By the start of 1988, I had become a devoted Steffi Graf fan and would not miss a single match of hers naturally when ever time permitted me the pleasure and when it did not I would video tape them. As for the tennis year, it started with the Australian open and Graf was in wonderful form through out the tournament. As she reached the final without losing as much as a single set. It being in the final where she met Christ Evert who had beaten Navratilova in the semis to set up an encounter with Graf. Graf, for her part got off to a great start by winning the first set by a score of 6-1 and just as she was about to close out the second set along with match to win her first Australian Open something happened to make us see that there was a appesat reason why Evert had won 18 grand slams through out her career. Evert in fact coming back in the second set after trailing 5-1 to take it in to a tie breaker which Graf would win yet Evert for her part showed some of the talent and shots which at one point had made her the world’s undisputed number one player. Graf however came out on top and celebrated her first grand slam of 1988 as well as the second of her career in what had been a brilliant performance; made more so given the way she defeated one of the all time great players.Thinking back on that day, I remember the joy I felt when Graf won this tournament as there was something pleasant about seeing her win and it was not only her tennis but her; as a person that I wanted to see.