She is still the queen of Roland Garros and the tennis player with the most impressive record, as She is still the only one who has a Goldem SlamWinning the French Open, Wimbledon, Australian Open and United States Open titles, plus the 1988 Olympic gold medal, at age 19. However, that is not the only award of Steffi Graf, the most important German tennis star in history, whose rivalry with Monica Seles conquered the fans during the 90s. Graf celebrates in 2021 two decades of heavenly marriage with André Agassi, a prodigious tennis player and, at the time, even dangerous. Her life was in total chaos until she fell in love, rather became obsessed with, with Graf. And everything changed.
Between the two add 30 Gram Slam titles, two children (one of them, the twentysomething Jaden, already a small star of baseball) and a fortune valued at more than 200 million dollars. André and Steffi live in a gigantic mansion of more than 830 square meters in Las Vegas, in the same urbanization where Céline Dion, David Copperfied and Carlos Santana reside. And her life is that placid from minute zero: she left the racing driver Michael Bartels, with whom she had a romantic relationship from 1992 to 1999, for André Agassi. The tennis player had to earn it: his obsession with the German champion began before they met for the first time at Wimbledon and was not awarded until 1999. They were seven years of patient and sustained ‘persecution’.
The story is already mythical: André Agassi and Steffi Graf won Wimbledom in 1992 and protocol mandated that the winners open the gala ball that celebrated the end of the tournament. He had already noticed the German woman and had even sent her a message, but had received no response. In his unmissable autobiography ‘Open. My story’, André Agassi said that he bought a tuxedo to be at the level of Graf on the big night of the dance, but that she convinced the organization not to participate: great disappointment. At least, Agassi managed to be officially introduced and for the story remains her first pose, he with his controversial wig and she, with a white silk dress.
“I fell in love with her since I saw her in an interview on French television,” he said. André Agassi in his autobiography. “I was struck by her discreet grace, her natural beauty. It was as if his appearance somehow showed that he smelled good. And besides, it was good, an intrinsic person, essentially good, full of moral rectitude and a kind of dignity that today no longer exists. “
André Agassi it wasn’t exactly a good match back then. As we later learned from his impressive autobiography, his relationship with drugs began in his childhood: his father gave him caffeine pills so he wouldn’t get tired of training. In adolescence he began with amphetamines and in adulthood, with methamphetamine. In ‘Open. My story ‘(2009), he confessed that for years he played with a wig and was more terrified of losing it on the court than losing the games. Since his debut in tennis, he asserted his hooligan image and his extravagant looks (He even played in pink leggings), and when he began to bald he was terrified at the prospect of losing his fans.
Your relationship with Brooke Shields lasted from 1993 to 1999 (married since 1997) and was very important to his future in tennis, even though he was doomed to failure because of Agassi’s addictions and jealousy. Shields was the woman who made him regain his self-esteem and even convinced him to take the step of shaving his head and introduce yourself to the world without a wig, which he did at the 1995 Australian Open.
“It is your eyes that are attractive to me. And your heart, not your hair,” said the model and actress. Before your wedding, Shields posted a photo of Steffi Graf on the fridge of how much he admired her legs.. She seemed the perfect woman to him because of her elaborately sculpted body. Fate was already doing its thing.
After divorcing Brooke Shields, André Agassi went decidedly for Steffi Graf. He wrote her a note asking for a date after sharing some workouts. The note read: “I don’t want any misunderstandings… I’m sure you’ve heard that Brooke and I have broken up. I think you are beautiful and fascinating and I have tremendous respect for the values by which you rule your life.. Can we have lunch, dinner, have a coffee, go for a walk? I do not mind. I just want to get to know you better. ”
In tennis, André Agassi was, again, on a roll: it had risen from its ashes to become the only player in history to have won the seven most prestigious titles in men’s individual tennis: the four Grand Slams, the Masters Cup, the Olympic gold medal and the Davis Cup. Steffi Graf He decided to retire three months after beginning his relationship with Agassi.
In those first months of relationship, André Agassi had to confess to Steffi Graf the two great hidden truths of your life. It was in Paris that he revealed his history with drugs. “I wanted him to know about me,” wrote the tennis player in ‘Open’. “As he spoke, I saw how his face was getting sadder and sadder, but he did not judge me. His feelings showed me that he cared about me and wondered what my life had been like to end up making so many bad decisions“His second confession united them forever:” I hate tennis, “he said.” Who doesn’t, “she replied.
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