With an impressive record of 900 wins and 155 losses, 107 individual titles (22 of them Grand Slam) and 377 weeks at number 1 in the world (more than anyone else on the women’s circuit), the German Steffi Graf She stands as one of the best tennis players of all time. A member of the Tennis Hall of Fame since 2004, she’s pretty much claimed every accolade possible in the racket sport. After her retirement in 1999, she married another figure like Andre Agassi (in 2001), with whom he had two children (Jaden Gil and Jaz Elle). Based in Las Vegas, stepped completely out of the public eyestopped giving interviews and dedicated himself to protecting his privacy.
Graf, one of the most important rivals that Gabriela Sabatini had in her career, continues to be linked to the world of sports, as a co-founder and shareholder of the franchise company Mrs. Sporty GmbH, which runs gyms for women. But, especially, she is engaged in charity work. She has been an ambassador for the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) since 1984 and is committed to animals and the environment. She is also the founder and president of the charitable foundation Children for Tomorrowwhat psychologically supports and assists children who have suffered different traumas by wars and migration problems.
“I have little need for publicity. Privacy was also very important to me throughout my career,” said Graf (picture alliance/)
In the last few hours, the German edition of the magazine VOGUE published a special production with Graf, who will turn 53 on June 14. During the extensive talk, the great Steffi opened up a portion of her intimacy. “I have little need for publicity. Privacy was also very important to me throughout my career, which may have something to do with being in the spotlight at such a young age. I just feel more comfortable in my privacy and can focus on what’s important to me,” Graf replied, referring to the low profile he’s taken since retiring (his last match was in August 1999, at the Carlsbad tournament, USA). USA: the loss was against the American Amy Frazier 6-4, 5-7, 1-2 and retirement, due to a left thigh injury).
Steffi Graf in the tapa of Vogue
“Would you have preferred that your entire career had developed away from the spotlight?” Graf heard from the newsroom of VOGUE. “Sport has always been my focus. When you’re standing on a center court, you’re taken by the crowd and the whole atmosphere, that’s something very special, of course. I have experienced incredibly beautiful moments on various tennis courts around the world, and I don’t want to miss them. But I’ve always been someone who was happy to be back to ‘normal’ after the game and felt less comfortable under the spotlight off the pitch. That was difficult for me.”
During the production at the Sheats-Goldstein residence in Beverly Hills, Graf added, “I think everyone has a responsibility, whether they’re in the spotlight or not. We all have a responsibility to others. Of course, there is more of a focus on being in the public eye, but we should all feel that way.”
Regarding liability, the only player in history to win the Golden Slam (four Grand Slam tournaments and the Olympic Games in one year) has a great commitment to his foundation, from which he offers therapeutic help to children and young people. How important is that job to her? “I created the foundation in 1998 -said Steffi-. At that time there was little talk about trauma, mental health was still a secondary topic. When talking about war zones and violence, everyone had trouble talking openly about emotional distress. Especially with children, who still have their whole lives ahead of them, you can see when they can’t play together or can’t concentrate well because of severe trauma. If you experience their fear of contact in general, especially at an age when they should be characterized by happiness and curiosity, then you automatically want to do something about it.”
Graf points out that today’s society is much more open when it comes to referring to and discussing different human conflicts. “The media has changed that a lot, now things are documented differently. The openness to talk about mental wellness has grown significantly. If you look at current images from Ukraine, for example, you not only see the destruction of the buildings, but also of the people: you get a better understanding of what such experiences must evoke in these people’s minds. We all share in the traumatic experiences there: women take this difficult path with their young children and leave their husbands, their city, their culture, their language and their history. Due to the presence of the media in crisis areas, they now have a completely different understanding. We all get a little closer.”
Steffi stated that currently “there are more than 20,000 Ukrainian refugees in Hamburg” and that “at least half are children”. Since its foundation they are trying to find more therapists so that they can help them. “We will always feel that we are not doing enough. We treat about 500 children in the refugee outpatient clinic and unfortunately we have to work with longer waiting times. Added to this was the pandemic”, lamented the former tennis player, winner of eleven titles in doubles, one of them Wimbledon 1988, in pairs with Gaby Sabatini.
July 2020: Jared Agassi, son of Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, signing the contract with a college baseball team, USC Trojans. (Twitter/)
“The images of the Ukraine stir everything up -confesses Steffi-. That makes the situation very difficult at the moment. We will never find an end. When I founded the foundation, there were 40 million refugees in the world. That has nearly doubled in 25 years. However, one always hopes that the world will turn in the right direction again. It definitely won’t be any easier… But the children are our future and it is extremely important to give them as much help as possible.”
The pressure on people (public or not) grew from the birth of social networks, believes the wife of a legend of men’s tennis like Agassi. “It has become more difficult to focus on the essentials, to find balance. There are some who get a lot out of it, a lot of self-confidence. But it can also quickly have the opposite effect. This is where I see the danger, whether it’s with athletes, someone at home or a child at school. We speak with psychotherapists who confirm that more and more children are experiencing mental health problems at an early age. The numbers keep growing. This is what we see in our neighborhood in Las Vegas: violence in schools has increased and taken significant proportions, whether it is between students or aggressive behavior towards teachers. It’s frightening. I don’t want to be so negative, but it is becoming more and more clear that things are changing, especially among young people”.
Steffi Graf won 107 singles titles in her career, including 22 Grand Slams.
For a long time, the word of Steffi Graf, an extraordinary athlete who – without a doubt – left a mark, was not heard or read. But his brand new public appearance has a great emotional charge and forceful. This time he did it not to recall his glory days on the court, but to reveal his enormous concern about the current situation of the world’s children. And his voice resounded, as in the romantic times in which he dazzled everyone with his sports virtues.
