Steffi Graf is one of the most accomplished players in tennis history.
A 22-time Grand Slam singles champion, the German star wowed spectators across the globe with her aggressive backhand slice and powerful forehand.
Graf was particularly successful at Wimbledon, winning seven titles before her retirement in 1999.
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The tennis icon ended her career with 31 major final appearances, compiling a 282-34 record.
She was also very successful at the US Open.
Steffi Graf completed the Wimbledon/US Open double on five occasions
Graf won Wimbledon and the US Open in the same calendar year on five different occasions.
She accomplished the feat in 1988, 1989, 1993, 1995, and 1996.
No player in the Open Era – male or female – has won Wimbledon and the US Open in the same year more than Graf.
Not even the great Serena Williams could live up to Graf’s record: the American completed the feat twice, in 2002 and 2012.
On the men’s side, Roger Federer holds the record.
He won Wimbledon and the US Open every year for four straight years – from 2004 to 2007.
His run was ended in 2008 when he lost to Rafael Nadal in the Wimbledon final.
Federer clinched his fifth consecutive US Open crown later that year, beating Great Britain’s Andy Murray in the showpiece event.
Steffi Graf’s retirement
Graf retired in August 1999 – just one month after competing in her ninth Wimbledon final.
Graf, who lost that final to Lindsay Davenport, had also won her sixth Roland Garros title earlier that year.
“I feel I have nothing left to accomplish,” Graf said at a news conference in Heidelberg, as per CBS News. “The weeks following Wimbledon weren’t easy for me. I’m not having fun anymore.”
“After Wimbledon, for the first time in my career, I didn’t feel like going to a tournament.”
Graf discussed her retirement in further detail in a US Open press conference later that year.
“I made kind of the decision that I wanted to play till the end of the year,” Graf began. “So as things started happening, you know, after Wimbledon, I was at home and I was a little sick, then I was supposed to go to New York and had a commercial.
“I was supposed to play in Melbourne at an exhibition. I explained maybe two weeks ago that once you travel to the States, you have visa application, you have to write down how many weeks you are going to stay.
“I was bound to write down two weeks. Then I was like, “How long will it be till The Open? Nine weeks, no.” Just didn’t sound somehow right. I wrote down five weeks, and it ended up being four weeks.
“I kind of knew already then that my desire to play wasn’t as strong anymore.
“Also the way I set up the following weeks, for a little while I had a practice partner, then I decided not to have one because I felt I wanted to go home and not continue playing.
“But also during that period, like I said, I had bronchitis, it was a tough few weeks. I wasn’t sure where that came from, if I was just tired in general or am I really tired of playing?
“Then I made the decision to go to San Diego to really be sure about it. I kind of knew already on the way there because I didn’t feel like going to another tournament.”
Graf was then asked: “If you had not won the French Open or done as well as you did at Wimbledon, would you still be as hungry? Would it possibly have changed your view?”
“Possibly,” Graf responded. “I think that had a lot to do with it.
“I think in a way, the motivation was gone for whatever reason. I think the desire just wasn’t there as strongly anymore. I think the few weeks definitely had a lot to do with that.”
