Steffi Graf - Fans in India!
-
chairmanz
- Just Born
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Feb 20, 2009
Steffi Graf - Fans in India!
write about Steffi Graf in India.
-
chairmanz
- Just Born
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Feb 20, 2009
A retirement article on Steffi!
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
SHE WAS GRAND AFTER YEARS AT THE TOP, GRAF RETIRES
Pete Alfano
August 14, 1999
It was an unseasonably cold and windy night in south Florida,
prompting a handful of fans to build a small bonfire in the makeshift
stands overlooking the tennis court where the sport's reigning queen,
Chris Evert, was playing against a teen-ager with blond ambition. This
was in February 1985, at the inaugural Lipton Championships, which
were being held at a temporary site in DeLand, TX.
Despite the elements, the business-like Evert dispatched her opponent
before the last embers of the fire had died. But those who had come to
watch Queen Chris give a free tennis lesson to a virtual unknown were
impressed by the tall, slender 15-year-old from Germany whose loss
that night could be attributed more to inexperience than a lack of
talent or will.
Tennis often devours its young,leaving teen-age phenoms physically and
psychologically scarred, but there was something about Steffi Graf's
resolve even then that hinted she might be special. In retrospect, no
one could have predicted that Graf would exceed expectations and
become the most dominant player in the game - perhaps the best player
and athlete in the history of women's tennis. Now, 14 1/2 years after
that cold night in Florida, and in the autumn of her career, Graf has
announced her retirement.
She goes out in style, winning this year's French Open for her 22nd
Grand Slam singles title and reaching the final of Wimbledon. But at
30, the succession of injuries and the demands placed on a
globe-trotting tennis pro have taken their toll. The player whose
signature shot earned her the nickname "Fraulein Forehand" is leaving
on her own terms.
"Winning Roland Garros was an unbelievable moment for me and getting
to the finals of Wimbledon so soon after was incredible," Graf said in
a news conference yesterday in Heidelberg, Germany. "I just felt the
motivation to perform at the very highest level was no longer there,
and the fun had gone out of practice and training. I have come to the
stage in my career when it is time to start looking at other things. I
just feel the time is right to move on. "
Her accomplishments during a 17-year career equals or surpasses those
of any tennis legend. Graf won 107 singles titles and spent 377 weeks
ranked No. 1 in the world - a record for any tennis player, woman or
man. She emerged a top player in the final years of the Evert-Martina
Navratilova era and forged her own spirited rivalries with Gabriela
Sabatini and Monica Seles.
What sets Graf apart from her contemporaries and all but four other
players in the history of the sport, however, is the Grand Slam she
won in 1988. In a tour de force unrivaled in tennis' professional era,
Graf won the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open.
She then capped an extraordinary year by winning the gold medal in the
Seoul Olympics, becoming the only player in history to win a Golden
Slam.
She won with that remarkable forehand that she hit with laser-like
precision, a slice backhand that was unspectacular but rarely
exploited, and athleticism that enabled her to cover the court like a
tarp on a baseball infield. She was fast and loved to run; during the
Seoul Olympics, she was drawn to the track and field events. She said
wistfully that she would have loved to have been a sprinter.
Although she quickly earned the respect of her peers and the game's
icons with her results, Graf was not readily embraced off the court
during the early years. Because women believed that they were treated
like second-class citizens compared to men, the women's tour was like
a loosely formed sorority.
Billie Jean King, then Evert and Navratilova were the sorority
leaders. But as prize money increased, thus raising the stakes,
younger players led a more solitary existence. Graf did not join the
sorority and was perceived as aloof. Her father, Peter Graf, was
considered domineering and was widely resented by the leaders in the
women's game.
The players' choice was Argentina's Sabatini, who was personable, had
the looks of a model and a game that could have rivaled Graf's if she
had ever been motivated.
Sabatini was Graf's opponent in the final of the 1988 U.S. Open, the
last obstacle between Fraulein Forehand and the Grand Slam. With two
publicists from the women's tour openly cheering for Sabatini in the
press box, Graf dismissed her rival and joined Don Budge, Maureen
Connolly, Rod Laver (twice) and Margaret Court as winners of the Grand
Slam.
She was only 19 and dependent on her father to handle her business
affairs and the politics of the sport. Peter Graf was difficult to
deal with, although fiercely protective of his daughter. Graf and
Boris Becker had emerged as larger-than-life characters in Germany,
unable to visit their homeland without being engulfed in a sea of
paparazzi and reporters.
Peter Graf talked about the boys bearing gifts who would scale the
picket fence in front of Graf's home in Bruhl, Germany, and knock at
the door.
He talked about the occasional threats against his daughter and the
love letters from obsessed young men. He would never tell her about
any of this.
Occasionally, there was a glimpse of what life might have been like
had Graf not wielded a tennis racket with such impunity. On the
weekend before his daughter began her quest to complete the Grand Slam
at the U.S. Open, Peter Graf invited a journalist to dinner at the
home of friends in New Jersey.
Steffi played pinball with the journalist's 8-year-old son; she set
the table and cleared the plates after each course. Later that
evening, she went to her room and danced alone in the dark to her
favorite music on the stereo. She blushed when her father knocked on
the door and she was discovered.
As the years unfolded, she began speaking more often on her own behalf
and became the best advertisement for the women's game. But there were
more hardships on the horizon.
It was as if Graf was found guilty by association when one of her
misguided fans dashed from the stands at the German Open in 1993 and
stabbed Seles in the back. Seles had overtaken Graf as the No. 1
player and was gaining an upper hand in their rivalry. Then, in 1996,
Graf's father was found guilty of income-tax evasion by the German
government and sent to jail. There were also reports that he was
having an extramarital affair. Steffi stood by her father throughout
the ordeal.
And there were the injuries. Navratilova and Evert occasionally
intimated that Graf exaggerated her aches and pains, but the injuries
were serious enough to sideline her for extended periods during the
last few years of her career.
Ironically, Graf said that her history of injuries had no part in her
decision to retire.
"I have not been forced into this decision by my injuries," she said
at yesterday's news conference. "Right now, I'm perfectly fit. "
She will embark on a farewell tour of exhibitions at the end of the
year, visiting places she has never been. Always stoic in victory and
defeat, she may even shed a tear or two as she did after defeating
Martina Hingis to win the French Open in early June. She will continue
to be associated with tennis, she said, working with youth groups and
the German federation. But now, she can fade into the background where
she always felt more comfortable.
"I have nothing left to accomplish," Graf said. "I am very happy and
relieved to have made this decision and I look forward to what the
future brings. "
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS
-Steffi Graf's top finishes in the Grand Slam tournaments:
Australian Open Champion: 1988, '89, '90, '94
Runner-up: 1993 Quarterfinalist: 1991
French Open Champion: 1987, '88, '93, '95, '96, '99
Runner-up: 1989, '90, '92 Semifinalist: 1991, '94 Quarterfinalist:
1986, '97
Wimbledon Champion: 1988, '89, '91, '92, '93, '95, '96
Runner-up: 1987, '99 Semifinalist: 1990
U.S. Open Champion: 1988, '89, '93, '95, '96
Runner-up: 1987, '90, '94 Semifinalist: 1985, '86, '91
Quarterfinalist: 1992
THE TITLES:
-Steffi Graf won 107 tournaments in her 17-year career:
37 on hardcourt, 32 on clay, 31 indoors and seven on grass.
-A year-by-year breakdown:
1986 (8) Hilton Head (clay), Amelia Island (clay), Indianapolis
(clay), Berlin (clay), Mahwah (hardcourt), Pan Pacific (indoor),
Brighton (indoor), Zurich (indoor)
1987 (11) Delray Beach (hardcourt), Lipton (hardcourt), Hilton Head
(hardcourt), Amelia Island (clay, Italian Open (clay), Berlin (clay),
French Open (clay), Los Angeles (hardcourt), Hamburg (clay), Zurich
(indoor), Virginia Slims Championships (indoor)
1988 (11) Australian Open (hardcourt), U.S. Hardcourts (hardcourt),
Lipton (hardcourt), Berlin (clay), French Open (clay), Wimbledon
(grass), Hamburg (clay), Mahwah (hardcourt), U.S. Open (hardcourt),
Olympics (hardcourt), Brighton (indoor)
1989 (14) Australian Open (hardcourt), Virginia Slims Washington
(indoor), U.S. Hardcourts (hardcourt), Delray Beach (hardcourt),
Hilton Head (clay), Hamburg (clay), Berlin (clay), Wimbledon (grass),
San Diego (hardcourt), Mahwah (hardcourt), U.S. Open (hardcourt),
Zurich (indoor), Brighton (indoor), Virginia Slims Championships
(indoor)
1990 (10) Australian Open (hardcourt), Pan Pacific (indoor), Amelia
Island(clay), Hamburg (clay), Canadian Open (hardcourt), San Diego
(hardcourt), Leipzig (indoor), Zurich (indoor), Brighton (indoor),
Virginia Slims New England (indoor)
1991 (7) U.S. Hardcourts (hardcourt), Hamburg (clay), Berlin (clay),
Wimbledon (grass), Leipzig (indoor), Zurich (indoor), Brighton
(indoor)
1992 (8) Delray Beach (hardcourt), Hamburg (clay), Berlin (clay),
Wimbledon (grass), Leipzig (indoor), Zurich (indoor), Brighton
(indoor), Virginia Slims Philadelphia (indoor)
1993 (10) Delray Beach (hardcourt), Hilton Head (clay), Berlin (clay),
French Open (clay), Wimbledon (grass), San Diego (hardcourt), Canadian
Open (hardcourt), U.S. Open (hardcourt), Leipzig (indoor), WTA
Championships (indoor)
1994 (7) Australian Open (hardcourt), Pan Pacific (indoor), Indian
Wells (hardcourt), Delray Beach (hardcourt), Lipton (hardcourt),
Berlin (clay), San Diego (hardcourt)
1995 (9) Paris (indoor), Delray Beach (hardcourt), Lipton (hardcourt),
Houston (clay), French Open (clay), Wimbledon (grass), U.S. Open
(hardcourt), Philadelphia (indoor), WTA Championships (indoor)
1996 (7) Indian Wells (hardcourt), Lipton (hardcourt), Berlin (clay),
French Open (clay), Wimbledon (grass), U.S. Open (hardcourt), Chase
Championships (indoor)
1997 (1) Strasbourg Open (clay)
1998 (3) Pilot Pen (hardcourt), Leipzig (indoor), Philadelphia
(indoor)
1999 (1) French Open (clay)
-Parting Words:
"The mental toughness puts her right up there with the Michael
Jordans, the Wayne Gretzkys and the John Elways. They all retired at
the same time. What are they doing to us? " - Tracy Austin
"Maybe we let Steffi slip through the cracks. But I was a little
turned off by some of the comments to the press. She said her only
responsibility was to play. " - Chris Evert on rebuffing Graf rather
than nurturing her
"A very sad day for the game. And for me. I feel very bad about it. I
can't believe it. Steffi was playing so good, winning the French, in
the final at Wimbledon. I can't understand it. " - Arantxa Sanchez
Vicario
"Stuttgart. I was on the other side of the net. Steffi was 13 and
about this thin," holding up one finger, "but she was hitting the ball
so hard. I wondered, who is this? I beat her, but I knew we'd be
hearing from her. ... She had a huge, huge forehand, and she moved
like a deer out there." - Tracy Austin on Graf's professional debut in
1982
"Steffi is definitely one of the greatest tennis players of all time,
and she
is the all-time greatest singles player. " - Billie Jean King
I can kind of sympathize with what she's going through because when
you're at the top, it is not easy to maintain it. She had an
unbelievable career, did it with a lot of class. She went out and got
the job done and made the racket do the talking. I have always looked
up to her the way she approached the game. " - Pete Sampras
"She is the best lady that has ever played, dominated on every
surface. " -
Andre Agassi
-CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:
-22 Grand Slam singles titles, second all-time
-107 singles titles, third all-time
-$21,839,777 in WTA earnings, first all-time
-186 consecutive weeks ranked No. 1, first all-time
-377 total weeks at No. 1, first all-time
-.977 winning percentage in 1989 with a record of 86-2, second
all-time
-Never ranked lower than No. 2 from March 1987 to June 1997, first
all-time
-Eight times in 10 years (1987-96) finished season ranked No. 1, first
all-time
-66 consecutive matches won in 1989-90, second all-time
-902 career victories, third all-time
-One of three players to win all four Grand Slam tournaments in the
same year (1988)
-Only player to win each Grand Slam at least four times
-One of two players to win at least three Grand Slam singles titles in
five individual seasons
-Made tour debut Oct. 25, 1982, second-youngest player (13 years, 4
months) ever to appear in rankings
-No. 3 ranking highest ever for retiring player
SHE WAS GRAND AFTER YEARS AT THE TOP, GRAF RETIRES
Pete Alfano
August 14, 1999
It was an unseasonably cold and windy night in south Florida,
prompting a handful of fans to build a small bonfire in the makeshift
stands overlooking the tennis court where the sport's reigning queen,
Chris Evert, was playing against a teen-ager with blond ambition. This
was in February 1985, at the inaugural Lipton Championships, which
were being held at a temporary site in DeLand, TX.
Despite the elements, the business-like Evert dispatched her opponent
before the last embers of the fire had died. But those who had come to
watch Queen Chris give a free tennis lesson to a virtual unknown were
impressed by the tall, slender 15-year-old from Germany whose loss
that night could be attributed more to inexperience than a lack of
talent or will.
Tennis often devours its young,leaving teen-age phenoms physically and
psychologically scarred, but there was something about Steffi Graf's
resolve even then that hinted she might be special. In retrospect, no
one could have predicted that Graf would exceed expectations and
become the most dominant player in the game - perhaps the best player
and athlete in the history of women's tennis. Now, 14 1/2 years after
that cold night in Florida, and in the autumn of her career, Graf has
announced her retirement.
She goes out in style, winning this year's French Open for her 22nd
Grand Slam singles title and reaching the final of Wimbledon. But at
30, the succession of injuries and the demands placed on a
globe-trotting tennis pro have taken their toll. The player whose
signature shot earned her the nickname "Fraulein Forehand" is leaving
on her own terms.
"Winning Roland Garros was an unbelievable moment for me and getting
to the finals of Wimbledon so soon after was incredible," Graf said in
a news conference yesterday in Heidelberg, Germany. "I just felt the
motivation to perform at the very highest level was no longer there,
and the fun had gone out of practice and training. I have come to the
stage in my career when it is time to start looking at other things. I
just feel the time is right to move on. "
Her accomplishments during a 17-year career equals or surpasses those
of any tennis legend. Graf won 107 singles titles and spent 377 weeks
ranked No. 1 in the world - a record for any tennis player, woman or
man. She emerged a top player in the final years of the Evert-Martina
Navratilova era and forged her own spirited rivalries with Gabriela
Sabatini and Monica Seles.
What sets Graf apart from her contemporaries and all but four other
players in the history of the sport, however, is the Grand Slam she
won in 1988. In a tour de force unrivaled in tennis' professional era,
Graf won the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open.
She then capped an extraordinary year by winning the gold medal in the
Seoul Olympics, becoming the only player in history to win a Golden
Slam.
She won with that remarkable forehand that she hit with laser-like
precision, a slice backhand that was unspectacular but rarely
exploited, and athleticism that enabled her to cover the court like a
tarp on a baseball infield. She was fast and loved to run; during the
Seoul Olympics, she was drawn to the track and field events. She said
wistfully that she would have loved to have been a sprinter.
Although she quickly earned the respect of her peers and the game's
icons with her results, Graf was not readily embraced off the court
during the early years. Because women believed that they were treated
like second-class citizens compared to men, the women's tour was like
a loosely formed sorority.
Billie Jean King, then Evert and Navratilova were the sorority
leaders. But as prize money increased, thus raising the stakes,
younger players led a more solitary existence. Graf did not join the
sorority and was perceived as aloof. Her father, Peter Graf, was
considered domineering and was widely resented by the leaders in the
women's game.
The players' choice was Argentina's Sabatini, who was personable, had
the looks of a model and a game that could have rivaled Graf's if she
had ever been motivated.
Sabatini was Graf's opponent in the final of the 1988 U.S. Open, the
last obstacle between Fraulein Forehand and the Grand Slam. With two
publicists from the women's tour openly cheering for Sabatini in the
press box, Graf dismissed her rival and joined Don Budge, Maureen
Connolly, Rod Laver (twice) and Margaret Court as winners of the Grand
Slam.
She was only 19 and dependent on her father to handle her business
affairs and the politics of the sport. Peter Graf was difficult to
deal with, although fiercely protective of his daughter. Graf and
Boris Becker had emerged as larger-than-life characters in Germany,
unable to visit their homeland without being engulfed in a sea of
paparazzi and reporters.
Peter Graf talked about the boys bearing gifts who would scale the
picket fence in front of Graf's home in Bruhl, Germany, and knock at
the door.
He talked about the occasional threats against his daughter and the
love letters from obsessed young men. He would never tell her about
any of this.
Occasionally, there was a glimpse of what life might have been like
had Graf not wielded a tennis racket with such impunity. On the
weekend before his daughter began her quest to complete the Grand Slam
at the U.S. Open, Peter Graf invited a journalist to dinner at the
home of friends in New Jersey.
Steffi played pinball with the journalist's 8-year-old son; she set
the table and cleared the plates after each course. Later that
evening, she went to her room and danced alone in the dark to her
favorite music on the stereo. She blushed when her father knocked on
the door and she was discovered.
As the years unfolded, she began speaking more often on her own behalf
and became the best advertisement for the women's game. But there were
more hardships on the horizon.
It was as if Graf was found guilty by association when one of her
misguided fans dashed from the stands at the German Open in 1993 and
stabbed Seles in the back. Seles had overtaken Graf as the No. 1
player and was gaining an upper hand in their rivalry. Then, in 1996,
Graf's father was found guilty of income-tax evasion by the German
government and sent to jail. There were also reports that he was
having an extramarital affair. Steffi stood by her father throughout
the ordeal.
And there were the injuries. Navratilova and Evert occasionally
intimated that Graf exaggerated her aches and pains, but the injuries
were serious enough to sideline her for extended periods during the
last few years of her career.
Ironically, Graf said that her history of injuries had no part in her
decision to retire.
"I have not been forced into this decision by my injuries," she said
at yesterday's news conference. "Right now, I'm perfectly fit. "
She will embark on a farewell tour of exhibitions at the end of the
year, visiting places she has never been. Always stoic in victory and
defeat, she may even shed a tear or two as she did after defeating
Martina Hingis to win the French Open in early June. She will continue
to be associated with tennis, she said, working with youth groups and
the German federation. But now, she can fade into the background where
she always felt more comfortable.
"I have nothing left to accomplish," Graf said. "I am very happy and
relieved to have made this decision and I look forward to what the
future brings. "
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS
-Steffi Graf's top finishes in the Grand Slam tournaments:
Australian Open Champion: 1988, '89, '90, '94
Runner-up: 1993 Quarterfinalist: 1991
French Open Champion: 1987, '88, '93, '95, '96, '99
Runner-up: 1989, '90, '92 Semifinalist: 1991, '94 Quarterfinalist:
1986, '97
Wimbledon Champion: 1988, '89, '91, '92, '93, '95, '96
Runner-up: 1987, '99 Semifinalist: 1990
U.S. Open Champion: 1988, '89, '93, '95, '96
Runner-up: 1987, '90, '94 Semifinalist: 1985, '86, '91
Quarterfinalist: 1992
THE TITLES:
-Steffi Graf won 107 tournaments in her 17-year career:
37 on hardcourt, 32 on clay, 31 indoors and seven on grass.
-A year-by-year breakdown:
1986 (8) Hilton Head (clay), Amelia Island (clay), Indianapolis
(clay), Berlin (clay), Mahwah (hardcourt), Pan Pacific (indoor),
Brighton (indoor), Zurich (indoor)
1987 (11) Delray Beach (hardcourt), Lipton (hardcourt), Hilton Head
(hardcourt), Amelia Island (clay, Italian Open (clay), Berlin (clay),
French Open (clay), Los Angeles (hardcourt), Hamburg (clay), Zurich
(indoor), Virginia Slims Championships (indoor)
1988 (11) Australian Open (hardcourt), U.S. Hardcourts (hardcourt),
Lipton (hardcourt), Berlin (clay), French Open (clay), Wimbledon
(grass), Hamburg (clay), Mahwah (hardcourt), U.S. Open (hardcourt),
Olympics (hardcourt), Brighton (indoor)
1989 (14) Australian Open (hardcourt), Virginia Slims Washington
(indoor), U.S. Hardcourts (hardcourt), Delray Beach (hardcourt),
Hilton Head (clay), Hamburg (clay), Berlin (clay), Wimbledon (grass),
San Diego (hardcourt), Mahwah (hardcourt), U.S. Open (hardcourt),
Zurich (indoor), Brighton (indoor), Virginia Slims Championships
(indoor)
1990 (10) Australian Open (hardcourt), Pan Pacific (indoor), Amelia
Island(clay), Hamburg (clay), Canadian Open (hardcourt), San Diego
(hardcourt), Leipzig (indoor), Zurich (indoor), Brighton (indoor),
Virginia Slims New England (indoor)
1991 (7) U.S. Hardcourts (hardcourt), Hamburg (clay), Berlin (clay),
Wimbledon (grass), Leipzig (indoor), Zurich (indoor), Brighton
(indoor)
1992 (8) Delray Beach (hardcourt), Hamburg (clay), Berlin (clay),
Wimbledon (grass), Leipzig (indoor), Zurich (indoor), Brighton
(indoor), Virginia Slims Philadelphia (indoor)
1993 (10) Delray Beach (hardcourt), Hilton Head (clay), Berlin (clay),
French Open (clay), Wimbledon (grass), San Diego (hardcourt), Canadian
Open (hardcourt), U.S. Open (hardcourt), Leipzig (indoor), WTA
Championships (indoor)
1994 (7) Australian Open (hardcourt), Pan Pacific (indoor), Indian
Wells (hardcourt), Delray Beach (hardcourt), Lipton (hardcourt),
Berlin (clay), San Diego (hardcourt)
1995 (9) Paris (indoor), Delray Beach (hardcourt), Lipton (hardcourt),
Houston (clay), French Open (clay), Wimbledon (grass), U.S. Open
(hardcourt), Philadelphia (indoor), WTA Championships (indoor)
1996 (7) Indian Wells (hardcourt), Lipton (hardcourt), Berlin (clay),
French Open (clay), Wimbledon (grass), U.S. Open (hardcourt), Chase
Championships (indoor)
1997 (1) Strasbourg Open (clay)
1998 (3) Pilot Pen (hardcourt), Leipzig (indoor), Philadelphia
(indoor)
1999 (1) French Open (clay)
-Parting Words:
"The mental toughness puts her right up there with the Michael
Jordans, the Wayne Gretzkys and the John Elways. They all retired at
the same time. What are they doing to us? " - Tracy Austin
"Maybe we let Steffi slip through the cracks. But I was a little
turned off by some of the comments to the press. She said her only
responsibility was to play. " - Chris Evert on rebuffing Graf rather
than nurturing her
"A very sad day for the game. And for me. I feel very bad about it. I
can't believe it. Steffi was playing so good, winning the French, in
the final at Wimbledon. I can't understand it. " - Arantxa Sanchez
Vicario
"Stuttgart. I was on the other side of the net. Steffi was 13 and
about this thin," holding up one finger, "but she was hitting the ball
so hard. I wondered, who is this? I beat her, but I knew we'd be
hearing from her. ... She had a huge, huge forehand, and she moved
like a deer out there." - Tracy Austin on Graf's professional debut in
1982
"Steffi is definitely one of the greatest tennis players of all time,
and she
is the all-time greatest singles player. " - Billie Jean King
I can kind of sympathize with what she's going through because when
you're at the top, it is not easy to maintain it. She had an
unbelievable career, did it with a lot of class. She went out and got
the job done and made the racket do the talking. I have always looked
up to her the way she approached the game. " - Pete Sampras
"She is the best lady that has ever played, dominated on every
surface. " -
Andre Agassi
-CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:
-22 Grand Slam singles titles, second all-time
-107 singles titles, third all-time
-$21,839,777 in WTA earnings, first all-time
-186 consecutive weeks ranked No. 1, first all-time
-377 total weeks at No. 1, first all-time
-.977 winning percentage in 1989 with a record of 86-2, second
all-time
-Never ranked lower than No. 2 from March 1987 to June 1997, first
all-time
-Eight times in 10 years (1987-96) finished season ranked No. 1, first
all-time
-66 consecutive matches won in 1989-90, second all-time
-902 career victories, third all-time
-One of three players to win all four Grand Slam tournaments in the
same year (1988)
-Only player to win each Grand Slam at least four times
-One of two players to win at least three Grand Slam singles titles in
five individual seasons
-Made tour debut Oct. 25, 1982, second-youngest player (13 years, 4
months) ever to appear in rankings
-No. 3 ranking highest ever for retiring player