7 Wimbledon titles. 6 French Open titles. 5
US Open titles. 4 Australian Open titles. And a Golden Slam in 1988. Stefanie
Maria Graf won them all. Martina was a champ on fast courts. Chris Evert was
the queen of the slower courts. Steffi reigned both surfaces like no one else
did. The Louvre or Tate may not display her work. But her work nonetheless was
nothing short of art. The alacrity of the feet, a refrigerator-cold stare, an
ethereal mix of grace and brutality from the baseline, the bewitching charm of
that backhand slice – yes, she was born to slay. Her most potent weapon though,
careened out of her racquet like an enigma wrapped in a mystery. The opponent,
on most occasions, couldn’t decipher how it was prepared, constructed and
executed. The yellow ball often resembled a searing bullet. And the stroke in
question: the big, powerful forehand – nicknamed the Fraulein Forehand. With so
much going for Steffi, she decided to call it quits when she was 30, in 1999.
That year she won the French and reached the Wimbledon final. And took a final
bow with that glorious 5-word cry that befits a champion of her calibre:
I-can-still-do-it!
