"When you know what alcohol & tablets can do, it's difficult to be angry" - When Steffi Graf maintained she loved her father despite his incarceration

Steffi Graf once shed light on her sentiments about her father Peter after he was imprisoned while awaiting trial for evading taxes on her earnings. The German disclosed why she struggled to harbor anger for her father, who she had appointed as her manager and financial investor.

In 1995, Graf's father Peter was arrested on charges of evading $13 million on his daughter's earnings from 1989 to 1993, during which time she won nine Grand Slam titles. The family's tax adviser, Joachim Eckardt, faced similar charges.

Although Steffi Graf placed the owed $13 million in a government escrow account, her father was still imprisoned in Mannheim while he awaited trial. In a 1996 interview with Sports Illustrated, the German expressed frustration with her father's incarceration, complaining that he was being treated like a murderer.

"I'm sure a lot of this would have gone a lot differently with my father if there hadn't been that name. It is like he had killed somebody," Graf said.

Despite the ordeal she went through, Graf showed compassion for her father, explaining that she found it difficult to be angry and resentful because she understood the adverse effect that alcohol and pills could have on someone's behavior.

Nevertheless, the German emphasized the importance of taking control of her own life, disclosing that her father understood the change. Steffi Graf also maintained that she loved her father immensely while acknowledging that he required significant help.

"When you know what alcohol and tablets can do to you, it's difficult to be angry," she added. "He understands this. I love him dearly. Nothing in that department will change. He needs help. He will need a lot of help. I know what's ahead of me."

"It's a difficult situation" - Steffi Graf on the 'mental' change her father Peter underwent in prison

Steffi Graf with her father Peter - Source: Getty

During the same interview, Steffi Graf opened up about the distressing experience of visiting her father Peter in prison, disclosing that he had endured a deep psychological change while being incarcerated.

"It's a difficult situation. It's changed. If you had seen him yesterday morning, you would probably have seen what has changed. Not physically, but mentally. I can't talk about it. It goes so deep," Graf said.

Peter Graf was eventually convicted of tax evasion and sentenced to three years and nine months in prison. The 15 months he had already spent in jail while awaiting trial were counted towards his sentence and he was released in April 1998.

A year later, in 1999, Steffi Graf stunned the tennis world by announcing her retirement at the age of 30, just months after winning her 22nd and final Grand Slam title at the French Open.