STEFFI GRAF

Born: 6-14-69 Height: 5'9 Weight: 132 lbs

Turned Pro: 1982 Country: Germany

Plays: Right-handed

Career Highlights

1983: Became the 2nd youngest player to receive a ranking at 13 years, 4 months old (No. 124). Won her first professional match on March 5.
1984: Won an Gold Medal in the tennis demonstration at the Los Angeles Olympics. Defeated Sabrina Goles in the Finals in 3 sets. Reached her first career final.
1985: Reached 3 more tournament finals and moved into the Top 10, finishing the year ranked 6th.
1986: Won 8 tournaments, including the German Open, Amelia Island, Hilton Head, and US Clay Courts. Reached the semis of the US Open. Was ranked #3 in the world at the end of the year. Named WTA Tour Most Improved Player.
1987: Won her first Grand Slam event at the French Open, defeating top seed Martina Navratilova in 3 sets in the finals. Lost to Navratilova in the finals of both Wimbledon and the US Open. Became the #1 player on the world on August 17 and held the #1 ranking for a record 186 consecutive weeks until March 10, 1991.
1988: Had probably the best season in tennis history. Won the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open, becoming the 3rd woman and 5th player overall to win the Grand Slam. Also won a Gold Medal at the Olympics in Seoul, becoming the first person in tennis history to win the Golden Grand Slam. She also is the only person to win a Grand Slam on four different surfaces (carpet, clay, grass, hardcourt). Was 72-3 in matches. Named WTA player of the year for the 2nd straight year. Won her only Grand Slam doubles title with Gabriela Sabatini at Wimbledon. Won 11 tournaments for the 2nd consecutive year. Had a 46 match win streak from May 9 to Nov 18.
1989: Won the Australian Open, giving her 5 consecutive Grand Slam victories, one short of the record. Lost in the finals of the French Open to Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, but came back to win Wimbledon and the US Open, giving her 7 wins in the last 8 Grand Slams and 11 consecutive Grand Slam Finals. Had the 2nd best match record of all-time at 86-2 (.977). Won a career-high 14 titles. Had a career-high 66 match win streak from June 26 to May 20, 1990. Her US Open win made her the only person ever to win and successfully defend all 4 Grand Slams.
1990: Won the Australian Open for the 3rd straight year, giving her 8 wins in the last 9 Grand Slam events. Lost in the finals of the French Open, extending her streak to 13 consecutive Grand Slam finals. Lost in the semis at Wimbledon and the finals at the US Open. Ranked #1 in the world for the fourth straight year. Won 10 tournaments, including the Canadian Open. Named the WTA Player of the Year for the 4th straight year.
1991: Dropped to #2 in the world on March 10, after holding the #1 ranking for a record 186 weeks. Reached the semis of the French Open and US Open and won at Wimbledon. Her victory at Wimbledon made her the sixth woman to win 10 Grand Slam events. Regained the #1 ranking from Aug 5-12 and from Aug 19-Sept 8. She won her 500th career match on Oct 2. Won at least one Grand Slam event for the 5th straight year.
1992: Missed the Australian Open due to injury. Lost in the finals of the French Open 2-6, 6-3, 8-10, to Monica Seles, but beat Seles 6-2, 6-1 in the finals of Wimbledon. Won a Silver Medal at the Olympics in Barcelona, losing to Jennifer Capriati in the finals.
1993: Lost in the finals of the Australian Open to Monica Seles in 3 sets. Went on to win the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Regained the #1 ranking on June 7. Became the only person to win all 4 Grand Slams in the '90s and one of very few people to win all 4 Grand Slams in 2 different decades. Her victory at Wimbledon was her 13th career Grand Slam title, moving her into 5th place on the all-time list, and her 20th career Grand Slam final. Graf won at least 3 Grand Slams for the 3rd time in her career, setting a new record. Won her 600th career match on March 14.
1994: Won the Australian Open, becoming the 2nd woman to win a non-calendar year Grand Slam. She became the 1st person to win both a calendar year and a non-calendar year Grand Slam on separate occasions. On Feb 7, her ranking average was 441.1746, the highest ranking ever achieved by any player. Won 57 consecutive sets, setting a new record. Lost in the semis of the French Open and the 1st round of Wimbledon. Reached the finals of the US Open and, bothered throughout the match by back problems, lost to Arantxa Sanchez Vicario 6-1, 6-7 (7-3), 4-6.
1995: Did not enter the Australian Open due to injury, but won the French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open. Beat Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in the finals of the French Open and Wimbledon (4-6, 6-1, 7-5, in an incredible match--game 11 of the third set had 32 points!) and defeated Monica Seles in the finals to win her 4th US Open. Her US Open win gave her 18 career Grand Slam wins, tying her for 3rd place on the all-time list with Navratilova and Evert. Became the first person in history to win all four Grand Slams at least 4 times each. Won at least one Grand Slam for the 9th consecutive year and at least 3 Grand Slams for the 4th time. Her Wimbledon title was her 6th, tying her for 3rd place on the all-time list. Won her 750th career match in the Wimbledon semis. Was ranked #1 for the 300th week on Oct 8. Defeated Anke Huber in the finals of the WTA Tour Championships in the only five set match of her career. Moved into 3rd place in tournaments won with her 89th career victory at Lipton.
1996: Once again missed the Australian Open because of an injury and once again won the other three, making it six in a row that she played and probably just missing two consecutive Grand Slams only because of injuries! Again, just like last year, she Defeated Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in the finals of the French Open (6-3, 6-7, 10-8, fighting off several match points, in one of the greatest matches ever) and Wimbledon (6-3, 7-5), and beat Monica Seles in the finals of the US Open (7-5, 6-4). This moved her into second place all-time with 21 Grand Slam titles, a second place tie with 5 French Opens, 3rd place tie with 7 Wimbledons, 4th place tie with 5 US Opens, and 3rd with 29 Grand Slam finals. Graf once again won the year end championships and ended the year ranked #1 for a record 8th time. She also extended her streaks to 10 straight years with at least 1 Grand Slam title and 7 tournament wins! It was the 5th time Graf had won at least 3 Grand Slams in a year, extending her record. Broke Martina Navratilova's record of most total weeks as the #1 player in the world and she also won her 100th career tournament during the year. Was named WTA player of the year for a record 8th time.
1997: Finally returned to the Australian Open and won her record 45th consecutive Grand Slam match in the third round, but lost to Amanda Coetzer in the fourth round. A week later, she withdrew from a tournament in Japan just before the finals against Martina Hingis because of a knee injury that required surgery. Missed about 3 months and lost her #1 ranking to Hingis during that time after a record total of 377 weeks, basically 1/4 of her life! Came back and won a warmup tournament for the French Open, but once again lost to Coetzer, this time in the quarterfinals. She then had to undergo knee surgery again because it wasn't done properly the first time and missed the remainder of the season, breaking her streaks of 10 consecutive years with at least 1 Grand Slam and 11 consecutive years with at least 7 titles. She also dropped below #2 in the WTA rankings for the first time since early 1987!
1998: Graf's comeback was delayed many times and she missed both the Australian and French Opens before she finally made it back. Wimbledon was her first Grand Slam in just over a year, and while she still showed flashes of brilliance, she also was very rusty and got upset in the 3rd round by Natasha Zvereva (her first loss in over 20 matches against Zvereva). Had a similar performance in the US Open, losing in the 4th round, but did manage to win 3 titles and work her way back up the rankings into the top 10 again. Finished the year ranked #9.
1999: Continued her comeback at the Australian Open, where once again, she did one round better than her last Grand Slam, losing to Seles in the quarterfinals. Soon after, she became the WTA career leader in prize money. Kept moving up the ranks and was #6 going into the French Open, the 4th Grand Slam since she came back. Although still missing half a step compared to a couple years ago, that was still good enough to dominate the early rounds. She faced #2 Lindsay Davenport in the QF, and won in a tough 3-setter. Then she had a rematch with her old rival Seles (3 seed), which also went to 3 sets, Graf pulling away in the 3rd, setting up a dream final with current #1 Martina Hingis, her record 9th French Open final. Hingis won the first set and was up a break in the second, serving for the match, but Graf, showing the true heart of a champion, fought back to take the second set and went on to win the third, claiming her 22nd Grand Slam and first since '96, moving her to 2nd with 6 French Opens, one short of Chris Evert's record! She is the only player ever to beat the 1, 2, and 3 seeds in a Grand Slam. After the match, she announced that she would not play another French Open, saying that she could not hope to top her performance in this one. Graf moved up to #3 in the rankings and was seeded #2 at Wimbledon where she breezed through the early rounds again. She again went to three sets in the QF and SF, but won both against Venus Williams and Mirjana Lucic, setting up a rematch with Lindsay Davenport in the finals, her 9th Wimbledon final. Graf lost in straight sets in the finals, maybe in part due to the fact that she was playing with bronchitis, but still reached her 31st Grand Slam final and second in a row, proving that she was, after a two year comeback, once again 0the best player in the game. After the match, she said it would be her final Wimbledon. Graf entered the US Open and later would say that she made a mistake in saying that she wouldn't play the French Open or Wimbledon again, but after a hamstring injury at the TIG Tennis Classic, on Friday the 13th of August, Steffi Graf, winner of 22 Grand Slams, the #1 player in the world for a record 377 weeks, the greatest player in the history of tennis, currently ranked #3, and two-time defending Grand Slam finalist, retired at the age of 30...

Career Statistics

Current Rank: 3 Highest Rank: 1 Grand Slam Titles: 22 Tournaments Won: 107 Australian Open Titles: 4 French Open Titles: 6 Wimbledon Titles: 7 US Open Titles: 5 Grand Slam Finals: 31 Consecutive Grand Slams: 5 Most GS Titles, Year: 4 Consec. Years with 1+ GS: 10 Years Ranked #1: 8 Career Prize Money: $21 million Career Record: 902-114 Career Weeks Ranked #1: 377

YEAR Australian French Wimbledon US Open Titles Record 1999 QF Won F 1 17-2 1998 -- -- 3rd 4th 0 5-2 1997 4th QF -- -- 0 8-2 1996 -- Won Won Won 3 21-0 1995 -- Won Won Won 3 21-0 1994 Won SF 1st F 1 18-3 1993 F Won Won Won 3 27-1 1992 -- F Won QF 1 17-2 1991 QF SF Won SF 1 21-3 1990 Won F SF F 1 24-3 1989 Won F Won Won 3 27-1 1988 Won Won Won Won 4 28-0 1987 -- Won F F 1 19-2 1986 -- QF -- SF 0 9-2 1985 -- 4th 4th SF 0 11-3 1984 3rd 3rd 4th 1st 0 7-4 1983 1st 2nd -- -- 0 1-2 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Record 47-6 77-10 74-7 75-9 22 273-32

YEAR-END RANKING HISTORY: 1998: 9 1994: 1 1990: 1 1986: 3 1982: 214 1997: 28 1993: 1 1989: 1 1985: 6 1996: 1 1992: 2 1988: 1 1984: 22 1995: 1 1991: 2 1987: 1 1983: 98

Career Records and Awards

1984: Won Olympic Demonstration Event, even though she was the youngest competitor in the event

1985: Moved into Top 10 at 16 years old, finished year 6th

Named WTA Most Improved Player
1987: Won first Grand Slam--French Open over Navratilova
Became #1 player at age 18
Named WTA Player of the Year
1988: Won the Golden Grand Slam (all 4 Grand Slams + Gold Medal)
Only player ever to do that, 5th player, 3rd woman to win Grand Slam
Only player to win Grand Slam on 4 different surfaces
Was Ranked #1 All 52 weeks
Named WTA Player of the Year
1989: Became 1st player ever to win and successfully defend all four Grand Slams
Became 2nd player to win 3+ Grand Slams in 2 consecutive years
Second best single season winning pct ever (86-2, .977)
Second longest match win streak ever (66 matches, 6-26-89 to 5-20-90)
Ranked #1 all 52 weeks
Named WTA Player of the Year 3rd straight year
1990: Reached record 13th straight Grand Slam final
Australian Open win was record 8th win out of last 9 Grand Slams
Ranked #1 all 52 weeks for 3rd straight year
Ranked #1 at end of year for 4th straight year
Named WTA Player of the Year 4th straight year
1991: Held #1 Ranking for Record 186 weeks dating back to 1987
Became 6th woman to win 10 Grand Slams
1992: Won Silver Medal at Olympics
1993: Won 3+ Grand Slams for record-tying 3rd time
Became only woman to win all four Grand Slams in the 1990's
Named WTA Player of the Year
1994: Became 2nd woman ever to win a non-calendar year Grand Slam
Only person to ever win both calendar and non-calander year Grand Slams on separate occasions
Achieved highest ranking point average ever of 441.1746 on 2/7
Achieved highest ranking point total ever of 6951.6185 on 3/21
Won a record 57 consecutive sets
Became fastest player to win 15 Grand Slams
Named WTA Player of the year
1995: Became first person to ever win all four Grand Slams at least four times each
Became first person to win all four Grand Slams at least twice in two different decades
Won 3+ Grand Slams in a year for record 4th time
Ranked #1 at end of the year for record 7th time
Named WTA Plyaer of the Year for record 7th time
1996: Became second player to win 20 Grand Slams ever
Became only person to win 3+ Grand slams in 2 consecutive years twice
Won 3+ Grand Slams in a year for record 5th time
Won 6th straight Grand Slam she entered
Became 2nd person to win at least 1 Grand Slam in 10 straight years
Broke record for most total weeks ranked #1
Ranked #1 at end of the year for record 8th time
Named WTA Player of the Year for record 8th time
1997: Held #1 Ranking for record 377th total week
Won record 45th straight Grand Slam match at the Australian Open
Was Ranked #2 or higher for record 10 years
1999: Reached record 9th French Open final
Career:
Only person to win all four Grand Slams at least four times each
Only person to win Golden Grand Slam
Only person to win Grand Slam on four different surfaces
Only person to win and successfully defend all four Grand Slams
Only person to win all four Grand Slams twice in 2 different decades
Only person to win all four Grand Slams in the 1990's
Had a .500 or better record against every major opponent
Ranked #1 for a record 377 weeks
Ranked #1 for a record 186 consecutive weeks
Ranked #1 at end of year for a record 8 years
Ranked at least #2 every week for a record 10 consecutive years
Named WTA Player of the Year a record 8 times
Named World Champion of Tennis a record 7 times
Won 3+ Grand Slams in a year a record 5 times
Had a record 13 consecutive Grand Slam Finals
Had a record 57 set win streak
Had a record 45 Grand Slam match win streak
Reached all four Grand Slam Finals in a year a record 3 times
Won a record 8 out of 9 Grand Slams in 1988-'90
1st in career prize money, $21 million
Achieved highest ranking point average ever of 441.1746
Achieved highest ranking point total ever of 6951.6185
Only person to win a calander and a non-calander year Grand Slam on separate occasions
One of only 5 people (3 women) to win all four Grand Slams in a year
One of only 2 people to win a non-calandar year Grand Slam
2nd in career Grand Slam wins, 22
3rd in career tournaments won, 107
3rd in career matches won, 902
3rd in most consecutive Grand Slams won, 5
3rd in most Grand Slam Finals, 31
2nd in consecutive years with 1+ Grand Slam, 10
4th in career Australian Open titles, 4
2nd in career French Open titles, 6
3rd in career Wimbledon titles, 7
4th in career US Open titles, 5
6th in career Australian Open finals, 5
1st in career French Open finals, 9
2nd in career Wimbledon finals, 9
4th in career US Open finals, 8
2nd in career WTA Championships titles, 5
3rd on my list of the top 100 Athletes of the Century

Why She's the Greatest Ever

There is no question Steffi Graf is the greatest tennis player ever. As shown above, she is in the top 4 in virtually every tennis record possible. She won 22 Grand Slams, two short of Margaret Court's record, but she retired at just 30 years old, and who knows how many more she would have won if not for injury problems. She is the only person to win all four Grand Slams at least four times each, showing her dominance on any surface (she is also the only person to be in the top 4 in titles for each of the Grand Slams).

Steffi Graf is one of only 3 women (5 people) to win all four Grand Slams in one year. She is also one of only two people to win a non-calander year Grand Slam (last 3 of '93, Australian '94), and the only person to do both on two seperate occasions. She is also the only person to win all four Grand Slams twice in each of two different decades...no other woman even won all four Grand Slams in the '90s. She reached the finals of all four Grand Slams in a year a record 3 times, narrowly missing a second consecutive Grand Slam in '89 with a 6-7, 6-3, 5-7 loss in the French Open finals to Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and just missed a Grand Slam in '93 with a 6-4, 3-6, 2-6 loss to Monica Seles in the Australian Open finals. In both 1995 and '96, Graf won the French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open, and missed the Australian Open due to injury, probably costing her two consecutive Grand Slams! Even Graf's one Grand Slam in '88 is unique in that it was the only Grand Slam won on four different surfaces, and it is also known as the Golden Grand Slam, as she also won the Olympic Gold Medal.

Steffi Graf is simply the most dominant player in tennis history, holding the #1 ranking for a record 186 consecutive weeks from 1987-'90 and a record 377 weeks total (over 7 years, almost 1/4 her life)! She was ranked #1 at the end of the year a record 8 times and was named WTA Player of the Year a record 8 times. For a period of over 10 years, from early 1987 to mid 1997, Graf was never ranked lower than #2 in the weekly rankings! And from 1987 to 1996, a 10 year period, Graf played 36 of the 40 Grand Slam events held. Out of those 36, she won 21 (58%), reached the finals in 29 (81%), reached the semis in 33 (92%), and reached the quarter-finals in 35 (97%)!

There are many other records she has listed above that show both her dominance and consistancy. She is simply the best athlete and most well-rounded player. She has a great serve, maybe not the best, but certainly one of the best few. Her trademark powerful forehand revolutionized the game, and her slice backhand, while not as powerful a weapon, complimented her game perfectly, especially because it is virtually the same swing as her backhand drop shot. She was always the fastest player with the most endurance, the best conditioning, and the most will to win and she always raised the level of play on the big points.

The Other Top Players

Margaret Court, 24 Grand Slam titles, 79 tournaments won
Margaret Court has the record with 24 Grand Slams, but it took her 12 years between her 1st and 21st Grand Slam titles, wheras it took Graf only 10 years. Also, Court won 11 Australian Opens in a time when the Australian was not played by as many of the top players as the other tournaments, leaving her with 13 other Grand Slams. If you subtract Graf's best tournament, 7 Wimbledons, she still won 15 other Grand Slams.
Court won the Grand Slam in 1970 and won 6 Grand Slam titles in a row and tied Graf with 3 in a year 5 times, but she only made those 6 straight finals, while Graf made 13 straight including her 1988 Grand Slam. Graf also reached 2 more Grand Slam finals than Court even in her shorter career and showed more consistancy, winning at least one Grand Slam for 10 straight years, compared to 7 for Court. Graf reached all four Grand Slam finals in a year 3 times compared to Court twice, and won all four at least 4 times each compared to 3 for Court. She also successfully defended all four Grand Slams; Court successfully defended three of the four. Graf won 4 more Wimbledons, 1 more French Open, and the same number of US Opens as Court, as well as 28 more career tournaments. Court is definately Graf's closest competition, but still finished a distant second.
Martina Navratilova, 18 Grand Slam titles, 167 tournaments won
Navratilova has the record with 167 tournaments won, but she also played until she was 39 years old, and Graf finished with 107 tournaments won and retired at 30 years old. Graf won four more Grand Slams than Navratilova, and it only took Graf 9 years between her 1st and 18th Grand Slam, compared to 13 for Navratilova. They were 9-9 head to head, but those matches were mostly early in Graf's career and she started to dominate Navratilova in '88. Again, if you subtract each player's best Grand Slam, you come up with 15 in the other three for Graf, and only 9 for Navratilova, showing how much more well-rounded Graf's game was.
Graf was ranked #1 for 377 weeks, almost a year longer than Navratilova's 331 despite her much shorter career, and was ranked #1 at the end of the year 8 times compared to 7. She also shattered Navratilova's record of the most consecutive weeks ranked #1. Graf won the Grand Slam in '88. Navratilova never did. She won a non-calendar year Grand Slam (four in a row), but Graf also did that in '93-'94! While Navratilova reached two more Grand Slam finals due to her longer career, Graf reached 13 straight finals once, breaking Navratilova's record of 11, and she reached all four in one year 3 times compared to two for Navratilova. Graf also showed more domination and better consistancy in winning Grand Slams, winning 3 or more in one year 5 times, compared to twice, and winning at least one for 10 straight years compared to 7 years for Navratilova. Graf also has better career winning percentages that Navratilova in career matches, tournaments, Grand Slams, and at each of the four grand slams individually.
Navratilova successfully defended two Grand Slams compared to all four for Graf and won all four at least twice, compared to Graf's 4 times. Graf won one more Australian Opens, 4 more French Opens, and 1 more US Open, while winning just two less Wimbeldons than Navratilova. Graf had better consistancy and total dominance than Navratilova. Simply put, Navratilova was the best serve and volleyer ever, but Graf is the best athlete, the most well-rounded, and definately the best player ever.
Chris Evert, 18 Grand Slam titles, 157 tournaments won
Evert's total of 157 tournaments beats Graf's by 50 and she didn't have a much longer career, which just goes to show her consistancy. She won at least 1 Grand Slam in 13 straight years, compared to 10 for Graf. She does challenge Graf as far as consistancy is concerned, but that's about it.
Graf won four more Grand Slam titles than Evert, and was simply much more dominant. Graf won a Grand Slam, at least 3 titles in a year 5 times, and all four finals three times. Evert never did any of those things even once. Evert's best streak was 6 straight Grand Slam finals, less than half of Graf's 13, and her best streak was two straight GS titles, compared to 5, 4, and 3 on three seperate occasions for Graf. Evert does have the record for most GS finals at 34, 4 above Graf, once again showing her consistancy, but like Navratilova, she only successfully defended two and only won all four at least twice, compared to all four and four times for Graf.
Evert was also ranked #1 at the end of the year 5 times, and for well over 200 weeks total, but that pales in comparison to Graf's 8 years, 377 weeks, and 186 consecutive weeks. If you subtract Evert's best Grand Slam, she won the other three 11 times compared to 15 for Graf, and it took her 13 years between her 1st and 18th Grand Slams compared to 9 years for Graf. Evert may or may not have been more consistant than Graf, but again, Graf was the better athlete, very much more dominant, and clearly the better player. And even though she mostly played Evert very early in her career, Graf had a 7-4 record against her.
Helen Wills Moody, 19 Grand Slam titles
Helen Wills Moody played in the '20s and '30s and was probably the best player of that era. However, she falls three short of Graf in Grand Slams, and it took her 13 years between her 1st and 18th compared to the 9 years it took Graf. Moody won 3 or more Grand Slams in a year twice, but Graf did it 5 times, and if you subtract her best Grand Slam, she only won 11 in the others, 4 behind Graf's 15. She also reached only 22 Grand Slam finals in 16 years, 8 behind Graf in 3 more years. She won at least one Grand Slam in 7 straight years and successfully defended three of the Grand Slams, both very good, but not as good as Graf's 10 years and all four. Of course, Graf is also a much better athlete, and clearly the better player
Billie Jean King, 12 Grand Slam titles
Billie Jean King was more of a great doubles player. 12 Grand Slams is good enough for 6th all-time, but barely half of what Graf won. King is also not even in the topy 5 in tournaments won, consecutive Grand Slams, consecutive GS finals, most GS finals, years with 3 or more Grand Slams, years reaching all 4 Grand Slam finals, Consecutive years with 1 or more Grand Slam title, Number of times won each of the Grand Slams, or Number of Grand Slams successfully defended, all of which Graf is in the top 3 in. King was never ranked #1 at the end of a year and if she was ever ranked #1 at all, it was very briefly.
Maureen Connolly, 9 Grand Slam titles
Maureen Connolly might have been one of the greats, but had her career cut short by an injury. She won 9 Grand Slams fron 1951-'54, including all four in 1953. Like Court, she continued to win 6 straight Grand Slams, but only reached those 6 straight finals too, compared to Graf's 13. And there no other stat in which she is even remotely close to Graf.
Martina Hingis, 5 Grand Slam titles
Martina Hingis is the current world #1 player and has won 5 Grand Slams dating back to 1997. She is still very young, only 19. But Graf has a 7-2 edge against Hingis head to head, including 3-0 in Grand Slams, most recently in the 1999 French Open finals, in which Graf, the 6th seed in her 4th Grand Slam after being out for a year with injuries, knocked off 1st seed Hingis. She is 5th in total weeks ranked #1, but Hingis hasn't played long enough to be near the top of the list in most stats, and again, even when she was the #1 player, not Graf, Hingis still had a losing record against Graf.
Monica Seles, 9 Grand Slam titles
Seles was Graf's main rival in the early '90s. She did win 9 Grand Slams, and she did miss two years of tennis after being stabbed by a crazed fanatic. But Graf has a 10-5 advantage head-to-head. Seles has been ranked #1 for the 4th most weeks, but still only 1/3 of Graf's total. She won 3 or more Grand Slams in a year twice compared to Graf's 5 times, and reached 6 consecutive Grand Slam finals, 7 short of Graf's record of 13. Seles has won and successfully defended 3 of the four Grand Slams (comared to all four for Graf), but has never won Wimbledon even once, wheras Graf has won all four at least 4 times each. Seles is not in the top 5 in Grand Slams won, Tournaments won, Consecutive Grand Slams won, Grand Slam finals, and Consecutive years with at least 1 Grand Slam. Graf is in the top 3 in all of the above stats. Graf is simply a much better athlete and a much better player than Seles.

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