NEW YORK, NOV 17: The final curtain came down on Steffi Graf's amazing tennis career last night with an emotional retirement ceremony at Madison Square Garden on the court where she won five of her 107 singles titles.``This is just overwhelming. It's just incredible,'' Graf told the adoring New York crowd.``It's only been a year since I've been on court playing here. I started playing here 15 years ago,'' said the now 30-year-old legend, who was once ranked number one in the world for a record 186 consecutive weeks and held the top ranking for a total of 377 weeks another record.The farewell began with a video montage of career highlights, including her `golden Slam' of 1988 when she became just the third woman to sweep the four Grand Slam tournaments in a single year and added an Olympic gold medal for good measure.``I wasn't looking at the video. I couldn't,'' Graf admitted later. ``It was very emotional for me to be out there and reflect on my career . But I could not watch it.''Graf won 22Grand Slam titles, becoming the only player, male or female, to win the four majors at least four times each four Australian Opens, six French Opens, seven Wimbledons, five US Opens in a remarkable 17-year career. She finished with 902 match wins and 115 losses. Graf, wearing a form-fitting long black slit skirt and matching top, entered the arena to a long standing ovation and repeatedly wiped her eyes.``At the end of the video I said, `I love New York.' I do, I do love New York. Thanks for being here all these years for me,'' she said, receiving another prolonged ovation.Among the truckload of gifts Graf received was a special memento from each of the Grand Slams.From Australia she was presented with a framed `Remember Melbourne' poster, from Wimbledon a framed plaque listing all of her Wimbledon matches, and from the US Open she received a framed photograph of her holding the trophy with a piece of the court from the old Louis Armstrong Stadium, where she won her five titles.But the one thatbrought the best reaction from the German superstar was the French Open gift the actual door from her Roland Garros locker inscribed with her singles finals wins.``That was one of the pieces that was very, very special to me because I really always had that corner in the locker room and the ladies always knew that that was the locker that I wanted to have,'' she enthused.During her emotional speech, one fan called out ``Where's Andre?'' the mention of Agassi, with whom she has been linked romantically, brought a huge grin that helped Graf regain her composure.``He's probably at home watching,'' Graf said. ``You don't want to mess with him.''GRAF FOR MUSIC VIDEO CLIPBERLIN: Graf will feature in a video-clip of a song composed for her farewell tour and fittingly entitled A change in your life, German daily Bild reported.Bild said the song, by Munich pop group Seven Sins, was written for a series of exhibitions Graf will perform from December 10.The German does not actually sing butshe will be seen on the video which has just been shot at the Berlin Tempelhof airport. Bild reproduced the lyrics of the song, which include references to midnight ramblers, lonely lovers and a misty moonlight. ``No, it ain't easy living life on the top,'' reads a line.
