With a fierce game and heart of a champion, Seles changed the way players and fans see tennis and in doing so paved the way for the modern greats
When I was eight years old in 1995, I first became intrigued by the game of tennis when I watched the US Open final between Monica Seles and Steffi Graf.
I had heard the story of Seles through my tennis-playing family, and wanted to see first hand the power and heart of her game. And little did I know that one of the first tennis matches I watched as a kid would feature the most courageous and inspiring young woman with the biggest groundstrokes and most exciting game I have ever seen.
Because I am not old enough to have seen her live in action in the early 90s, I have had to rely on old match videos and books to learn about Seles's early life as a tennis champion.
I still cannot believe how hard she hit the ball for her time and how well she competed against her foes. Her results in the early 90s are only rivalled by a few, which is remarkable since Monica had to play against other greats such as Graf and Martina Navratilova during her domination.
Her timing was impeccable, which allowed her to produce shots as powerful as a man's and angles as sharp as needles.Though she lacked the cut figure of a Navratilova, her competitive fire fuelled her to retrieve countless shots and muscle them back deep into corners.
She won 29 titles and seven Grand Slams from 1990-1992 when she was just a teenager, which is remarkable.
She started 1993 by winning the Australian Open, defeating Graf in a final which gave Seles a 3-1 edge over her arch rival in Slam finals. How many more could Seles have won if it wasn't for the attack inflicted on her in April of that year? We will never know.
I think it is only appropriate to discuss how much she has already achieved in her life on and off the court. Seles returned to the tour in 1995 and won the Canadian Open with the loss of just 14 games while scoring wins over players like Anke Huber and Gabriela Sabatini.
Who can do that after two and a half years off the tour while struggling physically and emotionally after the assault in Hamburg? And Seles very nearly won the US Open too, reaching the finals before falling in the finals to Graf in three tough sets. To do that well so soon after her comeback is just amazing.
It was too bad that Seles struggled so much with injuries throughout the rest of her career, as her play in 1995 seemed to signal the complete return of the Monica from the early 90s.
She did manage to win the Australian Open in 1996, showing again her strong will with a win over Chanda Rubin in the semis after being down 5-2 in the third. But injuries plagued her through the rest of the season, and finished the year number two behind Graf. That was the highest year-end ranking she would reach for her remaining years on tour, but finished in the top 10 all the way up till 2002. Her best year was probably in 2000, when she finished number four.
One of the most inspiring events I have ever seen is when Monica reached the final of Roland Garros in 1998. Just weeks after her father Karolj, whom she had been so close with all her life, passed away due to cancer, Seles showed tremendous heart and striking power to beat Jana Novotna and Martina Hingis and reach the final.
It looked to be a fairytale tournament for Seles, but Arantxa Sanchez Vicario surprisingly stopped her in a tough three-set final. The Spaniard even showed her compassion when during her victory speech she stated 'Monica, I'm sorry for beating you'. For fans, it was heartbreaking to see their hero come so close but just fall short, though her smile she still displayed showed how much of a true champion she was.
Though Monica Seles does not have the statisitics of a Navratilova or Graf, she was still the best tennis player of all time in my mind for what she has accomplished not only on the tennis court, but off of it as well.
If it wasn't for Monica, tennis would not be where it is today, nor would players like Serena and Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova play like they do today. She has changed the way players and fans perceive the game, and arguably is the most loved players among fans ever.
Many fans of Monica just think about what she could have done on the court if it hadn't been for the stabbing.
But, the most important thing to know is how much greatness, through emotional breakthroughs and power tennis, Seles has achieved through the struggle of her fall from grace and return to stardom.
And what a return it was!
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