Three lady legends within three hours. And that was by noon. Yesterday I had the pleasure and privilege of catching up with Chris Evert, Stefanie Graf and Angela Buxton. Here is Part II with Graf.

By Liza Horan

On Aug. 13, 1999 while holding the world No. 3 ranking, Stefanie Graf, known as Steffi throughout her childhood and pro tennis career, retired. That day she dropped the nickname, the intense training, and the competition.

She kept her disposition as a private person, her business savvy, her philanthropic endeavors, and, one year later, her last name when she married Andre Agassi.

Today Graf runs a business empire with her husband, Agassi-Graf Enterprises and a household with two children (Jaz-Elle and Jaden) and a German Shepherd (Nandor). She left the Las Vegas clan for a quick trip to New York this week—not to watch or participate in any activities related to the U.S. Open, but to support Children for Tomorrow, which she founded 12 years ago to help children who have been traumatized by war, persecution and violence.

On Wednesday night, Town & Country magazine and Longines sponsored the "Women Who Make a Difference Awards" presentation, hosted by Graf and featuring Project Runway's Nina Garcia. Funds were raised to benefit Children for Tomorrow and the organizations of honorees Delores Jordan, Lorri Unumb and Leila de Bruyne.

The next morning, Graf switched to her familiar tennis persona—HEAD racquet, Adidas kit, ponytail—to hit a few balls with local children and Olympic champion Shawn Johnson, among others, in a Longines-sponsored event at Grand Central Terminal.

The affair was low-key, relaxed, controlled. There were no mobs of people and the press had been forewarned about the five "tips" of what to avoid when interviewing the Grand Slam champion.

Graf was professional, focused, genuine and warm—and actually gushed when talking about how she gets to work alongside Andre as ambassadors for Swiss watchmaker Longines, which supports both Children for Tomorrow and the Andre Agassi Foundation.

"I watched them start the relationship with Andre and I was just in awe to find a relationship like that where values are being shared. It's a strong commitment and wish to give back and do better for the community," Graf said while little kids lined up patiently to get her autograph. "It's been just a pleasure to be able to jump into that as well. Anything that Andre and I get to do together we enjoy, but just having a partnership like that, I think, we feel extremely lucky. We've traveled around this year to cities around the world raising awareness for the things we care for. It means a lot to us because it's what we devote our time to. it's always better to do it together."

And they do—for Longines, Exclusive Resorts, and furniture maker Kreiss, which produces the the Agassi-Graf furniture collection. In addition, they both have longstanding relationships with HEAD racquets, Adidas apparel, and Genworth Financial. Two years ago the husband-wife team did a joint campaign for Louis Vuitton. On her own, Graf has several business interests like the Mrs. Sporty fitness facilities for women, Barilla pasta and sauces and Teekanne tea. [More info on all Graf's ventures at www.Stefanie-Graf.com]

Business is important, but so is contributing to the greater good for those who need it most. Both Agassi and Graf have had sustained commitments and real results in their humanitarian efforts.

Agassi was honored,along with other athletes on opening night of the U.S. Open for his contributions to society, which include raising $75 million for children and establishing a charter school for at-risk children Las Vegas that just graduated its first class of seniors, all of whom are college-bound. Agassi was at turns lighthearted, humorous and serious about his message of formal education; his own of which ended in the eighth grade.

Graf, too, is very motivated for her work with Children for Tomorrow, which she founded nearly 12 years ago.

"It started with listening to stories of two doctors in Hamburg that specialized in working with traumatized children. Listening to these devastating stories was extremely touching," Graf explained. "Realizing that raising awareness of the wounds that are not visible—that were hard to translate—I quickly felt very much the need of making that a mission of mine and dedicating myself to shining a light on the children.

"Since then we've gone into Eritrea. This year we started a project in Uganda," Graf said. "We're starting, hopefully in a few months, our own trauma institute in Hamburg, where it's going to be our facility and we'll be able to train some of the psychologists and send them to places in need."

With that, she smiled and turned to the New York City children who started bouncing with excitement to meet her and get autographs.