Steffi Graf took over from Martina Navratilova as the world's best tennis player and dominated the first half of the 1990s the way her predecessor had controlled the previous decade.

Indeed, Steffi Graf won four more Grand Slam singles titles (22) than Navratilova, even though her career lasted nowhere near as long as that of the Czech-born American.

Coached by her father Peter, the German, who was born on June 14th 1969, was a child prodigy and began playing the game aged three. She was still only 17 when she won the first of her six French Opens in 1987, beating Navratilova in the final.

The only player to have won all four 'majors' at least four times each, she ended her career with seven Wimbledon, five US Open and four Australian Open crowns.

Steffi Graf also took the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988, the year when she also won the 'calendar slam' for the only time.

Yet despite her amazing record, there were challenges Steffi Graf had to overcome. Her dominance was threatened by Monica Seles in the early 1990s, until that rival was sidelined by an infamous stabbing incident, while injury, illness and the jailing of her father for tax evasion presented other tough times.

In 1995 and 1996 Steffi Graf was at her peak, but injuries sidelined her for much of the next two years. She returned to win the French Open in 1999, retired later that year and has since had two children with her husband, Andre Agassi.