Steffi Graf is one of the most celebrated names in women’s tennis! Her legacy in tennis is one of unparalleled dominance and a lasting impact on the game. If we take a look back at her incredible 17-year-long journey in the racket sport, she became the youngest-ever player to appear in the main draw of a major at the 1983 French Open, aged 13. She was one of the key figures who later ended the dominance of other tennis legends like Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova. Talking about her legacy in the sport, Billie Jean King had even hailed her as one of the “greatest women’s tennis players of all time.” Graf ended her career in 1999 with a staggering 107 singles titles, including 22 major triumphs. In fact, she is the only tennis player, male or female, to have won each major singles tournament at least four times. Talking about Graf, even Serena Williams once claimed, “She was hands down, one of the greatest players.” It has been almost 26 years since she retired from the sport, but her legacy is still celebrated in the tennis world. Recently, Coco Gauff and Williams’ ex-coaches highlighted yet another extraordinary feat. What’s it, though?
Talking about Steffi Graf’s unmatched legacy in the sport, Rennae Stubbs recently highlighted a stat which claimed, “Since 1988 Steffi Graf is the only WTA or ATP singles player to win more titles than have loses on multiple surfaces, doing so on clay and carpet. She was also 37-39 on hardcourts and five matches away from doing so on grass.”
Quite staggering, isn’t it? Seeing this stat, Stubbs shared it on her X handle with the caption, “Can we talk about how RIDICULOUS this stat is!!! “
Even Coco Gauff’s ex-coach, Brad Gilbert, chimed in, commenting, “Was insane 305-12 between 87-90 let that sink in, 5 losses was most in a season in that 4-year run.” However, despite having so much success in her astonishing career, Graf had to call an end to her career in the same year in which she won the French Open (1999). It was her sixth clay-court major title. Did she have any regrets about her illustrious career?
Can we talk about how RIDICULOUS this stat is!!! pic.twitter.com/oxUSckIeYm
— Rennae Stubbs (@rennaestubbs) May 21, 2025
Well, in one of her previous episodes in her podcast, Serena Williams’ ex-coach, Rennae Stubbs, revealed, “And one of the stories that I always tell about Steffi Graf is that Steffi told me in retirement she wished she had, that the only thing she regrets about her career is not enjoying the wins more. And I said, ‘Yeah, but you know you probably wouldn’t have been as great as you were.’ I mean, she won 22 Grand Slams by the age of 29,” Rennae Stubbs and Steffi Graf had a long-standing friendship, and sometimes they even played doubles together.
What was the reason behind her early retirement? Well, speaking about it in November 2024, Stubbs drew an interesting comparison: “Her (Graf) body was hurting, her knee was hurting, her foot was hurting, and her back was hurting. She was in love. She’d just met Andre, and they were dating, but she was different so she just stopped. She just walked away, but she’s very different from these personalities. She didn’t love the spotlight, she just loved playing. I think Rafa is more similar to Steffi than Roger, Novak, or Andy.“
On a light note, Stubbs once opened up about a strange encounter when she was mistaken for being Steffi Graf. Quite similar to Coco Gauff’s previous experiences. Talking about her experiences, Gauff once said that she had once been mistaken for the Canadian player Leylah Fernandez. Hearing this, Stubbs also recalled one of her hilarious incidents by saying, “A bunch of drunks called me Steffi Graf once and to be honest, I ran with it!” Rennae Stubbs is often seen commenting on Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi’s social media posts.
Coming back to tennis, Graf won 22 Grand Slam titles while Serena Williams (23) ended her career winning one more than her. What was her reaction, though, to see the next-gen breaking her astonishing records?
How does Steffi Graf look at the rise of her next generation, like previously it was Serena Williams, and now Coco Gauff?
Serena Williams has faced Steffi Graf only twice in her career. They had an H2H record of 1-1, with their latest meeting coming at the 1999 Indian Wells final where Williams defeated Graf by 6-3,3-6,7-5. Was it the indication to switchover from one generational talent to the other? After the match, Williams said, “It means a lot to me because Steffi is a great champion. She has more titles, from what I hear, than any man or lady playing tennis.“ But what was her reaction to seeing Williams breaking her Grand Slam record a few years later?
Her husband, Andre Agassi, claims, “It has no relevance in her world. The hardest part of Serena chasing down those numbers was respecting the game. Steffi doesn’t want people to feel she doesn’t care about tennis. She cares, but she’s so disconnected. Every time she was asked, she felt obligated to put importance on it for the sake of tennis and an incredible champion in Serena.“
Interestingly, Steffi Graf had also predicted Coco Gauff‘s stardom way back in 2019. During one of her interviews, she stated, “It‘s going to be incredible to follow her the next few years. She’s got such an effortless style and such raw talent. So I don’t think she will need, she needs anything, any advice, the way I’m thinking. I have not met her. But I did see her play here and there a little bit at some of the televised matches. So it doesn’t seem like she needs a whole lot of advice (laughs).” She also hailed Coco Gauff’s incredible athleticism at such a young age.
Even Gauff has time and again showcased her admiration for Graf. For example, she once spoke about how she got a bit tempted to copy Steffi Graf’s reaction to a marriage proposal on the court. Then again, this year, when she became only the fifth player in history (besides Steffi Graf) to begin three consecutive seasons with at least nine wins, she said, “It’s pretty crazy to be amongst the same stat line as legends.” Both Graf and Williams have now retired. Can we see Coco Gauff carrying forward their legacy in the sport in the upcoming years?
The post Legendary Steffi Graf’s 1 ‘Ridiculous’ Record Still Amuses Coco Gauff and Serena Williams’ Ex-Coaches appeared first on EssentiallySports.
