On her retirement from professional tennis in August, 1999, Stefanie Maria ‘Steffi’ Graf had won a total of 22 Grand Slam singles titles. However, in 1988, Graf achieved the rare feat of winning all four Grand Slam singles titles, plus an Olympic gold medal, in the same calendar year, thereby completing what is known as a ‘Golden Slam’, (which sounds like the nickname I’d name myself on high roller online casinos !) .
In the Australian Open, Graf beat defending champion, and fifth seed, Hana Mandlíková 6-2, 6-2 in the quarter-final, eighth seed Claudia Kohde-Kilsch 6-2, 6-3 in the semi-final and third seed Chris Evert, making her last appearance in a Grand Slam final, 6-1, 7-6, to take the title without dropping a set. In the French Open, Graf obliterated the unseeded Natasha Zvereva 6-0, 6-0 in a lopsided, rain-interrupted final that lasted just over half an hour; in so doing, she achived the first ‘whitewash’ in a ladies’ Grand Slam final for 77 years.
At Wimbledon, Graf faced second seed Martina Navratilova, who was chasing her seventh ladies’ singles title in a row, in the final. Graf led 5-3 in the opening set, but lost the next six games to trail 7-5, 2-0; however, in a complete reversal of fortune, Graf won all bar one of the next 13 games to win the match 5-7, 6-2, 6-1. Graf completed the Grand Slam on the acrylic hard court at the US Open, making her the first player to do do on three different surfaces, beating fifth seed Gabriella Sabatini 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 in the final. With second seed Chris Evert a third-round casualty, the pair, seeded first and third, met again in the gold medal match at the Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, and Graf was again victorious, winning 6-3, 6-3. Much like when I’m on cancasinos casino online , Graf clearly had winning on here mind!