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Steffi Graff  

Tennis Legend & Philanthropist

Tennis champion Stefanie Graf, winner of 22 Grand Slam singles titles, remains the only player to win Wimbledon, the French Open, the U.S. Open and the Australian Open at least four times.

In a career spanning 17 years, Graf won 107 singles titles and is the first and only woman player to achieve the "Golden Slam" by winning all four Grand Slam singles titles and the Olympic gold medal in the same year.

Graf was ranked No. 1 for a WTA-record 377 weeks, the longest of any player, male or female, since rankings began. She was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 2004.

With the same purposeful strength she brought to professional tennis, Stefanie turned her attention to aiding suffering children. In 1998, she founded Children for Tomorrow, a charity focused on providing psychological help for children and families who have suffered the trauma of war, violence, abuse, exile or loss of the family. She established the organization in conjunction with Outpatient Clinic for Refugee Children and their Families at the University Clinics of Hamburg-Eppendorf.

The special outpatient unit for children's psychiatry and psychotherapy treats refugee children from all over the world and their families. The majority of patients are from Afghanistan, southern Europe and West-African countries. Since its inception, over 7,000 children have received treatment at different projects.

In addition to the current international projects in Uganda, Kosovo and Eritrea, the new Hamburg headquarters opened in April 2011. The Hamburg location is the Foundation headquarters and will be an Outpatient Clinic for Refugee Children as well as a training center for therapist and crisis area workers.

In 1999, Graf retired from the women's professional tennis tour with a World No. 3 ranking. As a mother, wife, philanthropist and entrepreneur, she now works on building lifestyle businesses through endorsement relationships, joint venture investments and real estate development.

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