Steffi Graf may end career

Graf said an ankle injury sustained while training had forced her to pull out of upcoming tournaments in Rome and Berlin as well as of the French Open starting on May 25.

“I have pulled out of tournaments in Rome and Berlin because of an inflammation on my right ankle,” Graf said.

“As it is certain that I will not have enough time to get ready for the French Open, I have also given up (the idea of) playing in Paris,” she added.

The seven-times Wimbledon champion has been out of action since pulling a hamstring during the Evert Cup in California in March. She had then only returned from a nine-month lay-off following knee surgery.

Graf, who made herprofessional debut aged 13 in October 1982, has been sidelined with injury for the best part of the last two years.

She said she was tired of having to struggle for fitness.

“I will give it one last try but if I see that I cannot bring some continuity to my training as well as my tournament schedule, I will stop straight away,” she said.

“For two years, it’s been going up and down,” she added. “The latest injuries have not been serious ones but they all meant the same — medical checks, physiotherapy, then work to recover fitness and game practice.”Graf won her first tournament in 1986 in Hilton Head. She has since taken 102 more, including 21 Grand Slams.

Her first victory in a Grand Slam event came in the 1987 French Open, which she won by beating Martina Navratilova, then the world No 1, in three sets in the final, just a few days before her 18th birthday.

Her best year was in 1988, she won all four Grand Slams, and the Olympic gold to complete a unique golden Grand Slam.

Her rivalry withNavratilova, then with Monica Seles, helped women’s tennis reach a new dimension. She has played a total of 130 finals, losing only 27, and has held the No 1 spot for a record 377 weeks.

A huge star in Germany alongside Boris Becker — also nearing the end of his career — Graf has not claimed a tournament since winning in Strasbourg last year.

Graf has not only suffered from injuries lately. Her father, Peter Graf, was sentenced to three years and nine months in jail for evading taxes on millions earned by his daughter.

Peter Graf walked free from his prison on Wednesday after serving just over half of his term. A court in the southern city of Stuttgart said it released him because he had been an “exemplary” inmate.

The most glorious moments in Graf’s career came on the grass of Wimbledon, where she could exploit her incredible power and speed to the full.

She said she would love to play again at the All England Club, where she first won in 1988.

“To play a good tournament in Wimbledon onceagain, eat those strawberries and then say goodbye, that would suit me,” she said, “but it’s only a dream.”