You simply can't overlook the famous Steffi Graf when it comes to Tennis.
A former professional tennis player from Germany, Stefanie Maria Graf, was the world's number
one tennis player during her time.
Steffi has an incredible family story.
The icon and her husband are one of tennis' most influential couples, yet they've managed
to keep their children out of the spotlight.
Although they had their reasons, and we'll tell you everything about them, first, let's
discuss Steffi's Origin and Family.
PARENTS Steffi was born in Mannheim, West Germany,
on June 14, 1969, to Heidi Schalk and Peter Graff, a car and insurance salesman.
Steffi was initially exposed to Tennis by her father, an aspiring tennis instructor,
who taught her how to swing a wooden racket in the family's living room when she was just
three years old.
She began practicing on the court at the age of four and played in her first event when
she was five years old.
Steffi quickly became a consistent winner at junior competitions, eventually winning
the European Championships 12s and 18s in 1982.
Her family moved to Brühl, a nearby town, when she was nine years old.
At the age of 27, her father, Peter Graf, took an interest in Tennis and became a somewhat
good regional player before becoming a tennis instructor.
He recognized his little daughter's tennis talent and created a training and match schedule
to help her reach her full potential.
He became Steffi's manager, and as she rose up the tennis rankings, he set the terms and
conditions, as well as the all-important fees for her participation in tournaments.
He didn't trust anyone with Steffi's career; therefore, he refused to delegate most of
the work running.
Steffi rose to the top of the world rankings in August 1987 and stayed there for 186 weeks
until April 1991.
This improvement and growth brought her a lot of money, and also her father, obviously.
He was only concerned about the money, and he made sure to manage her funds firsthand.
Peter Graf amassed a fortune and was largely regarded as the most successful man in German
Tennis before being convicted and imprisoned for tax evasion.
He was convicted to three years and nine months in prison in 1997 for tax evasion of nearly
$8.2 million, but he ended up serving only 25 months.
In 1999, he divorced his wife, Heidi, and later remarried.
And that was the last time the public heard about him.
Then on November 30, 2013, the 75-year-old who championed Steffi and probably turned
around German Tennis in the 1980s, unfortunately, passed away, as he died of cancer at home
in Mannheim.
You can't talk about Steffi and forget the great influence of her father on her.
Although to some, he mismanaged her earnings and controlled almost every single part of
her life, we cannot ignore the fact that he shaped her into a superstar.
We shouldn’t forget, Steffi has a brother, Michael, who seems to be the complete opposite
of the tennis legend.
Let’s talk about him.
HER BROTHER; MICHAEL GRAF Michael Graf was born on September 4, 1971
in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
Although there isn't much about his childhood, he was recently in the news.
Steffi Graf once fought for the continuation of temporary guardianship for her brother.
Michael, who is divorced and a father of three daughters, was once arrested after allegedly
threatening a friend with death and severely damaging a car with a hammer.
Michael then rioted in front of a friend's ex-house wife a few weeks later.
To subdue him, the cops used rubber bullets and a taser on him.
One time, he also ended up injured in a clinic and sustained other injuries while experimenting
with chemicals and fire.
The 52-year-old is alleged to be a QAnon enthusiast (an internet political conspiracy in America)
and an extreme conspiracy theorist.
In 2020, the father of four was said to have even threatened people.
Stefi had also saved Michael from prison when he was on trial for property damage.
She helped him get a lenient sentence.
For destroying an automobile, Michael faced a year in prison.
He avoided going to prison thanks to his sister's assistance.
In case you were wondering why Michael is so different from Steffi, a longtime family
friend of the Grafs, Gerd Schüler once described how Michael grew up.
Peter Graf expected nothing less than the best from his children.
The ambitious father envisioned a career as a race driver for his younger son while coaching
Steffi to become a tennis champion.
Gerd Schüler, who was a successful professional racing driver in the 1980s and who was also
intended to make the young Michael champion on behalf of Peter Graf, explained that Michael
was bold but lacked the talent for a successful career.
While Steffi continued to win tennis titles and trophies, Michael fell by the wayside.
Schüler, who deeply regrets Michael's deep decline, believes Michael was certainly damaged
during this period.
Steffi seems to be a lucky woman as she has her life surrounded by professionals in the
game.
She is married to the legendary Andre Agassi.
So, let's talk about him for a moment.
STEFFI's HUSBAND, ANDRE AGASSI Andre Kirk Agassi was born on April 29, 1970,
and is a former world number one tennis player.
He has won eight major titles and an Olympic gold medal, as well as finishing second in
seven more majors.
He is the second of five men in the Open Era to complete a career Grand Slam and the fifth
of eight men overall.
He is also one of just two men to win the career Golden Slam, which includes the Grand
Slam plus an Olympic gold medal.
Not only that, but Agassi is the only man to win a career Super Slam, which is a career
Grand Slam, plus the Olympic gold medal and the year-end championships.
He was also the first player to win all four singles majors on three distinct surfaces
(hard, clay, and grass), and he is still the only American to have won the French Open
in 1999 and the Australian Open in 2003.
But this story is not about Andre...
It's about his wife.
So how did it start for the couple?
Let's find out.
Andre was formerly married to actress Brooke Shields, but they got divorced in 1999.
Shortly after his divorce from Brooke, he became friends with Steffi.
Agassi's coach coordinated with Steffi's coach to organize a practice session for the two
at a tournament in Florida at Agassi's request.
Agassi then began plotting to win Steffi over soon after, sending flower bouquets and even
practicing chats with his coach before asking her out.
But Steffi was still in a relationship with Bartels, and Agassi's divorce from Shields
was still private.
They'd eventually meet up at the French Open and Wimbledon a few months later.
They began spending time together, and it went really quickly from there.
Steffi called it quits on Tennis and dissolved her romance with Bartels.
She moved into his Las Vegas house shortly after their romance became public.
Quickly, they got married on October 22, 2001, with only their mothers as witnesses.
A few days later, Steffi and Andre gave birth to a son.
He was born three weeks early and just four days after their marriage.
They also have a daughter together.
Their kids are called; Jaden Gill and Jazz Elle.
Growing up, Steffi's husband spent his childhood doing nothing but hitting tennis balls.
Agassi discussed his complicated connection with his father, Iranian-born Mike, while
promoting his autobiography Open.
He wrote: "My father yells everything twice, sometimes three times, sometimes 10.
Harder, he says, harder.
Hit earlier.
Damn it, Andre hit earlier; crowd the ball, crowd the ball.
Now he's crowding me.
He's yelling.
It's not enough to hit everything the dragon fires at me: my father wants me to hit harder
and faster than the dragon.
He wants me to beat the dragon."
According to him, his father forced him into the game.
Talking about his children, he said he wants his son and daughter to be free of the pressures
of Tennis and stated he wanted Jaden and Jaz to do whatever made them happy.
Given their parents' accomplishments, many fans may have hoped that Agassi's offspring
might become the sport's next wunderkind, but Agassi's own experiences lead him to believe
that allowing his children to make their own decisions was the best gift he could have
given them.
He mentioned this during a dinner in Auckland to promote his book: "People always make the
assumption that, with Steffi and me as parents, of course, they're going to be great tennis
players.
And I always say, “it's a big gene pool; you haven't met the rest of our family."
"With that being said, I think the life that we've led would make us take a deep breath
if they did have a passion for tennis because it's not an easy road."
What do you think about Steffi Graf's family?
Comment below!