"Der Spiegel"
Yearly Chronicle 1999 -- The Look Back
"She was a solace"
Former President RICHARD VON WEIZSÄCKER on his tennis idol, Steffi Graf
SPIEGEL: Mr. von Weizsäcker, what fascinated you about Stefanie Graf?
WEIZSÄCKER: First of all, that she aroused my enthusiasm for women's tennis.
At the right moment, too, since pure boredom prevailed on the men's side. I
saw her for the first time in 1985, then regularly at the tournament in
Berlin at the Red-White club. At the beginning, she lost in the final
against Chris Evert. In addition, I can't deny that I simply enjoyed her
essence.
SPIEGEL: Did you get on personally closer terms?
WEIZSÄCKER: We were always very friendly with each other. But there remained
a certain distance. After every tournament in Berlin, I shook her hand and
congratulated her. The first hugs and farewell kisses only happened when
Steffi was older. Once, I actually played against her. Table tennis on the
top floor of my official residence at Villa Hammerschmidt.
SPIEGEL: Who won?
WEIZSÄCKER: I did, but of course it was only all in good fun.
SPIEGEL: On Center Court, she was seldom in a joking mood. What made Steffi
a champion?
WEIZSÄCKER: On one hand, her fascinating mobility. Steffi was much swifter
and more agile than all the other female players that I ever saw. She danced
the whole time. In Steffi's game, there were long, beautiful-to-watch
rallies in which everything necessary to win the point was eventually done.
That was unbelievably dramatic.
SPIEGEL: But she was also famous for her will to win.
WEIZSÄCKER: For me, Steffi is the epitome of a completely focused person --
the counter-image to the superficiality and distractedness of our time. In
general, her manner, her psychological first impression, was a solace. She
was always of an impressive earnestness, reserved, modest, and seldom
commented on her own game and its analysis.
SPIEGEL: Did you regret that?
WEIZSÄCKER: No, I found it rather gratifying that she didn't recite those
rehearsed, polite phrases like many other players like to do. Steffi
said --always very self-critically-- whether she was happy with herself or
not. And that's that.
SPIEGEL: Boris was more talkative. What differentiated the two besides that?
WEIZSÄCKER: Boris is an outstanding person who represents the views and
challenges of his generation. Steffi is it in her own way: She had the
talent, as a gift that Nature gave to her, to do something impressive and
magnificent.
SPIEGEL: Critics often lamented Steffi's lack of charisma.
WEIZSÄCKER: They do an injustice to her. Steffi certainly wasn't only
interested in some image. She seemed to turn lost matches around via her
indestructible skill. Certainly, such almost hopeless situations aren't just
to be found in tennis, but also in real life. And precisely that impresses
the people. They realize how weak they themselves are and how easily they
let themselves be turned aside -- but not Steffi.
SPIEGEL: Strength and discipline as German virtues are definitely rather
feared. Wasn't the admiration for Steffi a little ambivalent?
WEIZSÄCKER: No, certainly not. It was a genuine feeling of sympathy,
admiration for her gigantic successes. But she was never determined in a
forbidding way. Which certainly isn't at all easy: On one hand, being so
focused on herself, and on the other hand, not seeming to be repulsively
determined.
SPIEGEL: Especially when the media monitor every step.
WEIZSÄCKER: Yes, my goodness, during a hotly contested match, a normal
person sometimes feels the need to throw his racquet around or to strangle
the lines judge. Steffi was always extremely fair. And it was again very
characteristic, how she said good-bye -- really extraordinarily relaxed and
actually joyful.
SPIEGEL: Would you have thought that she is enjoying her retirement with a
flashy showman like Andre Agassi?
WEIZSÄCKER: I wouldn't like to talk about questions of love. But maybe I can
amuse you with an anecdote from my days in the presidency. During a State
visit to Washington, our ambassador, who knew of my love for tennis, asked
me if I felt like watching a tournament. A young man, maybe 17 or 18 years
old, won the final and the friendly club chairman beckoned the winner over:
"This is the German President." He had barely finished saying that when the
player took an enormous picture of himself out of his bag ....
SPIEGEL: The rascal actually wanted to give you an autograph?
WEIZSÄCKER: Exactly that. With extremely sincere willingness, he wanted to
honor the totally unknown visitor from the other side of the Atlantic with a
picture and sweepingly wrote his name on it -- Andre Agassi.
Yearly Chronicle 1999 -- The Look Back
"She was a solace"
Former President RICHARD VON WEIZSÄCKER on his tennis idol, Steffi Graf
SPIEGEL: Mr. von Weizsäcker, what fascinated you about Stefanie Graf?
WEIZSÄCKER: First of all, that she aroused my enthusiasm for women's tennis.
At the right moment, too, since pure boredom prevailed on the men's side. I
saw her for the first time in 1985, then regularly at the tournament in
Berlin at the Red-White club. At the beginning, she lost in the final
against Chris Evert. In addition, I can't deny that I simply enjoyed her
essence.
SPIEGEL: Did you get on personally closer terms?
WEIZSÄCKER: We were always very friendly with each other. But there remained
a certain distance. After every tournament in Berlin, I shook her hand and
congratulated her. The first hugs and farewell kisses only happened when
Steffi was older. Once, I actually played against her. Table tennis on the
top floor of my official residence at Villa Hammerschmidt.
SPIEGEL: Who won?
WEIZSÄCKER: I did, but of course it was only all in good fun.
SPIEGEL: On Center Court, she was seldom in a joking mood. What made Steffi
a champion?
WEIZSÄCKER: On one hand, her fascinating mobility. Steffi was much swifter
and more agile than all the other female players that I ever saw. She danced
the whole time. In Steffi's game, there were long, beautiful-to-watch
rallies in which everything necessary to win the point was eventually done.
That was unbelievably dramatic.
SPIEGEL: But she was also famous for her will to win.
WEIZSÄCKER: For me, Steffi is the epitome of a completely focused person --
the counter-image to the superficiality and distractedness of our time. In
general, her manner, her psychological first impression, was a solace. She
was always of an impressive earnestness, reserved, modest, and seldom
commented on her own game and its analysis.
SPIEGEL: Did you regret that?
WEIZSÄCKER: No, I found it rather gratifying that she didn't recite those
rehearsed, polite phrases like many other players like to do. Steffi
said --always very self-critically-- whether she was happy with herself or
not. And that's that.
SPIEGEL: Boris was more talkative. What differentiated the two besides that?
WEIZSÄCKER: Boris is an outstanding person who represents the views and
challenges of his generation. Steffi is it in her own way: She had the
talent, as a gift that Nature gave to her, to do something impressive and
magnificent.
SPIEGEL: Critics often lamented Steffi's lack of charisma.
WEIZSÄCKER: They do an injustice to her. Steffi certainly wasn't only
interested in some image. She seemed to turn lost matches around via her
indestructible skill. Certainly, such almost hopeless situations aren't just
to be found in tennis, but also in real life. And precisely that impresses
the people. They realize how weak they themselves are and how easily they
let themselves be turned aside -- but not Steffi.
SPIEGEL: Strength and discipline as German virtues are definitely rather
feared. Wasn't the admiration for Steffi a little ambivalent?
WEIZSÄCKER: No, certainly not. It was a genuine feeling of sympathy,
admiration for her gigantic successes. But she was never determined in a
forbidding way. Which certainly isn't at all easy: On one hand, being so
focused on herself, and on the other hand, not seeming to be repulsively
determined.
SPIEGEL: Especially when the media monitor every step.
WEIZSÄCKER: Yes, my goodness, during a hotly contested match, a normal
person sometimes feels the need to throw his racquet around or to strangle
the lines judge. Steffi was always extremely fair. And it was again very
characteristic, how she said good-bye -- really extraordinarily relaxed and
actually joyful.
SPIEGEL: Would you have thought that she is enjoying her retirement with a
flashy showman like Andre Agassi?
WEIZSÄCKER: I wouldn't like to talk about questions of love. But maybe I can
amuse you with an anecdote from my days in the presidency. During a State
visit to Washington, our ambassador, who knew of my love for tennis, asked
me if I felt like watching a tournament. A young man, maybe 17 or 18 years
old, won the final and the friendly club chairman beckoned the winner over:
"This is the German President." He had barely finished saying that when the
player took an enormous picture of himself out of his bag ....
SPIEGEL: The rascal actually wanted to give you an autograph?
WEIZSÄCKER: Exactly that. With extremely sincere willingness, he wanted to
honor the totally unknown visitor from the other side of the Atlantic with a
picture and sweepingly wrote his name on it -- Andre Agassi.
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