age
51 years
02/12/1973
born at
Novi Sad (Yougoslavia)
PRO CAREER
1988 - 2003
15 years
Main hand
left
Two-handed backhand
age
51 years
02/12/1973
born at
Novi Sad (Yougoslavia)
PRO CAREER
1988 - 2003
15 years
Main hand
left
Two-handed backhand
On the court and in life. Who could forget her grunts every time she struck the ball, not to mention the rage of the Yugoslav (who became a naturalised American citizen in 1994)? Seles, with her two-handed shots on both sides, was considered to be the first "hard hitter" in women's tennis. And she started young! In 1990, she became the biggest winner at Roland-Garros, at 16.5 years old. Her opponent was Steffi Graf, for whom it would become one of the greatest rivalries in women’s tennis: the two players faced off in six Grand Slam finals. As a pure product of the Bolletieri school, Seles enjoyed a spectacular rise to the top starting in 1991 to become the top player in the world. That year, Wimbledon was the only tournament of the four majors she did not win. And that was only because she had to withdraw on the eve of the tournament! Monica Seles suffered a serious blow to her career in 1993. A mentally ill fan of Steffi Graf stabbed her in the back during a crossover at the Hamburg tournament. It took her two years to return to the circuit. Although the lefty eventually triumphed in Melbourne in 1996, her best days were behind her. We still admire her for overcoming adversity!
Titles
53
Finals
32
Higher ranking
1
WTA Singles, 11/03/1991