events and more (i can recall some more i bet if i dig in the facts and only the facts) happened at the very peak of monica seles' game in the 1991-1992 STOP USING THAT TRAGIC NEWS AS AN EXCUSE - Graf would have persevered at the end because as the greatest female athlete, she does not like losing to anyone esp SELES when she demolished her once again in the US OPEN 95-96, Virginia Slims 1998, and the French Open in 1999. Overall Steffi Graf had a 10-5 edge over Seles KNOW YOUR FACTS PEOPLE AND DO NOT DRAW YOUR IGNOR... Read more

Perhaps 2nd or 3rd overall behind Martina and pre-injury Seles. Great focus, the best forehand and great temperament. But also selfish and didn't do anything for the game.

she dominated on all surfaces..what other player did that? one of the top 3 players of all time, plus she has the best body ever on the tour!

What makes a great player? What separates the greatest from the greats? They say Monica Seles should have been the greatest if not for that stabbing incident by a crazed Steffi Graf's fan. Maybe. Maybe not. We don't know. Seles was 19 years old at that time. She won the past 6 grand slams but never the Wimbledon. When Graf was 18 years old, she won all of them, with the Olympic gold medal. If Monica was not stabbed, would she continue to dominate women's tennis? Or would Graf re-established herself as the number one player? We will never know the answer. What we know is what happens after that fateful incident. Monica was never able to recover after that. She won again the US Open when she came back but that was her biggest triumph. Graf moved on and gave life back to women's tennis when the sport was badly shaken. And that despite of the incident hanging in her back just because it was her fan who did it and it was in her country where it happened. And later on, despite the scandals s... Read more

Seles was absolutely dominating the game when she got stabbed. Who knows what else she would have done? The tragedy in Hamburg would be comparable to someone today coming up behind Tiger Woods and plunging a knife into his back. She was THAT good. In response to a comment by one of the posters, Graf restablished herself as world number one and went on to win 11 more more slams ONLY after Seles was stabbed. Well, that was expected since the game's best player w/c of course is Seles was violently attacked by a psycho fan and forced to be sidelined for almost three years. Before the stabbing, Seles had strangelhold of the number one ranking since June of 1991. Her so called rivalry with second ranked Steffi Graf was lopsided as she won a mindboggling 8 Grand slams compared to Graf's very dissapoiting 2. Seles also had a 3-1 Grand Slams finals record against Graf. In their last clash prior to the stabbing at the 1993 Austrlian Open Finals, Seles went on to win her 3rd consecutive Aussie S... Read more

Her record speaks for itself, one of the top 2 or 3 all time greats.

She's no Martina Navratilova, but she's still pretty amazing.... Wouldn't be as successful if Monica hadn't been stabbed, though. :(

There's no doubting Steffi's greatness, but one would have to wonder how many of those titles came thanks to one of her lunitic fans that took out the one player who had her number.

steffi IS the best tennis player of all time. the winner of the golden grand slam. the most athletic woman i have ever seen. she is truly amazing. if she hadn't had her sinus problems and her thumb(?if i remember right) she would not have lost to seles. she is a player of the highest caliber.

Graf is the greatest woman tennis player of all time... Why? Because she was good on ALL the surfaces. She won six French Open titles, the clay of which was her least favorite. Martina is a close second because of a dismal record on clay. Marina is the more compleat player in terms of doing all the programs: singles, doubles, mixed doubles. But it is the singles game that truly tests who is the greatest player of all time (nobody looks at the doubles record of Sampras to know that he certainly comes close to being the greatest, if not the greatest, among the men).

Numero uno

Great player, but I was never a fan. She relied too much on her vicious forehand and I prefer more complete players albeit with lesser power.

best player of all time..who else was as dominant onevery surface..martina may be the greatest grass courter but her record on clay ain't so brilliant

As a tennis fan, I loved Steffi, wow, what a forehand. She used to play with so much poise, only thing I wish she would have smiled more, she was gorgeous.

She is the best of all time!!!! no doubt!!!

A true champion in every sense of the word. She won the Grand Slam, which is something Martina or Chris never did. 22 Grand Slam titles and an Olympic gold. She also won a silver medal in 1992, losing to Jennifer Capriati (the only time she ever lost to Capriati), and she also won a gold medal in Los Angeles in 1984 when tennis was just an exhibition sport, and she was only something like 13 years old. She was the best all-surface player the world has ever seen. She won 7 Wimbledons on grass, 5 U.S. Opens and 4 Australian Opens on hardcourts, and 6 French Opens on clay. She is the only female player to win all the four grand slams at least four times each.

Hands done the best of her time.

Is there any question that Steffi Graf is the greatest female tennis player ever? Look at her record, how early she retired, and her competition. Who on earth compares?

Steffi is a close second to the greatest female tennis player of all time, martina. Steffi had it all, serve, footwork, forehand, and that damn slice backhand that killed all the young players in the nineties. To win a golden slam, 22 grand slam titles,prize money,and total titles, she is number two. STeffi beat women from three different generations:the martina age, seles age, and the hingis age, what a feat.