Steffi Graf once opened up about her devastating experience of witnessing her father’s struggles in prison. The German’s father, Peter, was incarcerated for tax evasion, standing accused of evading payment of 12.3 million Deutsche Marks of his daughter’s earnings.
Having catapulted to tennis stardom at a young age, Graf relied on her father and the family’s tax adviser to manage her finances. However, the German’s world was rocked by the news of her father’s and their tax consultant’s arrest for evading taxes on her income.
Given that the scandal involved her earnings, Steffi Graf faced intense scrutiny about her potential role in the scheme. The situation became particularly overwhelming when she heard an announcer on the radio question the credibility of her claim that she was unaware of her father’s actions.
Steffi Graf‘s father was imprisoned in Mannheim during his trial. The German traveled to visit her father every week but refrained from attending his trial to avoid becoming a media spectacle.
Graf observed the severe impact of imprisonment on her father’s well-being, not just physically but mentally. She lamented the “difficult situation,” admitting that she found it hard to talk about the ordeal.
“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,” she said.
