She gradually improved over the following years and emerged as the player who ended Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova's dominance on women's tennis, winning her first major at the 1987 French Open.

In 1988, Graf ascended into dominance, becoming the first tennis player to achieve the Golden Slam by winning all four major titles and the Olympic gold medal in the same calendar year.

[7] Her father, an aspiring tennis coach, first introduced her to the game, teaching his three-year-old daughter how to swing a wooden racket in the family's living room.

In 1984, she first gained international attention when she almost upset the tenth seed, Jo Durie of the United Kingdom, in a fourth round Centre Court match at Wimbledon.

This narrow focus meant that Graf, already shy and retiring by nature,[10] made few friends on the tour in her early years, but it led to a steady improvement in her play.

[13][14] Graf then won three consecutive indoor titles at Tokyo, Zurich, and Brighton, before once again contending with Navratilova at the season-ending Virginia Slims Championships in New York.

At the US Open, Graf beat Sabatini in a three-set final, 6–3, 3–6, 6–1, to win the Grand Slam, a feat previously performed by only two other women, Maureen Connolly Brinker in 1953 and Margaret Court in 1970.

Since then, five players managed a 27–1 win–loss record, meaning all of them failed to win the Grand Slam: Graf in 1989 and 1993, Monica Seles in 1992, Martina Hingis in 1997, Roger Federer in 2006, and Novak Djokovic in 2015, 2021 and 2023.

Graf then defeated Sabatini 6–3, 6–3 in the gold medal match at the Olympic Games in Seoul and achieved what the media had dubbed the "Golden Slam", the first tennis player to do this.

And the year began as expected, with Graf extending her Grand Slam tournament winning streak to five events at the Australian Open, defeating Helena Suková in the final.

Victories at Zurich and Brighton preceded the Virginia Slims Championships, where Graf cemented her top-ranked status by beating Navratilova in the four-set final.

Shortly after winning in Tokyo, Graf injured her right thumb while cross-country skiing in Switzerland and subsequently withdrew from the Virginia Slims of Florida and the Lipton Championships.

This was a major upset as Garrison had to save a match point to defeat Monica Seles in the quarterfinal, and was expected to easily fall to Graf, whom she had not beaten in four years.

It was Graf's second consecutive loss to Novotna, and dating back to their 1991 Australian Open quarterfinal match, Jana had won three of their last five meetings.

She struggled at the German Open in Berlin where she lost a 6–0 set to the unheralded Sabine Hack before defeating Mary Joe Fernández and Sabatini in three-set matches to claim her seventh title there in eight years.

She won there, comfortably beating Helena Suková in the final after needing three sets to eliminate Gabriela Sabatini and Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere in the quarterfinals and semifinals respectively.

In the fall, Graf won the Volkswagen Card Cup in Leipzig a day before her foot operation, losing only two games to Jana Novotná in the final.

However, she finished her year with a highlight, winning her first Virginia Slims Championships since 1989 by beating Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in the final despite needing painkillers for a back injury.

After surviving a scare in a three-setter against Amanda Coetzer in the first round, Graf reached the final with relative ease, while Seles went through her side of the draw in even more convincing fashion.

[66] Graf played only one warm-up event ahead of the US Open, the Acura Classic in Manhattan Beach, California, where she lost to Lindsay Davenport in the semifinals.

After several months injury lay off, Graf returned to play in the German Open in Berlin in front of a home crowd and had the worst defeat of her career in the quarterfinal, when Amanda Coetzer beat her in just 56 minutes 6–0, 6–1.

At the beginning of 1999 Graf played the warm up event to the Australian Open in Sydney; she defeated Serena Williams in the second round and Venus in the quarterfinals before losing to Lindsay Davenport in the semifinal.

She had to overcome three difficult three set matches en route to this final, against Mariaan De Swardt in the second round, Venus Williams in the quarterfinals and Mirjana Lučić in the semifinals.

From 1991 until the end of her career, Graf would only play doubles sporadically, forming short-term partnerships with a variety of players, including Lori McNeil, Anke Huber and her best friends on the tour, Rennae Stubbs, Patricia Tarabini and Ines Gorrochategui.

[84] At the 1999 Wimbledon Championships, Graf formed a much-publicized partnership with John McEnroe, with whom she reached the semifinals before withdrawing due to concerns that her uncertain hamstring, coupled with a bout of bronchitis, would affect her in the singles final.

[85][86][87] In late 1999 and early 2000, as part of her Farewell Tour, Graf played a series of exhibition matches against former rivals in New Zealand, Japan, Spain, Germany and South Africa.

She played Jelena Dokic in Christchurch, New Zealand, Amanda Coetzer in Durban, South Africa, and her former rival Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in Zaragoza, Spain.

[105] Graf's technique on the forehand was unique and instantly recognizable: generating considerable racquet head speed with her swing, she reached the point of contact late and typically out of the air.

[128] During her career, Graf divided her time between her hometown of Brühl; Boca Raton, Florida; and New York City, where she owned a penthouse in the former Police Headquarters Building in SoHo.

[163][164] Chris Evert (1975/1985 – 260 w) Evonne Goolagong (1976 – 2 w) Martina Navratilova (1978/1987 – 331 w) Tracy Austin (1980 – 22 w) Steffi Graf (1987/1997 – 377 w) // Monica Seles (1991/1996 – 178 w) Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (1995 – 12 w) Martina Hingis (1997/2001 – 209 w) Lindsay Davenport (1998/2006 – 98 w) Jennifer Capriati (2001/2002 – 17 w) Venus Williams (2002 – 11 w) Serena Williams (2002/2017 – 319 w) Kim Clijsters (2003/2011 – 20 w) Justine Henin (2003/2008 – 117 w) Amélie Mauresmo (2004/2006 – 39 w) Maria Sharapova (2005/2012 – 21 w) Ana Ivanovic (2008 – 12 w) Jelena Janković (2008/2009 – 18 w) Dinara Safina (2009 – 26 w) Caroline Wozniacki (2010/2018 – 71 w) Victoria Azarenka (2012/2013 – 51 w) Angelique Kerber (2016/2017 – 34 w) Karolína Plíšková (2017 – 8 w) Garbiñe Muguruza (2017 – 4 w) Simona Halep (2017/2019 – 64 w) Naomi Osaka (2019 – 25 w) Ashleigh Barty (2019/2022 – 121 w) Iga Świątek (2022/2024 – 125 w) Aryna Sabalenka (2023/2024 – 9 w)