Don't call me Steffi

The tennis player formerly known as Steffi

She has changed her job, her boyfriend and moved to another country.

Now the former tennis star known to millions as simply Steffi, wants to change her name.

The 31-year-old German who dominated women's tennis for ten years during the 1980s and 90s says she is tired of the nickname.

Christened Stefanie Maria Graf and dubbed "Fraulein Forehand" during her heyday, she says she does not feel like "Steffi" anymore and would prefer being called "Stefanie".

When she was Steffi

"I like the name better," she said in an interview with a German newspaper, Handelsblatt.

Like pop singer Debbie Harry, who insisted on the longer version of her name, Deborah, when she entered her 30s, Graf wants a more mature image to match her business aspirations.

Retired from the tennis circuit since 1999, Graf now runs a marketing and events company.

The firm previously known as "Steffi Graf Sport GmbH" was relaunched "Stefanie Graf Marketing GmbH & Co KG" almost nine months ago.

But it is only now that Graf, who won 22 Grand Slam singles titles and spent a record 378 weeks ranked number one, is putting her foot down.

She may yet become Mrs Andre Agassi

"My company will be involved more in marketing in general than in just sport," Graf said.

"Naturally we talked about the recognition value of the name during our discussions of building up a brand name because most people know me as Steffi.

"But we made a conscious decision for Stefanie."

Graf's official website remains accessible through both names: www.steffi-graf.de and www.stefanie-graf.de.

But once you get to the site, it is Stefanie which dominates.

Still, she has not gone quite so far as pop star Prince, who changed his name in a fit of artistic whim to a symbol and is now known as the Artist Formerly Known As Prince.

Graf, who is the only tennis player to have completed the Golden Slam of all four major titles plus Olympic Gold in one year, retired abruptly in 1999 just weeks after winning the French Open.

Golden Girl: Undefeated number one between 1987 and 1991

Shortly afterwards she split up with her longtime boyfriend and immediately began a relationship with American tennis star Andre Agassi.

Graf has a strained relationship with German media, in part because of her irritation at the coverage of her father's tax evasion trial and subsequent conviction.

She has spent much of the last two years living in the United States.

"I like coming back to Germany (for visits)," she said. "My roots are here.

"And apparently people are still well informed about me (but) I'm looking forward to moving into our new house in San Francisco."

Whether there are any plans for more name changes - in the form of Mrs Andre Agassi - remains to be seen.