- A wonderful family happiness with Andre Agassi
Exactly 25 years ago, an era in German tennis history came to an end: On August 13, 1999, Steffi Graf (55) announced her retirement from active tennis at a press conference in a hotel in Heidelberg at just 30 years old - and chose to prioritize her private happiness. This decision has seemingly held strong for 25 years. A look back at perhaps the most important decision of her life.
Now she's privately chasing Andre Agassi around the tennis court
Unlike her colleague Boris Becker (56), the other German tennis superstar of their time, Steffi Graf avoids negative headlines and successfully keeps her private and family life out of the public eye. She has managed to "escape the public eye," as the "Tagesspiegel" wrote on her 50th birthday. She lives with her husband quietly in Las Vegas, occasionally playing a round of tennis with him on their private court: "She often chased him around the court. And her forehand always gave him trouble."
In the height of her career, she surpassed all tennis talents - including Boris Becker. She won Wimbledon seven times; he won it three times. She triumphed at 22 Grand Slam tournaments; he won six. Becker led the world rankings for 12 weeks; Graf led them for 377 weeks - a record. Additionally, she is the only person in the world to have won the Golden Slam: in 1988, she won all four Grand Slam tournaments and the Olympic gold medal in singles in Seoul.
There was no rest or stagnation for her, wrote sports journalist Hans-Jürgen Pohmann, a former tennis professional himself, in the "Welt" in 1999: "There was only the craving to play perfectly... Behind her, her father Peter pushed her forward, isolated her from the public, enjoyed her daughter's fame, made headlines with young girls, and eventually went to prison for tax evasion."
Andre Agassi made her more relaxed
She eventually broke free from her powerful father's shadow; Peter Graf died of cancer in 2013. His daughter had changed long before that, realizing in 1999: "I have nothing left to prove." This realization seemed to make her more cheerful and relaxed about the future. Andre Agassi (54) likely played a role in this.
The American was known as the wild rockstar of tennis in the 90s (eight Grand Slam wins, 1996 Olympic gold in singles, 101 weeks as the world number one). That this eccentric figure and the cool German, who had the reputation of a "tennis robot," became such an intimate couple could be seen as a love miracle.
Both were in other relationships when they got closer. Steffi Graf was then with German racing driver Michael Bartels, and Agassi was married to Hollywood actress Brooke Shields ("The Blue Lagoon") from 1997 to 1999.
Agassi had likely been secretly admiring the blonde "Countess" for some time, falling in love with her during the French Open in 1998. In his biography "Open," Andre Agassi writes: "I was thunderstruck, absolutely captivated by her modest grace, her natural beauty." They then trained together, had several dates with shared dinners and walks.
After Steffi Graf's retirement from tennis just before the 1999 US Open, she visited a boxing match in Las Vegas with Andre Agassi. It was their first public appearance as a couple. "The next day, a photo of us both appeared in the newspapers, showing us sitting ringside, holding hands and kissing," Agassi recalled later.
Their two children were born in 2001 and 2003
Then, their relationship moved quickly: they got married on October 22, 2001, their son Jaden Gil (22) was born four days later, and their daughter Jaz Elle (20) was born on November 3, 2003. Steffi Graf gave up her beloved apartment in Manhattan (New York City), and the family moved to Agassi's birthplace, Las Vegas, in the Nevada desert, where they have been leading a normal family life ever since, including tasks like taking children to school, recycling, and maintaining an eco-friendly household.
In 1998, Steffi Graf founded the charitable foundation Children for Tomorrow in Hamburg, which cares for traumatized refugee children on the grounds of the University Hospital Eppendorf. These are the occasions when she appears in public. She rarely steps onto a public tennis court anymore.
Tennis introduced her to the love of her life
Her self-chosen retirement still makes her a tennis legend: in 2003, Steffi Graf was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. In his tribute, her husband Andre Agassi found moving words for his wife: "I know that words have not yet been invented that are big enough or true enough to express the heart and soul of this woman I love: Stefanie!" When he then said that she had brought "a lot of light" and "dignity" into his life, like no other person before, she replied through tears: "Tennis gave me an incredible journey. The best part of that journey was that it led me to you."
In her retirement, Steffi Graf found a new way to stay active on the tennis court by playing with her husband Andre Agassi on their private court. After their public appearance at a boxing match in Las Vegas, they quickly began a relationship and later got married, having two children together in 2001 and 2003. Good luck to you in your future endeavors, as tennis introduced her to the love of her life.
