Fraulein Forehand

Steffi Graf is a former tennis great who dominated the sport in the 1980s and 1990s. She was the number one ranked female player who held that title for more than seven years, which is a record for both females and males. Over her career she has won a total of twenty two Grand Slam titles and is the only person that won each event at least four times.



Steffi Graf earned her nickname 'Fraulein Forehand' because of her powerful forehand drive. Fraulein in German is the equivalent of Miss in English, which means an unmarried young woman. It can also mean a German governess.

Steffi Graf was able to play equally well across all surfaces and she did so with an aggressive style playing from the baseline. 'Fraulein Forehand' is the only player to have won the Golden Slam in tennis, which means that she won all four Grand Slam singles titles as well as the Olympic gold in the same calendar year.

Steffi Graf stopped playing tennis in 1999 at the age of thirty, while still ranking as the number 3 in the world. The reason for retirement was that due to amounting injuries she started losing the enjoyment of playing. She is known as the greatest female player to play the game.

Following her retirement from the sport she married another tennis superstar Andre Agassi.