The list for greatest tennis players is expansive with names like Serena Williams, Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, and Billie Jean King sitting on top, but an often overlooked tennis great is Serbian player Monica Seles. Monica’s career is filled with triumph, tragedy, and rebound. She compiled nine Grand Slam Singles Titles, three Tour Finals Titles, three Fed Cup Titles, a Hopman Cup victory, and a Bronze Medal at the Olympics. All of that often gets overlooked because of a tragic stabbing incident that derailed her promising career, but she was still able to put together moderate success after her recovery. Her story should be an inspiration for everyone.
The former world number one, Monica Seles made headlines as a teenager when she won eight of her nine Grand Slams before the age of 20 as a representative of her home country Yugoslavia. Her first Grand Slam Title came at the 1990 French Open when she was just 16 years old. That victory marked the beginning of an incredible run that saw Monica winning six straight Grand Slam Singles Titles in her first six Grand Slam Finals appearances to start a career, which set a record that still stands. From 1990 to 1992, Monica won three straight Tour Finals Titles, and as a representative of the Yugoslavian National Team, Seles helped to deliver a championship in the Hopman Cup in 1991. However, on April 30th, 1993, Monica’s career took a tragic turn when she was stabbed in the back during a tournament match in Hamburg, Germany. This kept her out of tennis for two years. Upon her return, Seles went on to win the 1996 Australian Open and recorded her ninth and final Grand Slam Singles Title. Seles, who had become a U.S. citizen in 1994, helped lead the U.S. to Fed Cup Titles in 1996, 1999, and 2000. She also led the U.S. to a runner-up finish in the Hopman Cup in 2001, and 2002. Seles’ last major individual accomplishment came in the 2000 Summer Olympics where she won Bronze in the singles event as a member of Team USA. Monica finished her career with 595 match wins, 53 singles titles, and $14 million in prize money.
It’s hard to know, for sure, how many more Slams or titles Seles might have won had her career not been derailed by the tragic stabbing incident, but she most likely would have been at the top of the list of all-time greats.
Monica Seles was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2009.
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