| |
|
 Fräulein fantastic Graf still two shy of Wimbledon, Grand Slam marks
Posted: Monday July 05, 1999 10:29 PM
By Desmond M. Wallace, CNN/SI Steffi Graf may have played her last match at Wimbledon in Sunday's final-round loss to Lindsay Davenport. If so, she leaves the All England Club as one of the finest women to ever grace the grass courts. Graf fell just short of her eighth win at Wimbledon, which would have tied her for the second-most all-time. Only Martina Navratilova (nine) and Helen Wills Moody (eight) have more women's Wimbledon singles titles than Graf. Only Margaret Smith Court (24) has more Slam championships than Graf. Graf also remains two shy of the record for most Grand Slam titles in a career. Her win in the French Open last month was the 22nd career Slam, and her first since the 1996 U.S. Open.
The last time Graf was victorious at Roland Garros (also in 1996), she also won at Wimbledon. She has completed the double four times in her career. However, Graf still has not won at Wimbledon since that '96 triumph, which concluded her run of seven Wimbledon titles in nine years. This year marked the 10th time that Graf advanced to the semifinals at Wimbledon. In fact, Graf not making it to the semifinals has been more of a story.
She has missed out on it only four times in her career -- including last year's disappointing third-round loss to Natasha Zvereva. Graf, though, has usually been the ultimate pressure finisher in her career, especially in Grand Slam matches. Graf has won of 21 of 30 career Grand Slam singles finals. And since losing in her first finals appearance to Navaratilova in 1987, Graf won seven straight Wimbledon finals before falling to Davenport on Sunday.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
