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Steffi Graf calls it a day

Steffi Graf, one of the world's greatest tennis players, today announced that she was ending her career with immediate effect.

The 30-year-old German gave the news at a press conference in Heidelberg.

Graf said she decided to call it quits because she had lost her enjoyment playing tennis after reaching the final of the Wimbledon tournament last month.
''I had never experienced such a feeling before,'' she said, her eyes welling up with tears.

Her announcement came less than six weeks after her loss to American Lindsay Davenport in the Wimbledon final and her comeback victory over Switzerland's Martina Hingis to win the French Open on June 5.

She had said then that she would not be returning to defend her titles and it was widely rumoured she would retire at the end of this season. She later said she had been too hasty and might reconsider both decisions.

Graf had been hoping to contest the US Open in September but dropped out because of a hamstring strain. She retired from her last two tournaments, citing injury problems.

Graf is currently ranked third in the world. Her career included 100 victories on the WTA tour, but her Grand Slam tally was just two short of Margaret Court's long-standing record of 24 Grand Slams.

In a career spanning 17 years, Graf won 22 Grand Slam titles and spent a record 377 weeks at the top of the women's tennis rankings.

Graf won her last Grand Slam title at the French Open in Paris last June.

Graf's retirement comes six weeks after fellow German Boris Becker announced the end of his tennis career.

Important dates in Steffi Graf's career
1969: Born June 14 as Stefanie Maria Graf in Bruehl, Germany.
1972: First attempts at tennis as as a three-year-old with a wooden racket with a shortened grip.
1977: Peter Graf gives up his job as second hand car dealer and devotes himself to his then seven-year-old daughter's career.
1981: Aged 12, Graf is the first German to win the prestigious Orange Bowl.
1982: Graf turns pro and enters the world rankings at 124 as the second-youngest player ever, aged 13 years four months.
983: Becomes the youngest player to win a match at the French Open. Quits school.
1984: Wins Olympic exhibition tournament in Los Angeles and reaches her first final on the WTA Tour, losing 6-1, 6-4 to Catarina Lindqvist.
1985: Still without a title, but with a US Open semi-final under her belt, improves to world No. 3 behind Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova.
1986: First title in Hilton Head, winning 6-4, 7-5 over Chris Evert. First major injury, a broken toe, later in the year.
1987: Comes back from 5-3 down to win first Grand Slam title at French Open. Seh beat Navratilova, 6-4, 4-6, 8-6. Becomes world No. 1 on August 17, wins Federation Cup and first Masters title.
1988: Wins a perfect Grand Slam - Australian, French, US Open plus Wimbledon - and turns it into a Golden Slam with Olympic gold in Seoul.
1989: Compiles an 84-2 record, but one of the defeats is a surprise loss to Arantxa Sanchez Vicario at the French Open final.
1990: Graf wins ten tournaments, including the Australian Open, but calls it a bad year because of the publicitiy surrounding her father's affair with a photographer model.
1991: Wins Wimbledon a third time, but loses No. 1 position to Monica Seles.
1992: Switches coaches, from Pavel Slozil to Swiss Heinz Guenthardt. Suffers a surprise loss to Jennifer Capriati in Olympic final in Barcelona.
1993: Graf reclaims No. 1 spot on June 7 after Seles is injured in on court stabbing incident in Hamburg. A month later she fights from 4-1 down in final set to win 100th women's final at Wimbledon over Jana Novotna.
1994: Shock first round Wimbledon loss to Lori McNeil and premature end to season due to back pain after losing US Open final to Sanchez.
1995: Sits out Australian Open injured, but wins the other three slams. Peter Graf is arrested on July 2 for tax evasion.
1996: Plays only 11 tournaments, but wins seven including her 100th career title - at Wimbledon. Tax trial starts on September 5.
1997: Peter Graf is sentenced to three years nine months of imprisonment. Graf's injury woes reach new heights, dehydration at Australian Open in loss to Amanda Coetzer, knee injury in Tokyo - suffers worst career loss on comeback, 6-0, 6-1 to Coetzer, and decides to undergo knee surgery after another defeat to Coetzer at French Open.
1998: Toys with retirement, but wins first title in 14 months at exhibition event in Mahwah. Also wins in Leipzig and Philadelphia. Peter Graf released from prison April 29.
1999: After not having won in seven tournaments, year turnaround comes with stunning French Open title over No. 1 Martina Hingis, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2. Loses Wimbledon final to Lindsay Davenport.
1999, August 13: Announces retirement from tennis.

UNI