"I've always been scared of having too many muscles, I prefer being thinner": When Steffi Graf spoke on her 'great legs' & eating less post-retirement
Steffi Graf once opened up about how her retirement from professional tennis had led to her making a major change in her diet and losing some weight. The German also revealed how she felt about being complimented on her "great legs."
During her extraordinary 17-year tennis career, Graf won 22 Grand Slam titles, achieved the remarkable calendar year Golden Slam, and held the World No. 1 ranking for 377 weeks. Shortly after winning her final Major title at the 1999 French Open, the German shocked the tennis world by announcing her retirement at just 30 years old.
Despite ending her professional career, Graf remained in good shape and even made an effort to be thinner than she was during her playing days. In a 2000 interview with Sportstar, the former World No. 1 was asked whether she felt flattered when people admired her "great legs."
Steffi Graf said she was delighted by the compliment but added that she had always been "scared" about developing too many muscles. The 22-time Grand Slam champion also shared that one of the perks of retirement was that she no longer needed to eat excessive amounts of food to replenish her energy and maintain muscle mass, which made her feel much better.
"Sure! Who wouldn't be thrilled to hear that? But I've always been scared of having too many muscles, and I prefer being thinner than I often was during my career," Steffi Graf said.
"One of the nice things about retiring is that I don't have to eat so much anymore. To play my best, I always had to weigh more than I wanted. I always felt I had to eat; I was always trying to get the energy back. I've lost a few kilos now and I feel better," she added.
"The perfect woman with the perfect legs" - Andre Agassi on his ex-wife Brooke Shields having a taped picture of Steffi Graf
Interestingly, Steffi Graf's "perfect legs" once served as inspiration for Andre Agassi's ex-wife and Hollywood star, Brooke Shields. In his autobiography 'Open,' the eight-time Grand Slam champion recounted how his then-fiancee Shields had been working hard to get in shape for their wedding.
Agassi disclosed that Shields had even taped a picture of the "perfect woman" with her ideal legs on their refrigerator to serve as motivation, with the woman in question being Graf.
"She’s working with Gil to get in shape for that white dress. She’s running, lifting, stretching, counting every calorie. For added motivation, she tapes a photo on the refrigerator door, and around the photo she puts a magnetic heart frame. It’s a photo of the perfect woman, she says," Agassi wrote.
"The perfect woman with the perfect legs—the legs Brooke wants. Astonished, I stare at the photo. I reach out and touch the frame. 'Is that'—? 'Yep', Brooke says. 'Steffi Graf'," he added.
Andre Agassi and Brooke Shields tied the knot in 1997 and divorced two years later, in 1999. The American then married Steffi Graf in 2001, and the couple welcomed their son Jaden that same year, followed by their daughter Jaz in 2003.