Profile: Steffi Graf

It remains one of tennis' iconic images: Steffi Graf, both feet off the ground, pounding a forehand winner (seen here).

As predictable as it was devastating, Graf's signature shot ruled the sport for nearly two decades.

From the time she turned pro in 1982 at the age of 13 until her retirement at the age of 30, Graf played the same way.

Others may have hit the ball harder, served faster or volleyed better, but Graf didn't need to change.

She was simply a better athlete than everyone else.

Graf bridged three generations of women's tennis, eclipsing Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert in the 1980s, battling for supremacy with Monica Seles and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the early and mid-1990s, and fighting off the teen vanguard of Martina Hingis and Co in the late '90s.

Graf's handicap was her health - sinus problems, allergies, foot, leg, wrist and back injuries.

It was almost fitting that the final match of her career ended with an injury. She was forced to retire from a second-round match at the TIG Classic in Carlsbad, California in August 1999, after straining her left hamstring.

If it hadn't been for her perpetual ailments, who knows how many more titles Graf would have won?

On the way to notching up 22 Grand Slam titles, she excelled on all surfaces - clay, hard courts, grass and indoor carpet - and was only two shy of Margaret Court's career record.

She rarely showed emotion on or off the court.

Towards the end of her career, when she hit a big shot, she'd pump her fist and shout like other players. But mostly, she stayed within herself.

In interviews and news conferences, Graf rarely opened up. But when she let her blonde hair spill down over her shoulders, and smiled or laughed, she could light up a room.

Reserved and sometimes aloof, she shunned the trappings of fame and resented media interest in her private life and that of her father, Peter, who was jailed for evading taxes on her income.

Maybe that's why the public never warmed to her the way they did to other champions.

The most charismatic personality in tennis she might not have been, but she was certainly the best player of her era and, many would say, the greatest of all time.

Post-retirement, the German great married the former men's World No 1 Andre Agassi in October 2001 and they have two children, Jaden Gil and Jaz Elle.

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