On 13 August 1999, shortly after retiring with a strained hamstring from a second round match against Amy Frazier in San Diego, Graf announced her retirement from the women's tour at age 30. [146], In December 1999, Graf was named the greatest female tennis player of the 20th century by a panel of experts assembled by the Associated Press. 1 men's tennis player Andre Agassi in October 2001. Her birth name is Stefanie Maria Graf and she is currently 51 years old. The win elevated Graf to the world No. Graf vs Williams H2H MATCHES PLAYED All Rounds Final 1/2 1/4 First Second Third Fourth Qualifying q-First q-Second Pre-q Rubber 1 Rubber 2 Rubber 3 Rubber 4 Rubber 5 Robin Bronze N/A 1, 64, 46, 86 after beating Sabatini in a three-set semifinal. . 1 female player and won 22 Grand Slam singles titles. 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. [133], In 1997, she left the Catholic Church, citing personal reasons. Graf was trailing Martina Navratilova in the final 75, 20 before winning the match 57, 62, 61. She then beat Snchez Vicario in the finals of both the French Open and Wimbledon. [135][136], From 1992 to 1999, Graf dated racing driver Michael Bartels. [74] Graf had led 41 in the second set tiebreak, only to lose six points in a row and force a decider. n civa ani ajunge . Monica Seles was an opponent in six major finals and the duo spilt at 3-3. Even discounting that result, no other player had played and won 27 Grand Slam matches in a single year before. 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. First professional tournament: 1982 Porsche Grand Prix at Filderstadt, Germany Plays: right handed, one handed backhand Raquet: Dunlop / Wilson Former Clubs: HTC Heidelberg, LTTC Rot-Weiss Berlin, BASF Ludwigshafen Favorite Tournament: Wimbledon Favorite Surface: Grass court Former Coaches: Pavel Slozil (1986-1991), Heinz Guenthardt . Home; Q & A; Blog; Contact; Taramati Baradari Resort, Weather Biarritz October, Central Gwinnett High School, Facts About Victoria, Australia, Quick Funeral Home Obituaries . Graf then defeated Sabatini 63, 63 in the gold medal match at the Olympic Games in Seoul and achieved what the media had dubbed the "Golden Slam". She ended the 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1995, and 1996 tennis seasons as the worlds top-ranked player. . First Grand Slam victory of the year for Graf: 6-1, 7-6. [155], In 2004, the Berliner Tennis-Arena was renamed Steffi-Graf-Stadion in honor of Graf. Pause, rewind, play: Steffi Graf - only player to win all four Majors and the Olympic gold in a year. Steffi Graf was a dominant force in tennis during the late 1980s and for much of the 1990s. 667 (25-02-23) Best Rank. 1 German tennis player. [50][51], During Seles's absence, Graf won 65 of 67 matches,[52] three of four Grand Slam events and the year-end Virginia Slims championships. [108] She was ranked world No. The assailant, a fan of German . LEAVE A . The experience of 88 in Seoul probably stands out, just coming from the US Open where I won the Grand Slam. She is now a naturalized American citizen, and has even been nominated as one of 2022's Great US Immigrants by Carnegie Corporation of New York. Winner of as many as 22 Grand Slam titles, Steffi's presence was enough to send shivers down the spine of her opponents. Graf defeated Mary Joe Fernndez in the final of the Australian Open, which was her eighth Grand Slam singles title in the last nine she contested. Fernandez had two break points to take a 30 and double break lead in the third set. Once was in Syndey early in the year at a small tournament, and again at Indian Wells, 1999. At the US Open, Graf beat Sabatini in a three-set final to win the Grand Slam by 63, 36, 61, a feat previously performed by only two other women, Maureen Connolly Brinker in 1953 and Margaret Court in 1970. Graf won four indoor tournaments after the US Open, including a pair of straight-set wins over Sabatini in the finals of Zrich and Worcester. The treatment was for a fracture of the cartilage as well as a shortening and partial rupture of the patellar tendon of her left knee. . Both dominated opponents with power and movement. [115], She built her powerful and accurate serve up to 183km/h (114mph), making it one of the fastest serves in women's tennis and was a capable volleyer. I have complied some stats . As true as that forehand was, the mask was no less a lie. Graf was ranked world No. [148] In July 2020, The Guardian polled its readers to determine the greatest female tennis player of the past 50 years, and Steffi was the clear favorite, picking up nearly twice as many votes as any other player. [24] In 1985, for instance, she played only ten events leading up to the US Open, whereas another up-and-coming star, Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina, who was a year younger than Graf, played 21. Graf served for the match at 53 in the third set but lost the game and won only three more points in the match. Her 63, 60 defeat of Gabriela Sabatini in a semifinal was described by veteran observer Ted Tinling as "probably the best tennis I've seen". [citation needed] In the year of Graf's retirement, Billie Jean King said, "Steffi [Graf] is definitely the greatest women's tennis player of all time. She would either destroy opponents, clinically and . Graf retired in August 1999 while ranked world No. It is undeniable that Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi had a successful professional relationship. . Suffering from food poisoning, she had struggled to beat Monica Seles in their semifinal 63, 36, 63 and said that she had menstrual cramps in the final. Like the exhibition match the previous year against Sabatini, proceeds went to "Children for Tomorrow". The Trials of Steffi Graf. 1999 Athlete of the Century for the category Female Athlete in Ballsports by a panel of the, 1999 The Greatest Female Tennis Player of the 20th century, by a panel of tennis experts assembled by the Associated Press, 1999 Female Athlete of the Year, by the German television broadcaster ARD, 1999 Female Sports Award of the Last Decade, by, 1999 Olympic Order granted by Dr. Antonio Samaranch, president of the IOC, 2002 Medal of Honor, bestowed by the prime minister of Graf's home state, 2008 Cross of the Order of Merit awarded to her by German Federal President Horst Khler. 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 60, 61. Seles defeated Graf at the Australian Open 46, 63, 62. Four consecutive indoor tournament victories in the autumn helped improve her season, but for the third consecutive year, she failed to win the Virginia Slims Championships, where she lost in the first round to Lori McNeil. Martina Navratilova then defeated Graf 76, 67, 64 in a US Open semifinal, the first time she had beaten Graf in four years. Voted Germany's Sportswoman of the Century in 1999 by the German press. She played Jelena Dokic in Christchurch, New Zealand, Amanda Coetzer in Durban, South Africa, and her former rival Arantxa Snchez Vicario in Zaragoza, Spain. In July 2005, Graf competed in one tie of World Team Tennis (WTT) on the Houston Wranglers team. Graf developed a bone spur at the base of her spine due to a congenital condition of the sacroiliac joint. . Graf remains one of the greatest champions in the history of her sport. I feel I have nothing left to accomplish. Her year continued indifferently with losses in three of her first four tournaments, including a semifinal loss to Jana Novotn in Chicago. [153] She was elected as the German Sportsperson of the Year in 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989 and 1999. Last edited on 20 February 2023, at 18:23, BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year, Learn how and when to remove this template message, 3 different Grand Slam titles won without losing a set, 2 titles won without losing a set in the same calendar year, Tennis records of the Open Era - women's singles, "Duden | Steffi | Rechtschreibung, Bedeutung, Definition", "The 10 most influential players in the history of tennis", "ON TENNIS; Graf Is Best, Right? Graf began playing tennis with the encouragement of her father, who became her coach. Graf, however, won the tournament in San Antonio, Texas, and retained her title in Miami, where she once again defeated Evert in the final. Eighteen-time Grand Slam champion and former rival Chris Evert opined, "Steffi Graf is the best all-around player. She won 7 Wimbledon, 6 French Open, 5 US Open and 4 Australian Open . No medals were awarded as this was not an official Olympic event.[23]. She always said: I never look back, I look forward, but she also said: You can't measure success if you have never failed. Associations of International Sport Federations, Organising Committees for the Olympic Games. [14][13], An exceptionally versatile competitor, Graf remains the only player, male or female, to have won the calendar-year Grand Slam on three surfaces or to have won each Grand Slam at least four times. Graf and Kohde-Kilsch lost in the semifinals to Jana Novotn and Helena Sukov 75, 63. At the US Open, Graf was upset in the quarterfinals by Snchez Vicario 76, 63. Opponent Score Loss: 1986: Year-end championships: Carpet (i) Martina Navratilova: 6-7 (8-10), 3-6, 2-6 Win: 1987: Year-end championships: In 1985 and early 1986, Graf emerged as the top challenger to the dominance of Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert. will, Steffi would don her stoical mask and use her cannon of a forehand, the most powerful weapon in the women's game, to overwhelm her opponents. [45] In Berlin, she extended her unbeaten streak to 66 matches (second in WTA history to Navratilova's 74) before losing the final to Monica Seles, 46, 36. Furthermore, Graf's backhand was, in a subtle way, an extremely aggressive shot. "[89] The pair played their last major tournament together at the 1990 Wimbledon Championships, losing in the quarterfinals. Her singles winloss record was 900115 (88.7 percent). Social invitations on the tour were often declined as Graf's focus was kept on practicing and match play. More than two years elapsed before Seles competed again. ", "An Evolutionary History of Tennis Racquets", "Marketing to the female target audience", "OFFBEAT: Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf team up for new tennis racquet", "Viewing Gallery: Happy Birthday! She hit the sliced backhand harder and with more underspin than any woman I have ever seen. Graf and Navratilova faced each other six times and Graf had the advantage, 4-2. [55] In the Hamburg final, she lost for the first time in 1994 after 36 consecutive match victories, losing to Snchez Vicario in three sets. Finally Graf was given a match but prevailed 6-3, 7-6 where she would meet a surprise opponent in the final. 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. She has appeared in many advertisements and television commercials with Andre Agassi including Canon Inc.[130] and Longines in 2008 (Agassi became Longines ambassador in 2007). However, in the Federation Cup final in Vancouver, Canada, three weeks later, she defeated Evert easily 62, 61. Voted The best female role model in sports in a survey by Barclays, sponsors of the Premier League, 2010. [92][93], Graf also occasionally played mixed doubles, although she never won a title. 2021 International Olympic Committee. [143] Graf's mother and her brother also live there. He claimed that he committed the attack to help Graf reclaim the world No. She claimed a prestigious and symbolic victory in the final against Yugoslavias Sabrina Gole on the courts at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), winning 6-1, 3-6, 6-4. played a game called "Can you last an hour on court with Graf" because throughout her career she used to beat her opponents 6-0 6-1. She soon began taking the top prize at junior tournaments with regularity, going on to win the European Championships 12s and 18s in 1982. Though she lost the game to opponent Tracy Austin by 6-4, 6-0, this did very little to dishearten the young blood. She was also inducted to the German Sport Hall of Fame. The US Open ended anti-climactically as Navratilova defeated Graf in the final 76, 61. Serena was 17. Graf then went on to reach the quarterfinals of the Australian Open before losing to Monica Seles in two sets. [21] 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. . thesportslegends. She then successfully defended the three Grand Slam titles she won the year before. Steffi Graf with the Wimbledon trophy in 1989 after defeating Martina Navratilova 6-2, 6-7 (1), 6-1 in the final. In the Miami final, she lost her first set of the yearto Natasha Zverevaafter winning 54 consecutive sets. It would also be the last loss Graf would ever have to Novotna in a match she completed (she did have a loss after withdrawing with injury after the first set of a late 1996 match). One was 19 and one is pushing 34. As usual, the defining shot of the day was the one that earned Steffi her nickname, Frulein Forehand. Angelique Kerber recalls memories of Steffi Graf at Wimbledon after becoming first German to win trophy since 1996 . [36] Graf also won her only Grand Slam doubles title that yearat Wimbledon partnering Sabatiniand picked up a women's doubles Olympic bronze medal. 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. Twice in the third set Snchez Vicario served for the championship but was broken each time by Graf. My father taught me that if you really do want to reach your goals, you can't spend any time worrying about whether you're going to win or lose. And Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, arguably the most accomplished sports couple there ever was, had good reason to be on campus that day. Graf had already won 5 Wimbledon titles by then and was hunting for her 6th trophy. Steffi Graf vs. Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario ** **Head to Head: **28-8, Graf . 2 Hingis and world No. [61] She took the following nine weeks off, returning only for the Virginia Slims Championships where she lost in straight sets to Pierce in the quarterfinal. 49 . Whether this scandal affected Graf's form is open to debate. Steffi Graf, a Tennis champ is married to husband Andre Agassi with two children. 22 in 1984, and No. Since then, four players managed a 271 winloss record, meaning all of them failed to win the Grand Slam: Graf in 1989 and 1993, Martina Hingis in 1997, Roger Federer in 2006 and Novak Djokovic in both 2015 and 2021. In 1986, she formed a partnership with rival Gabriela Sabatini. Five months later, the world no. Novak Djokovic has arrived in Japan for the Tokyo Olympics 2020, and he is looking as confident as ever. [34] She then won tournaments in Hamburg and Mahwah (where she lost only eight games all tournament). 29 Jan Tennis Norge . Instead of being hailed as the undisputed female GOAT, people will always talk about her mysterious backhand deficiency. In 2008 Graf lost an exhibition match against Kimiko Date at Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo. Graf won 6-0, 6-0. However, seeing the current situation, Graff also feels frightened. Steffi Graf's 22 Grand Slam singles titles put her second on the list of major wins in the female competition since the introduction of the Open Era in 1968 . A commemorative plaque outside the venue in Seoul bears testament to the event: Historic Place for Golden Slam. The match was played over two days with Navratilova finally winning after saving three match points 61, 67, 76. There really hasn't been anyone like her since. Her overall record in 56 Grand Slam events was 27832 (90 percent) (8410 at the French Open, 747 at Wimbledon, 739 at the US Open, and 476 at the Australian Open). Date biografice. She was in hard-court action in the capital of the Republic of Korea on 20 September and breezed through the rounds conceding just one set, against the Soviet Unions Larissa Savchenko in the quarter-final before coming up against Sabatini once again in the gold-medal match on 1 October 1988. Her rivalries with Yugoslavias Monica Seles and Spains Arantxa Snchez Vicario in the 1980s and 1990s have gone down in tennis folklore. 1 player. At Wimbledon, Graf defeated Jana Novotn to win her third consecutive, and fifth overall, ladies' title. [68] The facts: American Amy Frazier was Graf's final opponent. Meanwhile, her naturally aggressive style of play, effective backhand slice and speed around the court made her even more dominant on fast surfaces such as hard courts, grass and carpet. In the French Open final, Graf defeated Navratilova, who was the world No. As a result, she hit her forehand with exceptional pace and accuracy. Graf later stated it was the best tennis she had ever played in a Grand Slam final. Graf beat opponents with spectacular precision, and Williams had a power game, unlike any woman in professional tennis. (W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (WL) winloss record. This is a list of the main career statistics of professional tennis player Steffi Graf. Graf then won in Leipzig, with her 500th career victory coming in a quarterfinal against Judith Wiesner. Williams VS Graf MATCHES VS ALL OPPONENTS Graf had a bone splinter in her right foot during this tournament (and for the next few months), finally resulting in surgery on 4 October.[53]. 1 was in peerless form on the clay courts of Roland . (not considered in winloss records). Margaret Court, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf and Serena Williams. Argentinas Gabriela Sabatini reached her first ever final, but Graf secured a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 victory. Having also won bronze in the womens doubles with Claudia Kohde-Kilsch in Seoul, her Olympic record stands at four podium finishes, including two titles counting the one she won in Los Angeles aged 14 when tennis was a demonstration sport! In 1988, Graf became the third women's star to win the Golden Slam. 3 at that time and said, "I have done everything I wanted to do in tennis. At Tokyo 2020, current world no. She had just lost a three-set semifinal to No. Her accuracy with the slice, both cross-court and down the line and her ability to skid the ball and keep it low, enabled her to use it as an offensive weapon to set the ball up for her forehand put-aways. United States . She partnered with doubles specialist Mark Woodforde at the Australian Open in 1994, with Henri Leconte at Wimbledon in 1991 and at the French Open in 1994, and with Charlie Pasarell at the US Open in 1984. Along with Boris Becker, Graf was considered instrumental in popularizing tennis in Germany, where it remains one of the foremost national sports.[18][19][20]. She would later become the world's number one female tennis player. 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. Graf said after the final that it would be her last French Open, fueling speculation about her retirement.[84]. She also . On 17 August, after defeating Evert in a straight set final in the Virginia Slims of Los Angeles, Graf overtook Navratilova for the world No. Graf warmed up for the US Open with easy tournament victories in San Diego and Mahwah. Graf did not lose a set the whole tournament. Graf reached 13 consecutive major singles finals, from the 1987 French Open through to . And on 5 June 1988, the match for the championship against the Soviet Unions Natasha Zvereva lasted a mere 34 minutes, with Zverera mustering only a few points in a 6-0, 6-0 whitewash. Focus only on getting better. Extremely sound advice! [88] Sabatini said of the partnership: "doubles is all about communicating with each other, and we didn't communicate that much. All Rights Reserved. Grand Slams) main-draw, Olympic Games and Fed Cup are included in winloss records. And stepping on the plane there was a big group of German athletes on it. Graf then won the tournament in Berlin, losing only twelve games in five matches. The American then took her opponent to a tie-break in the second set, eventually going down 7-3. In 1996, Steffi Graf was famously proposed to by a fan as she was getting ready to serve. [47] She would work with him for the remainder of her career. "Peter Graf" redirects here. [141] Agassi has said that he and Graf are not pushing their children toward becoming tennis players. Steffi Graf Youth Tennis Center was founded and dedicated October 1991 in Leipzig, Germany.Founder and Chairperson of Children for Tomorrow, a non-profit foundation with the goal of implementing and developing projects to support children who have been traumatized by war or other crises, and she is directly involved in the running of the . [103] Graf completely ruled out a return to professional tennis. used to be curious about one player who will make the women's singles Grand Slam finals as the other name was always Steffi Graf. She lost twice to Sabatini in the early spring at the Lipton International and the Bausch & Lomb Championships, which now brought her to seven losses in her last eight matches against Sabatini; however, the Bausch & Lomb loss would be Graf's final loss to Sabatini, winning her next, and last eight matches against Sabatini.[49]. At the first round of the season-ending Chase Championships, Graf defeated world No. [33] Zvereva, who had eliminated Martina Navratilova in the fourth round, won only thirteen points in the match.[33]. 1999 Germany Television Award for her outstanding performance as tennis player and her importance to the German public. Performance timelines. After Wimbledon, for the first time in my career, I didn't feel like going to a tournament. ", "Graf edges Hingis, captures sixth and 'last' French title", "Do Not Disturb: If Steffi Graf could shut out the world the way she shuts down opponents on the court then, for her, life would be perfect", "Tennis | Martinez wins controversial clash", "Results Archive - Steffi Graf - Australian Open Tennis Championships", "Tennis: Wimbledon 99 - Magic mixture of McEnroe and Graf", "TENNIS; Without Dad Around To Disturb Her, Lucic Upsets Fourth-Seeded Seles at Wimbledon", "Graf overcomes layoff to beat Coetzer in farewell exhibition", "* NZine * Tennis - The Biggest Participant Sport In New Zealand - Tennis, Steffi Graf, Indoor Tennis Centre, Davis Cup, Anthony Wilding, Wilding Park, Maurice Agar, Scenic Circles Indoor Tennis Centre, New Zealand Tennis", "Steffi Graf delights crowd at Westside Tennis Club - Houston Chronicle", "Steffi Graf: The Queen Returns to Centre Court", "Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova and Elton John headline an evening of tennis for charity in Washington", "ASAP Sports Transcripts - Tennis - 1995 - WTA TOUR CHAMPIONSHIPS - November 18 - Steffi Graf", "Today in Performance Sneaker History: Steffi Graf Becomes First Female with 500 Wins in Signature adidas Model", "Take a look at this Dunlop Steffi Graf ad from 1989! The last few years of Graf's career were beset by injuries, particularly to her knees and back. She struggled at the German Open in Berlin where she lost a 60 set to the unheralded Sabine Hack before defeating Mary Joe Fernndez and Sabatini in three-set matches to claim her seventh title there in eight years. . [101] She was beaten in two out of three matches, with each match being one set. #3. Serena uses her hard and powerful groundstrokes to bully her opponents and uses her serve, like Federer, to set up the point before finishing it off . Sabatini served for the match twice, and was two points away from her first Wimbledon title. Graf then lost to Navratilova 75, 63 in the Wimbledon final, her first loss of the year. [95][96][97], 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. Seles was behind 26 in the first-set tiebreaker, but then came back to win six points in a row and take the set. [43] In the final, Navratilova led 63, 42 before Graf rallied to win 36, 75, 61 for her third Grand Slam singles title of the year. [66] In August Monica Seles made her much anticipated return to tennis at the Canadian Open. Stefanie Maria "Steffi" Graf; 14. 1969, , ) . Before Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi became the power tennis couple off court, the two were connected by a remarkable weekend 20 years ago at Roland Garros. She has emerged as one of the strongest tennis players of all time. Soon after, she split with her long-time coach, Pavel Sloil. Just over 30 years old, Graf retired . 'The Ten' went one way; you went another", "The greatest female tennis player of the last 50 years: the fans' verdict", "Exclusive Interview with Steve Flink about the career of Chris Evert", "A celebration of Martina Navratilova's multifaceted legacy", "Special events and records at the 1988 Australian Open Tennis Tournament", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Steffi_Graf&oldid=1140574067, Golden Slam (4 majors + Olympic gold in same calendar year), Non-Calendar Year Grand Slam in addition to already winning a Grand Slam, 100% match winning percentage in 1 season, 100% match winning percentage in 3 separate seasons, 89.67% (278-32) match winning percentage overall, 5 calendar years winning 3+ Grand Slam titles, Defeated the top 3 seeded players in the same tournament, Reached the final of all four Grand Slams tournaments in a calendar year, Reached the final of all four Grand Slams tournaments in a calendar year three times, 5 years as wire-to-wire (all 52 weeks) No. 1 Ranking", "Graf wastes no time reaching another final", "Roland-Garros - the 2021 Roland-Garros Tournament official site", "The 1988 French Open: how Agassi arrived, Graf ruled and Wilander won", "TENNIS; Graf Shuts Out Zvereva to Gain French Open Title", "Wimbledon; An Era Ends as Graf Beats Navratilova", "Forget Calendar Slam, "Surface Slam" Almost as Rare", "THE SEOUL GAMES: Women's Tennis: Graf Turns Her Slam Into a Golden One", "SURPRISE! Vicario was the no 2 seed while Graf was ranked no 1. Graf's Grand Slam tournament breakthrough came in 1987. The Washington, D.C. tournament was notable because Graf won the first twenty points of the final against Zina Garrison. [17] Graf married former world No. 1 ranking. By August 1999, Graf had already announced twice that it was going to be her final year on the tour. She then lost to Sabatini in her next three tournaments before winning the U.S. Hardcourt Championships in San Antonio, beating Monica Seles in the final. She then successfully defended her title at the US Open, defeating Monica Seles in the final. [56][57] This was followed by a first-round straight-sets loss at Wimbledon to Lori McNeil, her only loss at Wimbledon between 1991 and 1997 and her first loss in a first round Grand Slam tournament in ten years. She and Margaret Court are the only players, female or male, to win three majors in a calendar year five times (1988, 1989, 1993, 1995 and 1996).