Why they rank here
Graf did the one thing no other player in tennis history has done: the 1988 Golden Slam, winning all four majors plus Olympic singles gold in Seoul in a single season, at age 19. Her 22 Grand Slam titles came with a distribution no one else can claim — she is the only player, man or woman, to win each of the four majors at least four times, proof of true all-surface supremacy in an era when the surfaces played far more differently than today. Her 377 total weeks at No.1 remain the all-time record for either tour, and she finished year-end No.1 eight times. The forehand — 'Fraulein Forehand' — and a knifing slice backhand made her the bridge between the classic and power eras. The honest asterisk: Monica Seles had won 8 of 9 majors entered and led their rivalry when she was stabbed by a Graf fan in April 1993, and Graf won 10 of her 22 majors afterward. Even discounting for that, the Golden Slam and the surface spread put her peak among the three or four highest ever reached.
Career profile
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Head-to-head
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