Steffi Graf arrives at the 1987 Lipton as “the future” and leaves having crushed both queens of the game. In this episode, we pick up after her heartbreaking 1986 US Open semi vs Martina Navratilova, track her rise to No. 2 over Chris Evert, and then walk through 1987 Key Biscayne: the windy beatdown of Navratilova in the semis and the 6–1, 6–2 dismantling of Evert in her home state. Was this the week women’s tennis unofficially changed hands?

From basement drills in Brühl to center court at Amelia Island, Steffi Graf’s rise wasn’t a solo act—and it definitely wasn’t quiet. In this episode, we zoom in on Peter Graf: the restless figure pacing the stands, flashing “support” signals, arguing with officials, and clashing with the press long before tax scandals and tabloid headlines.

We follow Peter and his growing friction with journalists, and the way his courtside behavior finally spills over at Amelia Island, where Steffi faces Claudia Kohde-Kilsch for the title.

If you’re interested in the line between devoted tennis parent and disruptive sideline presence, this is the episode where we put Peter in the spotlight.

Before Steffi Graf became a 22-time Grand Slam champion, she was a teenager grinding through Futures events, qualifiers, and lonely early-round losses. In this episode, we zoom in on the moment everything changed: her first WTA Tour title in Hilton Head, 1986, where a 16-year-old Steffi finally breaks through and beats Chris Evert in the final.

We follow Steffi from the satellite circuit and junior dominance to the setbacks that almost sent her back to school, the thumb injury in Australia, the “I never want to play on grass again” meltdown, and the Olympic breakthrough in Los Angeles. Then we track her 1985 run of near-misses—constantly running into Evert—and how that all builds toward Hilton Head, where she turns the tables on the queen of the baseline and finally announces herself as a real threat to both Evertand Martina Navratilova.