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Steffi Graf

In 1988, she became the first and then, the only, player to win a Calendar Year Golden Slam. She has won a total of 22 Grand Slam titles, a feat that is surpassed only by Margaret Court who has 24 titles to her name. Yes, she is the one woman who Billie Jean King described as the “greatest women’s tennis player of all time”. She is the inimitable Steffi Graf.

She was born Stefanie Maria Graf, on 14th June, 1969, in West Germany. She was introduced to the game by her father, Peter Graf, who was a car salesman and a tennis enthusiast. He also wanted to be a tennis coach, and handed her three year old daughter a wooden racket. Steffi Graf began practicing on a court at the tender age of four, when most other children are just starting school. Her fist tournament was at the age of five       and was soon making a name for herself by regularly winning junior level tournaments. She went on to win the European Junior Championships when she was just 13, in 1982. The same year, she played her very first professional match against Tracy Austin, a player against whom she would play again 12 years later, for the second and final time. Steffi Graf lost that match 6-4. 6-0, but she exacted revenge 12 years later by defeating her 6-0, 6-0 12 years later.

At the start of her professional career, she was ranked no. 124. while she didn’t win any titles during the next three years, her ranking steadily climbed and by 1985, she had cracked the top 10 and was no. 6 in the rankings. As a teenager at 15, she won the exhibition match at the 1984 Olympics. She came to prominence when she almost caused an upset by nearly defeating the tenth seed at a center court match in Wimbeldon.

Her father and coach, Peter Graf strictly followed a schedule so that his daughter wouldn’t be playing too many games and burn out. In 1986, she was being hailed as a challenger to the dominance of Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert. Although she lost to them many times, she continuosly made the quarterfinals and semifinals of various tournaments. She made a tremendous breakthrough in 1987 when she won the French Open. She had looked to be in very good form and had defeated Martina Navratilova in the semifinals at a tournament in Miami. This set her up against Chris Evert in the final match which she also won. This was followed by a scintillating performance at the French Open where she proceeded to the finals by defeating Gabriel Sabatini in a three set match. This set her up for a clash in the final against the reigning champion, Martina Navratilova. Graf won the match 6-4, 4-6, 8-6. The next year started when Graf won the Australian Open against Chris Evert, followed by her spirited defense of her French Open title. This was followed by a win over Navratilova in the finals of the Wimbeldon in a massive comeback match. The final obstacle was the US Open which she won by defeating Sabatini. The completion of the four titles got her a Calendar Grand Slam. The same year, she also won the Olympic Gold medal, thus making it what the media dubbed as a Golden Slam.

Roger Federer

He is one of the most classy players ever to grace the tennis court. His returns could be part of a dance routine, yet they are as deadly to the opponent as a murderer’s dagger. His runs along the baseline are as perfectly timed as that of the jump of a synchronized swimmer. He is none other than the most influential tennis player of this century, Roger Federer.
Born in Switzerland on 8th August, 1981, to Robert Federer and Lynette, he holds Swiss as well as South African citizenships. By his own admission, he was involved in a number of sports from a very young age, like badminton, basketball, chess, etc. He said it helped him improve his hand-eye co-ordination. He is married to Mirka Vavrinec, who he met during the 2000 Olympics. She was a member of the Women’s Tennis Association, but had to retire from the sport due to a foot injury in 2002. since retiring, she has been the public relations manager for Federer. Roger and Mirka got married in his hometown of Basel in 2009.

Federer was well on his way to becoming a star in his formative years as a professional tennis player. He won the Wimbeldon in 1998, both in the singles and doubles tournament. His singles opponent was Irakli Labadze, who he defeated in straight sets 6-4, 6-4. In the doubles final, he was paired with Olivier Rouchus. They defeated the opponent pair of Michaël Llodra and Andy Ram 6-4, 6-4 as well. However, in the very same year, he also lost the US Junior Open to David Nalbandian. He ended the year of 1998 as the Junior World no. 1.

As a child, Federer used to idolise Boris Becker and would watch tennis matches on the television for hours on end. His first professional appearance was at Gstaad in 1998, when he was only in the 12th grade. He was ousted by Lucas Arnold Ker in the round of 32, with a scoreline that read 4-6, 4-6. His first appearance in a final came a couple of years later at the Marseilles Open, but as fate would have it, that wasn’t his first title win. That came when he was representing Switzerland in the Hoffman Cup  alongside Martina Hingis. Together, they defeated the American mixed doubles team of Monica Seles and Jan-Michael Gambill. His first single win came in 2001 at the Milan Indoor tournament, when he defeated Julian Boutter.

His first Grand Slam final was the final of the 2001 French Open, which he reached by defeating the defending four-time world champion, Pete Sampras. But his first Grand Slam victory wasn’t to come for another two years. In 2003, he won his first Grand Slam singles title by defeating Mark Philippoussis in straight sets of the final of Wimbeldon. The next three years of men’s tennis were entirely dominated by Federer, during which he won the Australian Open twice, the Wimbeldon for a consecutive four years from 2003-2006, and the US Open for three consecutive years (2004-2006). Because of his long and extremely illustrious tennis career, he was named the Laureus Sportsman of the Year award for four consecutive years from 2005.