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‘How much money do you have?’ – Steffi Graf had epic response to cheeky Wimbledon proposal from fan
Josh Fordham
Published: 15:45, 30 Jun 2024Updated: 7:12, 1 Jul 2024
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It is one of THE iconic moments at Wimbledon that will never get old.
That is, of course, Steffi Graf’s brilliant response to a fan proposing to her during a Wimbledon semi-final.
Graf is a 22-time Grand Slam champion
Graf is a 22-time Grand Slam championCredit: Getty
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She was facing Kimiko Date in the 1996 semi-final, going for her seventh title, and a spectator shouted: “Steffi, will you marry me?”
It drew a huge laugh from the crowd and even a big smile from Graf herself, who was just about to serve.
She let the crowd settle down and gave the perfect reply: “How much money do you have?”
And that led to an even bigger response from Centre Court.
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Graf actually went on to lose that game on her serve, clearly thrown by the comment from the crowd.
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“I lost the game, so I think I’ll ask for a divorce now,” Graf said, per the New York Times.
She did manage to get it together and beat Date before going on to win the title at the All England Club.
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On her opponent, she said: “She’s come up with some great tennis against me. She loves the way I play, very flat and with pace, and she just takes my power and knows pretty early where I’m going to hit it.
“If we played a little slower, it would be much more difficult for her, but it’s just not my game.”
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While that marriage proposal did not get accepted, she did go on to marry a fellow tennis legend.
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Graf married Andre Agassi in 2001, after their relationship first went public in 1999.
Agassi and Graf are still very much happily married
She has bragging rights in the Grand Slam stakes in their household, however, having won an astonishing 22 singles titles over her illustrious career.
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This included achieving golden calendar Grand Slam, winning the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, US Open and the Olympic Gold in the same year.
It was not immediate love at first sight, however, as Agassi revealed in his autobiography.
“I’ve had a crush on Steffi since I first saw her doing an interview on French TV,” he wrote in his memoir Open. “I was thunderstruck, dazzled by her understated grace, her effortless beauty.”
He said he tried to get a message
to her at the French Open in 1991, but she didn’t respond.
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