GERMAN prosecutors said yesterday that they had dropped an investigation into possible tax evasion by Steffi Graf.

"The Mannheim prosecutor's office has dropped its investigation proceedings against Stefanie Graf on suspicion of tax evasion with the agreement of the accused and the Mannheim court," prosecutors in the southern city said in a statement.

Graf was ordered to pay a sum of money to charity a procedure often used by German prosecutors with the agreement of the accused to find a case which they do not believe merits a lengthy legal process.

Graf's office refused to comment on the size of the payment and would not say if the world number one was in the country. The player said she had agreed to pay the money although she had done nothing illegal.

"I have agreed to a payment for the dropping of the proceedings with a heavy heart, although I know that I have nothing to reproach myself for and I have done nothing illegal," Graf said in a statement.

The world number one said she had agreed to the payment so she could concentrate completely on her tennis and her new German based business.

Graf (27), who is also active in fashion and advertising, recently managed the organisation of a major tennis event for the first time.

Graf's father Peter was sentenced early this year to three years and nine months in jail for evading millions of marks of tax on his daughter's income. A family tax adviser was also convicted.

Steffi Graf has always denied any involvement in the affair, saying she had entrusted financial matters to her father and his advisers from an early age.