In a recent poll conducted in Germany, majority of German women picked Steffi Graf as their role model which is not a surprise but good to know she is still adored and respected.
http://www.abendblatt.de/vermischtes/article2382433/Ex-Tennis-Star-Steffi-Graf-grosses-Vorbild-fuer-die-Deutschen.html
Steffi commenting about the current top female German players and despite being known to be hard on herself during her career, non-judgemental when it comes to assessing the rest.
http://de.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/graf-potenzial-f%C3%BCr-grand-slam-titel-080857845.html
Behind the scenes look at Agassi-Graf Olympic story on CNN.
http://worldsport.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/03/behind-the-scenes-with-graf-and-agassi/?iid=article_sidebar
To 'Fabulous FH' at the Olympic Addidas press meet:
http://news.adidas.com/GLOBAL/tennis-legend-steffi-graf-and-olympic-medallist-fernando-gonzalez-visit-the-adidas-london-2012-media/s/8363f66e-8b59-4fd1-ad36-4a59e910401e
Steffi Graf commenting about Murray's chances in Olympic finals:
http://sport.uk.msn.com/video-clips/?VideoID=2i22l7po#
Anne Worcester recalling how Steffi Graf's participation at New Haven in 98 put the tournament on the world map.
http://articles.courant.com/2012-08-15/sports/hc-new-haven-tennis-memories-0817-20120815_1_first-wta-event-new-haven-open-wta-tour
Who am I to disagree with Ron Swanson:
"Strippers don't do it for me. I like a strong, salt-of-the-earth woman at the top of her game. Your Steffi Grafs." -- Ron Swanson, from Parks and Recreation.
Bud Collins is back, how can we forget the man who coined/popularized 'Fraulein Forehand' and one of the few media persons that called her by her proper name 'Stefanie'. Great picture of Steffi accompanying the write up.
http://straightsets.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/27/bud-collins-set-to-return-to-grand-slam-tennis/
And here is Bud recalling Steffi's Golden Slam victory from 1988:
Budge said he expected Graf to capture the Slam after watching her in Australia. At the Wimbledon Ball, he told her, “Steffi, when you win the Grand Slam, I hope they let me present the trophy.”
http://www.tennisgrandstand.com/archives/643/
And Steffi's win at Seoul makes into this top 10 Olympic moments list:
http://www.careerathletes.com/news1.php
And since it is the Olympic year, time to revisit some old articles:
Loved this write up in particular:
The most awesome thing about this Miss Steffi Graf is not that she is 19 years old and has already won the Grand Slam Plus One. That's history. Oh, no. The real scary thing about this Miss Graf is that she roared through the final match of the Summer Games, not just a kid having a fine time at the Olympics but also a superb technician adding a level to her game.
http://www.nytimes.com/1988/10/02/sports/sports-of-the-times-make-steffi-play-lefty.html
And this particular comment by her which holds true 24 yrs after she did it and no one has achieved it yet:
''I'm very excited,'' she said. ''It's something not many people after me will achieve. It's amazing.''
http://www.nytimes.com/1988/10/01/sports/the-seoul-olympics-tennis-graf-adds-gold-to-her-grand-88-record.html
And here is the Gold Medal Presentation:
And finally, ON THIS DATE (Aug. 28, 1984): 15-year-old Steffi Graf made her U.S. Open debut, losing to Sylvia Hanika.
