PETER GRAF, father of tennis star Steffi Graf, left prison in Mannheim, yesterday, afternoon on $3.3 million bail after being held in custody for 15 months on tax charges.

The prosecutor's office has appealed the decision and the ruling will be heard by the appeal court in Karlsruhe.

In September the Karlsruhe court rejected another ruling to release Graf on a $2 million bail saying there was a danger he could flee.

Graf has been in jail since August 1995 on charges he failed to pay nearly $13 million taxes on his daughter's earnings between 1989 and 1993.

The tennis star recently voiced her indignation to the American media at her father's detention saying that it was unfair considering that "murderers are released after 18 months in jail."

Steffi Graf's earnings since she began her career in 1982 are estimated at $100 million.