Player Profile: Monica Seles

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2000/20000224/2305b.gif

Category: Legend

Background:

Monica Seles was born December 2, 1973, She was the former #1 player in the world, professional tennis player and a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. She was born in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia (now Serbia) to Hungarian parents. She became a naturalized United States citizen in 1994 and also received Hungarian citizenship in June 2007. In her overall career she won nine Grand Slam singles titles, winning eight of them while a citizen of Yugoslavia and one while a citizen of the United States. She became the youngest-ever champion at the 1990 French Open at the age of 16. She was the World No. 1 player in the women's game during 1991 and 1992, but in 1993 she was forced out of the sport for more than two years following an on-court attack in which a German spectator stabbed her in the back with a foot and a half knife. She then had to retire for the season, but eventually after 3-5 years of resting, she reappeared in the French Open, where she won.

http://photos.upi.com/story/t/6fb4cdd6a96992c46c46e2ff79a39419/Monica-Seles-named-to-tennis-Hall-of-Fame.jpg

Early Career:

Seles was born in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia. Her parents' name are Eszter and Károly and she has an older brother, Zoltán. She began playing tennis at the age of five, coached by her father. In 1985 at the age of 11, she won the Orange Bowl tournament in Miami, Florida, and caught the attention of tennis coach Nick Bollettieri. In 1986, the Seles family moved from SFR Yugoslavia to the United States, and Seles enrolled at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, where she trained for two years, under the guidance of Bollettieri.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51PF4FV2X9L._SL500_AA300_.jpg

Professional Level

Seles won her first Grand Slam singles title at the 1990 French Open. Facing World No. 1 Steffi Graf in the final. Seles was the top women's player heading into 1993, having won the French Open three consecutive years and both the US Open and Australian Open in consecutive years. In January 1993, Seles defeated Graf in the final of the Australian Open, which to date was her third win in four Grand Slam finals with Graf. Which meant that she had potential to become the youngest player in all of tennis history to achieve, 5 grand slams consecutively. However that was the year that she was stabbed and had to take a 5-year rest to recover her injury, crushing her chance of becoming a record-breaker.

http://www.nndb.com/people/225/000023156/monica-seles-1-sized.jpg

Legendary Status, and records:

She was stabbed with a knife, but still played after 5 years. She was inducted to the Tennis Hall of Fame, and she contributed her playing clothes, that she wore in her fist grand slam title. Monica Seles is the Goodwill Ambassador of IIMSAM, the Intergovernmental Institution for the use of Micro-algae Spirulina Against Malnutrition (IIMSAM). Monica Seles holds, 4 grand slams, none after the stabbing incident, and was nominated humanitarian of the year, in the organization that she is currently working in. 

http://www.sptimes.com/News/100799/photos/spt-seles.jpg