# Monica Seles (Моника Селеш)
**Monica Seles** (Моника Селеш; born 1973 in [Novi Sad](https://www.edgepedia.org/novi-sad), Yugoslavia) is a retired professional tennis player who won nine Grand Slam singles titles, became the youngest world No. 1 in the sport's history at the time, and whose career was interrupted for more than two years when she was stabbed on court in Hamburg in 1993.[1](https://www.wtatennis.com/legends/190141/name) • [2](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/monica-seles) She represented [Yugoslavia](https://www.edgepedia.org/yugoslavia) and later the United States after her Yugoslav origins, and was inducted into the [International Tennis Hall of Fame](https://www.edgepedia.org/international-tennis-hall-of-fame) in 2009.[1](https://www.wtatennis.com/legends/190141/name) • [10](https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/monica-seles/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1973, Novi Sad, Yugoslavia; 5' 10" (1.78 m); left-handed[1](https://www.wtatennis.com/legends/190141/name) |
| Grand Slam singles titles | Nine: Australian Open 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996; French Open 1990, 1991, 1992; US Open 1991, 1992; Wimbledon finalist 1992[1](https://www.wtatennis.com/legends/190141/name) |
| World No. 1 | First reached March 11, 1991, the youngest player ever at the time; 178 non-consecutive weeks; year-end No. 1 in 1991 and 1992[1](https://www.wtatennis.com/legends/190141/name) |
| Career totals | 53 singles titles and six doubles titles; 595-122 singles record; $14,891,762 in prize money[1](https://www.wtatennis.com/legends/190141/name) |
| The stabbing | Stabbed between the shoulder blades by Günter Parche, an obsessed Steffi Graf fan, during a quarterfinal in Hamburg on April 30, 1993; she did not compete for more than two years[2](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/monica-seles) • [1](https://www.wtatennis.com/legends/190141/name) |
| Comeback | Returned at the 1995 US Open ranked co-No. 1 with Graf, reaching the final; won a final major at the 1996 Australian Open[1](https://www.wtatennis.com/legends/190141/name) |
| Honors | International Tennis Hall of Fame, 2009; Olympic bronze in singles, 2000 Sydney; U.S. Fed Cup titles 1996, 1999, and 2000[1](https://www.wtatennis.com/legends/190141/name) • [2](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/monica-seles) |
## Early life and rise
Seles began playing tennis at age 5, coached by her father Karolj, who taught the left-hander to hit with two hands from both sides of the court.[2](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/monica-seles) At 11 she won the prestigious [Orange Bowl](https://www.edgepedia.org/orange-bowl) junior tournament in Miami, and the family moved from Yugoslavia to Florida the following year so she could train at the Nick Bollettieri Academy in Bradenton.[2](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/monica-seles) • [1](https://www.wtatennis.com/legends/190141/name)
She played her first professional tournament as a 14-year-old amateur in 1988, turned professional in February 1989, and won her first WTA title that May at Houston, beating the retiring [Chris Evert](https://www.edgepedia.org/chris-evert) in the final.[1](https://www.wtatennis.com/legends/190141/name) A few months later she reached the semifinals of her first [Grand Slam](https://www.edgepedia.org/grand-slam-tennis) at Roland Garros, losing to then-No. 1 [Steffi Graf](https://www.edgepedia.org/steffi-graf).[1](https://www.wtatennis.com/legends/190141/name) In September 1989 she broke into the top 10 for the first time, at 15 years, 9 months, 9 days old.[3](https://monicaselessite.com/results/career-highlights/)
## Dominance, 1990 to 1993
**A record-breaking teenager.** In 1990, aged 16 years and six months, Seles defeated Graf 7-6, 6-4 to become the youngest [French Open](https://www.edgepedia.org/french-open) women's singles champion, a record she still holds; Hingis surpassed her Open Era youngest major singles champion record at the 1997 [Australian Open](https://www.edgepedia.org/australian-open), aged 16 years and three months.[2](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/monica-seles) That season also brought titles at Miami, Rome, and Berlin, and the first of three consecutive [WTA Finals](https://www.edgepedia.org/wta-finals) crowns, won over Gabriela Sabatini in the first five-set women's final since the 1901 US Championships.[1](https://www.wtatennis.com/legends/190141/name)
Seles first ascended to No. 1 on March 11, 1991, becoming the youngest player ever to do so at the time, and finished as year-end No. 1 in 1991 and 1992.[1](https://www.wtatennis.com/legends/190141/name) From 1991 to 1993 she played in eight major singles finals and won seven of them, all before her 20th birthday.[2](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/monica-seles) She won the first six Grand Slam finals she contested, and in 1992 reached the final of all four majors, one of only six players to do so.[1](https://www.wtatennis.com/legends/190141/name) • [2](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/monica-seles) Her three straight French titles (1990-1992) and three straight Australian titles (1991-1993) are feats she holds singularly; in the Open Era only [Justine Henin](https://www.edgepedia.org/justine-henin) (2005-2007) and Iga Swiatek (2022-2024) have also won three consecutive Roland Garros championships.[2](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/monica-seles)
## Playing style
Seles played a high-octane baseline game with flat, two-handed shots on both the forehand and backhand sides, taking the ball early inside the baseline with acute angles and accuracy.[1](https://www.wtatennis.com/legends/190141/name) This two-hands-from-both-sides approach was rare at the top of the game and made her, in the view of many observers, the most accomplished player to use a regular two-handed forehand.[4](https://www.ubitennis.net/2021/02/technical-analysis-su-wei-hsieh-the-unique-quadruple-handed-player/) Her grunting on every shot became legendary: The Telegraph recorded her decibel level at 93.2, comparable to a police whistle and a pneumatic drill, and Seles said she had grunted since age 7 because she played with an adult racquet as a small child.[2](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/monica-seles)
## The 1993 stabbing and comeback
On April 30, 1993, while leading Magdalena Maleeva 6-4, 6-3 in a Hamburg quarterfinal, Seles was stabbed between the shoulder blades with a boning knife by Günter Parche, an obsessed Steffi Graf fan who ran through the stands during a changeover.[2](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/monica-seles) The attack caused a two-year hiatus from competition and prompted tennis authorities to revisit on-court security measures.[2](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/monica-seles)
She returned to the WTA Tour in August 1995 at the US Open, ranked co-No. 1 with Graf, winning her comeback event in Toronto and pushing Graf to three sets in the New York final.[1](https://www.wtatennis.com/legends/190141/name) A final Grand Slam crown came at the 1996 Australian Open, where she beat Anke Huber 6-4, 6-1 in the final; until a loss to Hingis at the 1999 Australian Open, Seles had won 33 straight matches in Melbourne, the longest streak in the tournament's history.[1](https://www.wtatennis.com/legends/190141/name) • [2](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/monica-seles) She later reached the 1998 French Open final, weeks after the death of her father and coach Karolj.[1](https://www.wtatennis.com/legends/190141/name)
## Later career and life after tennis
In the second half of her career Seles remained a top-10 regular, winning the Canadian Open four years running from 1995 to 1998 and Rome in 2000.[1](https://www.wtatennis.com/legends/190141/name) She became a U.S. citizen in 1994, played on U.S. Fed Cup teams that won in 1996, 1999, and 2000, and took the bronze medal in singles at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, beating [Jelena Dokic](https://www.edgepedia.org/jelena-dokic) 6-1, 6-4.[2](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/monica-seles) Her last professional match was in 2003, and she officially retired in February 2008 at age 34.[2](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/monica-seles)
After stepping away she authored several books, fiction and non-fiction, became an advocate for mental health and healthy living, joined the Laureus World Sports Academy in 2005, and later served as a Legend Ambassador for the WTA Finals in Singapore.[1](https://www.wtatennis.com/legends/190141/name) In 2016 she spoke publicly about her experience with binge eating disorder.[5](https://time.com/4354352/monica-seles-binge-eating-disorder/) In August 2025, at age 51, she announced that she had been diagnosed three years earlier with myasthenia gravis, a chronic neuromuscular autoimmune disease causing weakness in voluntary muscles, and began speaking publicly about the condition to raise awareness.[6](https://apnews.com/article/b36b3d132edc3e7eecde19ca759e36ff)
## Legacy
Seles won eight of her nine majors as a teenager, a run that redefined the competitive landscape of women's tennis, and her baseline power game with two-handed shots from both sides influenced how the sport is played.[1](https://www.wtatennis.com/legends/190141/name) Her rivalry with Steffi Graf defined the early 1990s: they met 15 times over ten years, and Graf was an opponent in six of Seles's major finals, with the two splitting those at 3-3.[7](https://www.tennis.com/news/articles/quarterfinal-2-steffi-graf-vs-7-monica-seles) • [8](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/stefanie-graf) The stabbing removed more than two years of Seles's prime from the record books, and she won just one more major after her return, a counterfactual that remains a recurring subject of discussion in tennis history.[9](https://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/articles/2018-06-06/2018-06-06_50_for_50_monica_seles_1991_and_1992_womens_singles_champion.html)
## References
1. [Monica Seles | Player Stats & More, WTA Official](https://www.wtatennis.com/legends/190141/name)
2. [Monica Seles, International Tennis Hall of Fame](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/monica-seles)
3. [Monica Seles Career Highlights, monicaselessite.com](https://monicaselessite.com/results/career-highlights/)
4. [Technical Analysis: Su-Wei Hsieh, Ubitennis](https://www.ubitennis.net/2021/02/technical-analysis-su-wei-hsieh-the-unique-quadruple-handed-player/)
5. [Tennis Legend Monica Seles Opens Up About Her Eating Disorder, TIME](https://time.com/4354352/monica-seles-binge-eating-disorder/)
6. [Tennis star Monica Seles reveals her diagnosis with myasthenia gravis, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/b36b3d132edc3e7eecde19ca759e36ff)
7. [Quarterfinal: Steffi Graf vs. Monica Seles, Tennis.com](https://www.tennis.com/news/articles/quarterfinal-2-steffi-graf-vs-7-monica-seles)
8. [Stefanie Graf, International Tennis Hall of Fame](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/stefanie-graf)
9. [50 for 50: Monica Seles, 1991 and 1992 women's singles champion, US Open](https://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/articles/2018-06-06/2018-06-06_50_for_50_monica_seles_1991_and_1992_womens_singles_champion.html)
10. [vle.lt](https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/monica-seles/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Other team and ball sports › Racket and precision ball sports › Tennis › Tennis players and seasons › Individual tennis player biographies › Eastern European, Balkan, Russian, and Eurasian tennis player biographies*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license