Steffi Graf plays tennis.
The Grand Slam tournaments , also called majors , are the four most-important annual tennis events . Stefanie Maria `` Steffi '' Graf ( [ ˈʃtɛfiː ˈgʁa : f ] ; born 14 June 1969 ) is a German former tennis player , who was ranked world No. 1 during her career . In 1988 , she became the first and only tennis player ( male or female ) to achieve the Golden Slam by winning all four Grand Slam singles titles and the Olympic gold medal in the same calendar year . Furthermore , she is the only tennis player to have won each Grand Slam event at least four times . Graf was ranked world No. 1 by the Women 's Tennis Association ( WTA ) for a record 377 total weeks -- the longest period for which any player , male or female , has held the number-one ranking since the WTA and the Association of Tennis Professionals began issuing rankings .