Angry Steffi May Leave Germany

Reigning Wimbledon tennis champion Steffi Graf says she is considering moving to the United States and boycotting events in West Germany because of lurid newspaper headlines linking her father to a topless model.

“I’m sorry to have to say this, but I hate these people,” the No. 1-ranked women’s tennis player was quoted as saying in the latest edition of the West German news magazine Stern.

“I will never stop hating these people who want to destroy my family just to boost the circulation of their newspapers,” Graf added.

West German tabloid newspapers have splashed stories of her father Peter, 52, and nude model Nicole Meissner, 22, over their front pages, complete with eye-catching photographs of the unclad woman.

In the Stern interview, Graf attributed her losses in the French and German Open tournaments to anxiety over the stories.

“I don’t want to give up tennis . . . but I might go to America and temporarily not play in Germany if the newspapers hurt me and my family again in the future with their headlines,” she said.