Monica Seles

Monica Seles
Monica Seles in 2007 in New Orleans
Nation:	Yugoslavia United States
Birthday:	2nd December 1973
Size:	178 cm
1st professional season:	1989
Resignation:	February 15, 2008
Playing hand:	Left (ambidextrous)
Prize money:	$ 14,891,762
singles
Career record:	595: 122
Career title:	53
Highest ranking:	1 (March 11 1991)
Weeks as No. 1:	178
Grand Slam record
Double
Career record:	89:45
Career title:	6th
Highest ranking:	16 (April 22 1991)
Olympic games
Sources: official player profiles at the ATP / WTA and ITF (see web links )

Monica Seles ( Serbian Monika Seleš Моника Селеш , Hungarian Szeles Mónika ; born December 2, 1973 in Novi Sad , SFR Yugoslavia ) is a former Yugoslav and American tennis player . She has also had Hungarian citizenship since 2007. Seles won 53 tournaments in singles, including nine Grand Slam tournaments , and six tournaments in doubles. Monica Seles, whose career was overshadowed by an assassination attempt in Hamburg in 1993 , is one of the best and most successful tennis players of all time.

Style of play

The 1.78 meter tall left-handed woman used both her forehand and backhand with both hands. What is even more unusual is that she did not reach out when she switched sides. Given her two-handed style of play, Seles was able to play extreme angles, which opens up the opposing playing field wide. The two-handed style of play also made for a strongly concealed execution of the blow, so that the anticipation of the blows was difficult. One of their trademarks was their strong vocalizations when hitting hard . This characteristic had repeatedly caused controversy with opponents (including Nathalie Tauziat , Martina Navrátilová , Katerina Maleewa ), who asked them to refrain from doing this during the competition.

Career

Ascent

Monica Seles comes from a family of Hungarian descent. At the age of six she started tennis, under the guidance of father Károly. She won the first tournament when she was nine years old. From this time the anecdote has been handed down that she, who was not yet able to record the score herself in competitive games, called out to her father from time to time: "Will I win?"

In 1985, at the age of eleven, Seles won the Orange Bowl in Miami, one of the world's most important youth tournaments. The two-handed girl aroused the interest of the American tennis coach Nick Bollettieri . In 1986 the Seles family moved to the United States , where Monica continued to improve her game for two years under Bolletieri at his academy . Bolletieri was convinced of her unusual style of play from the start. So he had a square surrounded by high walls built especially for them so that they could develop Seles' power game undisturbed and protected from the prying eyes of potential competition.

How well this tactic worked was already proven two years later when Seles became a professional player at the age of 15. In May of the same year she won her first major title in Houston when she beat world number three Chris Evert in the final. For many, Seles is considered to be the actual founder of modern power tennis.

A month later she reached the semifinals of the French Open in her first Grand Slam tournament ; here she met the world number one Steffi Graf . Seles finished her first year as a professional in sixth place in the world rankings.

1990: breakthrough

1990 saw the breakthrough for Seles. In May she defeated Steffi Graf for the first time at the German Open in Berlin . She has dominated world tennis for years like no other player before and was undefeated in 66 consecutive games. Two weeks later, Seles succeeded in repeating the triumph. At the French Open, she defeated the world number one again in a hard-fought final, who failed to use four set balls in the tie-break of the first set. Seles won in straight sets. At 16 years and 6 months, she is still the youngest French Open winner of all time.

1991–1993: world number one and dominance

Monica Seles 1991

1991 was the first of two years in which Seles dominated world tennis. She started winning the Australian Open in January, where she beat Jana Novotná on her first appearance in the final . In March she succeeded in dethroning Steffi Graf as the world's number one. In June she defended her French Open title against Arantxa Sánchez Vicario , the 1989 winner. During the Wimbledon Championships , Seles surprisingly took a six-week break. In September she reached the final of the US Open , in which she defeated Martina Navrátilová .

1992 was similarly successful: Seles was able to defend her three Grand Slam titles. One of the highlights was the final in Roland Garros, where she faced the regained Graf and defeated them in a legendary match 10: 8 in the third set. Seles also reached the Wimbledon finals for the first time , but was clearly defeated by her predecessor on grass; Graf won 6: 2 and 6: 1.

Between January 1991 and February 1993 Seles won 22 tournaments and reached the final 33 times - with a total of 34 tournaments played. She came to the balance of 159 wins with 12 defeats (92.9%). In Grand Slam tournaments, their quota was 55 wins and one loss. Within the first four years on the tour (1989-1992) she achieved a victory rate of 231: 25 games (90.2%) with 30 tournament wins. Only Chris Evert can look back on a better career start with 91.4% and 34 tournament wins between 1971 and 1974.

Seles was the strongest player in 1993. In January, she started again with a title win at the Australian Open. She beat Graf in three sets and recorded her third title in a row Down Under .

Sporting rivalry with Steffi Graf until 1993

The constant rivalry between Steffi Graf and Monica Seles between 1989 and 1993 is one of the great chapters of tennis. The mostly hard-fought duels between the two athletes, who are so different in their personality and game system, marked high points in both careers and took women's tennis to a new level.

Not only did very different personalities meet in their arguments: Here the introverted, quiet Graf, who shied away from the media hype and at first refrained from smiling. There the extroverted Seles, who welcomed her opponents as a 15-year-old with bouquets of roses, only to sweep them off the pitch. The different game systems also fueled the great rivalry: Here the straightforward, fast Graf with her huge forehand and the undercut backhand that digs deep into the ball. There Monica Seles, who moaned extremely and played every ball with maximum hardness and forced the opponents out of the court with a clever angle game.

Until the appearance of the young Monica Seles, Graf had mastered world tennis and was considered almost invincible. This had changed in 1990 in the second year of Seles on the tour, in which Graf lost for the first time and remained without a win in the duels. In 1991, when Graf was in a crisis overall and, for her circumstances, she lost to other players unusually often, Seles had taken the lead in the world rankings and won three of the four Grand Slam tournaments, neither of which faced each other in any of these finals. Graf had defeated Seles in the only two meetings of the year in two smaller tournaments, but - with the exception of the victory at Wimbledon  - reached no other major final. Seles also won three Grand Slam titles in 1992. Both faced each other twice over the course of the year: Seles won the French Open 10: 8 in the third set, while the German won at Wimbledon. Seles returned the favor in early 1993 with a three-set win at the Australian Open .

In April 1993, the overall balance showed six wins for Graf and four for Seles, with Seles having won six of the last eight Grand Slam tournaments. At the beginning of 1993 a long-term sporting rivalry appeared, which in its explosiveness and tension seemed to be a promise for the future; a fight for supremacy in women's tennis, which promised a quality similar to that previously experienced in the duel between Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova.

But the high expectations came to an unexpected, sudden end in April 1993, about which the former world-class player Pam Shriver said: "We have been cheated out of a duel of a generation."

1993–1995: Assassination attempt and withdrawal from the tour

The year 1993 began for Monica Seles with successfully defending her title at the Australian Open . A tournament victory in Chicago against Martina Navrátilová followed. But it was a little later old champion Navrátilová who ended Seles' 34 series of victories in the final of the Paris Indoor Championships . A persistent virus infection forced the world number one to renounce the Indian Wells , Miami , Hilton Head and Barcelona tournaments .

She celebrated her successful return to the tour at the tennis tournament in Hamburg . On April 30, 1993, during her quarter-final match against Magdalena Maleewa , Monica Seles was stabbed in the back with a knife by the mentally disturbed Günter Parche , a then 38-year-old German fan of her strongest opponent Steffi Graf. Seles did not play professional games for two years after the attack. A few weeks later, Graf again took the lead in the world rankings.

News of a possible return of Seles kept popping up. Although the physical injuries from the knife attack healed quickly, the psyche was different: Seles suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and, as a result, from depressive moods. Comeback announcements were always followed by rejections. Seles became a US citizen on May 17, 1994 .

1995: The comeback

In 1995 there were signs of a comeback. Seles was a guest at the French Open, presented herself to the public for the first time as a spectator of the games and indicated a possible return to the tour.

The first step on the way to the comeback as a professional player she made on July 29, 1995 in Atlantic City with an exhibition match against Navrátilová. In order to enable Seles a fair return to professional life, the WTA had changed its regulations. With the approval of world number one Steffi Graf, the new American was listed as co-number 1 in the first six tournaments played. The purpose of the regulation was that Seles could collect ranking points without pressure, from which her actual world ranking position should then result.

In August Seles made a furious comeback at the Canadian Open in Toronto . In the course of the tournament she did not give up a set and only 14 games and defeated Gabriela Sabatini 6: 1 and 6: 0. Their triumphant advance continued at the US Open that followed. She defeated Anke Huber , Jana Novotná and Conchita Martínez and moved into the eagerly awaited final against Steffi Graf. Seles lost 6: 7 (6: 8), 6: 0 and 3: 6 in a high-class and emotionally-charged close match.

Subsequently, injury issues stopped the continuation of Seles' remarkable return. Due to overexertion in her left knee and foot, she was forced to give up the planned starts in Oakland and at the WTA Championships.

1996–1998: ninth Grand Slam title, injury breaks, death of father

Seles could not build on the excellent form and the old successes again. Chronic injury problems and the death of her father in the spring of 1998 set her back again and again.

Until the Australian Open in 1996, her career seemed to seamlessly follow where it had been so abruptly interrupted two years earlier. Seles won the preparatory tournament in Sydney against Lindsay Davenport and a little later in Melbourne also her ninth Grand Slam tournament. She remained unbeaten in her fourth start in Australia. With the games she was to win at the Australian Open the following year, she broke the 73-year-old record of tennis legend Suzanne Lenglen . She had remained undefeated in a total of 33 games in a row since her first appearance there. On the way to the 1996 title, she defeated players like Anke Huber , Conchita Martínez and Jana Novotná . Seles returned to the top ten in the world rankings.

A shoulder infection then forced her to take another injury break, which lasted until late May. On her first return to the French Open since the assassination, Seles reached the quarterfinals, in which she was defeated by Jana Novotná 6-7 and 3-6. She then succeeded in winning the Wimbledon preparatory tournament in Eastbourne, winning her first title on grass. Her return to Wimbledon was less successful, where she lost in the second round to the unknown Slovak Katarína Studeníková .

At the US Open, Seles was able to move into the final again, where, as in the previous year, she lost to Steffi Graf 5: 7 and 4: 6. Later that year, Seles won the tournaments in Montreal and Tokyo . But then there was a waiting period of eleven months.

In 1997 she had no win until August. A finger injury forced her to cancel the spring tournaments. Then she defeated world number one Lindsay Davenport in the Manhattan Beach final and triumphed a week later in Toronto. It was her 40th win in a WTA tournament. Further finals in Miami and Hilton Head as well as the semi-finals at the French Open brought Seles briefly back to second place in the world rankings. In both Hilton Head and Paris, she was only barely defeated by the new number one in the rankings, Martina Hingis . But just a week later, a shoulder injury again led to further missions being canceled. At the US Open, Seles lost to Irina Spîrlea in the quarterfinals . The press reported for the first time about the serious cancer illness of her father Karoly, who died in 1998.

In 1999, in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open , Seles celebrated her first win (7: 5, 6: 1) since her comeback over Steffi Graf, but lost to Martina Hingis in the semi-finals. The last meeting of the great rivals Seles and Graf took place in 1999 in the semi-finals of the French Open . Graf won the game 6: 7, 6: 3 and 6: 4.

1999–2007: ups and downs, constant injury problems

Monika Seles 2001

The next few years were marked by a number of ups and downs: Long breaks in injuries repeatedly followed tournament victories. The last one dates back to May 2002, when Monica Seles won the Madrid Open. It was the 53rd tournament success of the American.

Seles' last appearance on the professional tour was at the French Open in 2003. The three-time Paris winner lost in the first round of the French Open completely out of shape to Russian Nadja Petrowa with 4: 6 and 0: 6. Constant back and foot problems forced Seles to withdraw from the tour. A nine-month break on the advice of her doctors did not bring the hoped-for improvement, according to Seles. The wish for a comeback, repeatedly expressed by Monica Seles at longer intervals, was followed by months of silence. Speculations about a quiet end to her career without an official declaration of resignation made the rounds.

2008: Final resignation

On December 3, 2007, Monica Seles told the Los Angeles Times newspaper that she intended to return to the tour and attempt a comeback at the Miami tournament in March 2008. Seles stressed that she was no longer able to play a full season. The now 34-year-old, whose last game on the professional tour was more than four years ago, said that she only wanted to tackle the Grand Slam tournaments and some events in the second-highest category.

On February 15, 2008 all speculation about a possible return of the former world number one came to an end. Five years after Seles had played her last official match, she had her manager officially announce her retirement from professional tennis in Miami. The reason for this was the persistent pain, which repeatedly caused her problems.

Significant matches

French Open 1990

(Final: Seles - Count 7: 6, 6: 4)

Three weeks after Monica Seles had defeated world number one Steffi Graf for the first time at their declared favorite tournament in Berlin, the two met again in the final of the French Open. Seles quickly led 3-0 before the match had to be interrupted due to rain. Graf came back from the dressing room highly motivated and seemed determined to show who the best player in the world is. After a race to catch up, Graf led 6-2 in the tie-breaker and had four set points. But Seles won all of the following six points in a row and thus the first set. Graf also had to give up the second set 4: 6 and Seles celebrated her first victory in a Grand Slam tournament.

Masters 1990

(Final: Seles - Sabatini 6: 4, 5: 7, 3: 6, 6: 4, 6: 2)

For the first time since 1902, a women's match was held over a distance of five sets in 1990. Seles had previously defeated Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in a tough three-set match, while Gabriela Sabatini was able to throw Steffi Graf out of the race. Seles won the first set 6-4 after 45 minutes before Sabatini fought back and secured sets two and three, which would have ended a normal women's final. At that time, however, three sets of wins were necessary to win the Masters. Seles fought her way back into the game and ultimately left the field as the winner after almost four hours of play. For Seles it was the first triumph at the Masters, which she took second place in the world rankings for the first time.

French Open 1992

(Final: Seles - Count 6: 2, 3: 6, 10: 8)

In 1992 Seles was in the final of the French Open for the third time in a row, like in 1990 against Steffi Graf. Seles started extremely powerful and gave Graf hardly a chance at 6: 2 in the first set. But Graf fought his way back into the game and won the second set 6: 3. Now a real exchange of blows began between the two. Seles managed the first break in the last set and she had match points at 5: 3, but Graf was able to fend off all of them. Graf managed the 4: 5 and then the break to 5: 5. Both players fought on in front of an enthusiastic Parisian crowd before Seles had match points again with a 9: 8 lead, of which she was finally able to use the second.

Wimbledon 1992

(Final: Seles - Count 2: 6, 1: 6)

The Wimbledon final in 1992 was a negative climax in Monica Seles' sporting career. Seles was impressed by the debates about her moaning noises . Your opponents in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, Tauziat and Navratilova, had complained several times. Seles tried to be as quiet as possible in the endgame, which had a negative impact on their game. Conversely, Graf seemed extremely motivated that day to make up for the French Open defeat four weeks earlier. The game was interrupted several times due to rain, resulting in a total playing time of almost five hours. The actual playing time, however, was only 58 minutes, during which Graf had control at all times on the fast surface and won 6: 2 and 6: 1 without any problems. For the world number one from Yugoslavia, it was the first Grand Slam defeat since the US Open in 1990.

US Open 1995

(Final: Graf-Seles 7: 6, 0: 6, 6: 3)

The final of the US Open 1995 has unquestionably found its way into the history of modern tennis as one of the most emotional, exciting and toughest. For the first time since the attack by Graf fan Parche in 1993, Graf and Seles faced each other on the square. For Seles, the move into the final was the culmination of a hitherto flawless comeback. She was able to win the tournament in Toronto straight away and she couldn't be stopped at the US Open either. The tennis world was eagerly awaiting the duel between the two tennis queens of the nineties. For both of them, the new meeting meant a special emotional challenge: For Seles, whose glamorous career had been abruptly interrupted by the fanatical Graf admirer. For Graf, who had always had to live in the knowledge and with the stigma that Parche's intention was to get rid of her fiercest competitor. Graf was also in the middle of a tax evasion case that had led to the arrest of her father Peter.

The first rallies made people believe that time had stood still. Both played at the highest level. Seles and Graf delivered an unconditional exchange of blows. The hardness and speed of the game were breathtaking. Neither showed any weakness. Almost logically, the first set ended in the tiebreaker and this too was very close. Seles finally had set ball, her serve through the middle landed in the area of ​​the line and was given out, which outraged Seles. Graf won the next points and with it the first round.

Seles dominated the second set. With unbelievable severity, she set unattainable direct winning strokes from every imaginable corner of the field. Your opponent had no chance in this phase. It was the first time that Graf lost a set 6-0 at the US Open.

In the decisive sentence, neither of the two showed any nakedness. Graf made an early break that she held. With a score of 5: 3 for Graf, Seles fended off the Germans' first match point with an unattainable return. At the second match point, a two-handed forehand from Seles landed in the net. Graf won 7: 6, 0: 6, 6: 3.

Tournament victories

singles

No.	date	competition	category	Topping	Final opponent	Result
1.	April 30, 1989	Houston	WTA Tier III	sand	Chris Evert	3: 6, 6: 1, 6: 4
2.	March 25, 1990	Miami	WTA Tier I	Hard court	Judith Wiesner	6: 1, 6: 2
3.	April 1, 1990	San Antonio	WTA Tier III	Hard court	Manuela Maleeva-Fragnière	6: 4, 6: 3
4th	April 22, 1990	Tampa	WTA Tier III	sand	Katerina Maleewa	6: 1, 6: 0
5.	May 13, 1990	Rome	WTA Tier I	sand	Martina Navrátilová	6: 1, 6: 1
6th	May 20, 1990	West Berlin	WTA Tier I	sand	Steffi Graf	6: 4, 6: 3
7th	June 9, 1990	French Open	Grand Slam	sand	Steffi Graf	7: 6 6 , 6: 4
8th.	19th August 1990	los Angeles	WTA Tier II	Hard court	Martina Navrátilová	6: 4, 3: 6, 7: 6 6
9.	4th November 1990	Oakland	WTA Tier II	Carpet (hall)	Martina Navrátilová	6: 3, 7: 6 5
10.	November 18, 1990	Tour Championships	WTA Tour Championships	Carpet (hall)	Gabriela Sabatini	6: 4, 5: 7, 3: 6, 6: 4, 6: 2
11.	January 23, 1991	Australian Open	Grand Slam	Hard court	Jana Novotná	5: 7, 6: 3, 6: 1
12.	March 24, 1991	Miami	WTA Tier I	Hard court	Gabriela Sabatini	6: 3, 7: 5
13.	April 21, 1991	Houston	WTA Tier II	Hard court	Mary Joe Fernández	6: 1, 2: 6, 6: 1
14th	June 8, 1991	French Open	Grand Slam	sand	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6: 3, 6: 4
15th	August 18, 1991	los Angeles	WTA Tier II	Hard court	Kimiko Date	6: 3, 6: 1
16.	September 7, 1991	US Open	Grand Slam	Hard court	Martina Navrátilová	7: 6 1 , 6: 1
17th	September 22, 1991	Tokyo	WTA Tier II	Hard court	Mary Joe Fernández	6: 1, 6: 1
18th	October 6, 1991	Milan	WTA Tier III	Carpet (hall)	Martina Navrátilová	6: 3, 3: 6, 6: 4
19th	November 16, 1991	Philadelphia	WTA Tier II	Carpet (hall)	Jennifer Capriati	7: 5, 6: 1
20th	November 24, 1991	Tour Championships	Tour Championships	Carpet (hall)	Martina Navrátilová	6: 4, 3: 6, 7: 5, 6: 0
21st	January 25, 1992	Australian Open	Grand Slam	Hard court	Mary Joe Fernández	6: 2, 6: 3
22nd	February 9, 1992	eat	WTA Tier II	Carpet (hall)	Mary Joe Fernández	6: 0, 6: 3
23.	March 1, 1992	Indian Wells	WTA Tier II	Hard court	Conchita Martínez	6: 3, 6: 1
24.	April 19, 1992	Houston	WTA Tier II	sand	Zina Garrison	6: 1, 6: 1
25th	April 26, 1992	Barcelona	WTA Tier III	sand	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	3: 6, 6: 2, 6: 3
26th	June 6, 1992	French Open	Grand Salm	sand	Steffi Graf	6: 2, 3: 6, 10: 8
27.	September 12, 1992	US Open	Grand Slam	Hard court	Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario	6: 3, 6: 3
28.	September 27, 1992	Tokyo	WTA Tier II	Hard court	Gabriela Sabatini	6: 2, 6: 0
29	November 8, 1992	Oakland	WTA Tier II	Carpet (hall)	Martina Navrátilová	6: 3, 6: 4
30th	November 22, 1992	Tour Championships	WTA Tour Championships	Carpet (hall)	Martina Navrátilová	7: 5, 6: 3, 6: 1
31.	January 30, 1993	Australian Open	Grand Slam	Hard court	Steffi Graf	4: 6, 6: 3, 6: 2
32.	February 14, 1993	Chicago	WTA Tier II	Carpet (hall)	Martina Navrátilová	3: 6, 6: 2, 6: 1
33.	August 20, 1995	Toronto	WTA Tier I	Hard court	Amanda Coetzer	6-0, 6-1
34.	January 14, 1996	Sydney	WTA Tier II	Hard court	Lindsay Davenport	4: 6, 7: 6, 6: 3
35.	January 27, 1996	Australian Open	Grand Slam	Hard court	Anke Huber	6: 4, 6: 1
36.	June 22, 1996	Eastbourne	WTA Tier II	race	Mary Joe Fernández	6-0, 6-2
37.	August 11, 1996	Montreal	WTA Tier I	Hard court	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6: 1, 7: 6
38.	September 22, 1996	Tokyo	WTA Tier II	Hard court	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6: 1, 6: 4
39.	August 10, 1997	los Angeles	WTA Tier II	Hard court	Lindsay Davenport	5: 7, 7: 5, 6: 4
40.	17th August 1997	Toronto	WTA Tier I	Hard court	Anke Huber	6: 2, 6: 4
41.	September 21, 1997	Tokyo	WTA Tier II	Hard court	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6: 1, 3: 6, 7: 6 6
42.	August 23, 1998	Montreal	WTA Tier I	Hard court	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6: 3, 6: 2
43.	September 27, 1998	Tokyo	WTA Tier II	Hard court	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	4: 6, 6: 3, 6: 4
44.	April 11, 1999	Amelia Island	WTA Tier II	sand	Ruxandra Dragomir	6: 2, 6: 3
45.	February 27, 2000	Oklahoma City	WTA Tier III	Hard court	Nathalie Dechy	6: 1, 7: 6 3
46.	April 16, 2000	Amelia Island	WTA Tier II	sand	Conchita Martínez	6: 3, 6: 2
47.	May 21, 2000	Rome	WTA Tier I	sand	Amélie Mauresmo	6: 2, 7: 6 4
48.	February 25, 2001	Oklahoma City	WTA Tier III	Hard court	Jennifer Capriati	6: 3, 5: 7, 6: 2
49.	September 15, 2001	Costa do Sauípe	WTA Tier II	Hard court	Jelena Dokic	6: 3, 6: 3
50.	October 7, 2001	Tokyo	WTA Tier III	Hard court	Tamarine Tanasu yarn	6: 3, 6: 2
51.	October 14, 2001	Shanghai	WTA Tier IV	Hard court	Nicole Pratt	6: 2, 6: 3
52.	February 17, 2002	Doha	WTA Tier III	Hard court	Tamarine Tanasu yarn	7: 6 6 , 6: 3
53.	May 25, 2002	Madrid	WTA Tier III	sand	Chanda Ruby	6: 4, 6: 2

ITF team competitions

No.	date	competition	Topping	partner	Final opponent	Result
1.	4th January 1991	Hopman Cup	Hard court	Goran Prpić	Zina Garrison David Wheaton	3-0

Career statistics and tournament record

singles

competition	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	total
Australian Open	-	-	-	S.	S.	S.	-	-	S.	-	-	HF	-	VF	HF	2	4th
French Open	-	HF	S.	S.	S.	-	-	-	VF	HF	F.	HF	VF	-	VF	1	3
Wimbledon	-	AF	VF	-	F.	-	-	-	2	3	VF	3	VF	-	VF	-	0
US Open	-	AF	3	S.	S.	-	-	F.	F.	VF	VF	VF	VF	AF	VF	-	2
Tour Championships	-	VF	S.	S.	S.	-	-	-	1	1	VF	-	F.	-	VF	-	3
Chicago	a. K.		1	na or a. K.													0
Boca Raton	na or a. K.			-	-	not carried out											0
Indian Wells	na or a. K.									-	-	AF	VF	2	HF	-	0
Miami	2	-	S.	S.	VF	-	-	-	-	F.	2	AF	HF	-	HF	-	2
Hilton Head Island	a. K.		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	F.	HF	AF	HF	not carried out			0
Charleston	not carried out													-	AF	-	0
Rome	a. K.		S.	F.	F.	-	-	-	-	AF	AF	-	S.	-	-	2	2
Berlin	-	-	S.	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
Montreal / Toronto	a. K.		-	-	F.	-	-	-	S.	S.	S.	F.	-	HF	-	-	3
Tokyo	na or a. K.					-	-	-	VF	-	-	HF	-	-	F.	F.	0
Munich	not carried out										-	-	not carried out				0
Zurich	na or a. K.					-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	0
Philadelphia	na or a. K.					-	-	-	na or a. K.								0
Moscow	na or a. K.									-	F.	-	-	-	-	-	0
Olympic games	-	not carried out			-	not carried out			VF	not carried out			B.	not carried out			0
Fed Cup	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	S.	-	HF	S.	S.	-	PO	-	3
Tournament participation	3	10	15th	16	15th	4th	0	2	14th	17th	15th	13	16	14th	15th	7th	176
Finals reached	0	3	9	16	14th	3	0	2	7th	7th	4th	3	6th	6th	3	2	85
Title won	0	1	9	10	10	2	0	1	5	3	2	1	3	4th	2	0	53
Hard court wins / defeats	5: 3	3: 1	18: 2	40: 3	29: 3	7-0	0-0	11: 1	28: 2	27: 4	20: 5	21: 7	32: 9	40: 9	27: 8	4: 3	312: 60
Sand victories / defeats	0-0	10: 1	22: 0	19: 2	19: 1	2: 1	0-0	0-0	5: 1	13: 4	15: 4	13: 3	17: 2	0: 1	10: 3	3: 3	148: 26
Turf wins / defeats	0-0	3: 1	4: 1	0-0	6: 1	0-0	0-0	0-0	5: 1	3: 2	4: 1	2: 2	4: 1	0-0	4: 1	0-0	35:11
Carpet victories / defeats	0-0	17: 5	10: 3	15: 1	16: 0	8: 1	0-0	0-0	9: 4	2: 3	7: 3	2: 1	5: 1	0-0	6: 2	3: 1	100: 25
Overall wins / losses	5: 3	33: 8	54: 6	74: 6	70: 5	17: 2	0-0	11: 1	47: 8	45:13	46:13	38:13	58:13	40:10	47:14	10: 7	595: 122
World ranking points	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	N / A
Year-end position	86	6th	2	1	1	8th	-	1	2	5	6th	6th	4th	10	7th	60	N / A

Explanation of symbols: S = tournament victory; F, HF, VF, AF = entry into the final / semi-finals / quarter-finals / round of 16; 1, 2, 3 = elimination in the 1st / 2nd / 3rd main round; RR = Round Robin (group stage); na = not carried out; a. K. = other category; PO (playoff) = promotion and relegation round in the Fed Cup; K1, K2, K3 = participation in continental groups I, II, III in the Fed Cup.

Note : These statistics take into account all results individually, as stated on the WTA page. Only Category I WTA tournaments are shown .

Records

Record- world number one in women's singles

rank	Tennis player	Weeks
1.	Steffi Graf	377
2.	Martina Navratilova	332
3.	Serena Williams	319
4th	Chris Evert	260
5.	Martina Hingis	209
6th	/ / Monica Seles	178
7th	Justine Henin	117
As of October 9, 2017

• Youngest ever French Open winner (16 years and 6 months)
• With her three consecutive French Open victories (1990-1992), Monica Seles sets the record for Helen Wills Moody (1928-1930) and Hilde Krahwinkel (1935-1937).
• With 33 games in which Seles remains unbeaten in a Grand Slam tournament (Australian Open) from the first appearance, she breaks Suzanne Lenglen's 73-year-old record .

Awards

• Associated Press Athlete of the Year 1991, 1992
• Europe's sportswoman of the year
• Player of the year 1991, 1992 (WTA)
• Comeback Player of the Year 1995, 1998 (WTA)

Personal

• The Serbian songwriter Đorđe Balašević dedicated the song to Monika to Monica Seles . Balašević and the Seles family know each other from the time they lived in Novi Sad.
• In April 2009, Seles' autobiography Getting a Grip: On My Body, My Mind, My Self was published .
• In 2008 Seles took part in the show Dancing with the Stars , the US version of Let's Dance .
• In 2007 Seles advertised as an ambassador and spokeswoman for IIMSAM (Intergovernmental Institution for the use of Micro-algae Spirulina Against Malnutrition) as part of various programs for this organization.
• During the 1999 French Open , Novi Sad, hometown of Monica Seles, was hit by heavy air strikes by NATO forces deployed in the Kosovo War, which Seles did not comment on during the tournament.
• Seles is married to billionaire Tom Golisano.

Web links

Commons : Monica Seles  - Collection of Images

• WTA profile Monica Seles (English)
• ITF profile Monica Seles (English)
• Fed Cup stats by Monica Seles (English)
• Literature by and about Monica Seles in the catalog of the German National Library
• Monica Seles in the "International Tennis Hall of Fame" (English; with picture)
• Monica Seles in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )
• Literature by and about Monica Seles in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Titokban lett magyar állampolgár Szeles Mónika (Szeles Mónika has become a Hungarian citizen in secret) ( Hungarian ) In: Heti Világgazdaság . June 7, 2007. Retrieved May 9, 2008.
2. ↑ Ursula March: This is not a game. In: Zeit Verbrechen 5/2020, online (payment barrier)
3. ↑ Former competitor of Steffi Graf: Monica Seles marries 72-year-old billionaire , rp-online.de, June 12, 2014
4. ↑ Tennis star Monica Seles' husband Tom Golisano refuses to pay tax bill over 'geese droppings' , news.com.au, February 6, 2018