RateItAll: The Opinion Network

Best Player until someone injuryed her.

Perharps one of the greatest I have seen, I rate her one below Martina Nav. There are surely others from yesteryears whom unfortunately I dont know much about hence skip them from my list

why she is still listed here? when she played her last tournament? looks a bit like she will never come back again. great - in the past.

Truly a great tennis player in her time, but if looks could kill....Medusa lives!

Monica, where are you ? The way Venus Williams carried on after she won Wimbledon made me cry out to see you back again.....Bring back the greatest EVER women tennis player, and the nicest!

monica was a great player - and probably will be again. its a bit strange that so much people have to talk about graf when they want to express what a great player monica i or would have been when.... so will i. i really like her - as a player and as well as a person. but just some sportive facts besides the attempt-theory: EVERY GREAT PLAYER - starting with court,evert, navratilova or graf has periods of weakness after appearing on the scene like a tornado. as much as its true that monica was surely brought about some very very good years caused by that attempt - lets stay fair in mind and look at some other aspects: the young graf came as the same whirlwind into the scene. her main opponent was the amazing navratilova, who had just some of their best years. she won wimbledon something like 4times in a row- before graf appeared. with evert she dominated untouched the top of rankings. when seles came up - yes it was terrific how she played. again a new, higher level. but lets also see that she never dominated graf. she always won very very narrowly. till the attempt graf won 6, seles won 4 times. graf lost the important games , thats right. but graf was after 3 years of dominating tennis a bit in a crisis - in her game and psychologically. her father had an affair with a cheap girl, what was published by the german yellow-press. and at that time when graf lost first to seles they discussed the interesting subject if this girls daughter is steffis sister. besides that graf experimented hitting her backhand more often topsin. with the consequence that her forehand was much waeker than usual and the backhandslice not as good as before and later. and its always much easier to attack than to defewnd. so: yes, monica won some important games, but till that point it was never really decided who of them both would stay in top. monica is a great great player, she brought the game on a new level without a question. she also took a very good beginning after her comeback. i think - what less people realize - in that us open she played at her best level again. both did so. it makes me a bit sad that she isnt physically at her best the whole last years. she is in fact not worked out. i m sure the death of her father brought her a bit into a depressive mood again. but we also have to see something else: her system of playing was the perfect conter-style to graf, that had sometimes a weakness on the backhand side. but her system of playing doesnt fit as well to other players that play as hard as her on both sides - with the advantage not using both hands on both sides. what is just a limitation of reach. like the williams for example. besides that she s a all-time-best-player for me. all points.

The Monica Seles Tragedy in Hamburg, Germany at the end of April in 1993 -- especially when you take into consideration how dominant the young teenage Seles was in the months November 1990 through April 1993 -- SEALS it that Graf was not the best of all time. Graf was in the middle of her career in the early 1990s -- and yet Seles as a teenager was the one ranked #1 and the one winning 9 of those 11 biggest titles between November 1990 and January 1993 -- and this, within itself, eliminates Graf from consideration as the top woman tennis player of all time. SO WE LOOK AT THE 12 BIGGEST SINGLES TITLES IN WOMEN'S TENNIS DURING THE 30 MONTHS BEFORE THE STABBING: 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 ************************************************** ****** 1990 WTA Championships MONICA SELES 1991 Australian Open MONICA SELES 1991 French Open MONICA SELES 1991 Wimbledon STEFFI GRAF 1991 U.S. Open MONICA SELES 1991 WTA Championships MONICA SELES 1992 Australian Open MONICA SELES 1992 French Open MONICA SELES 1992 Wimbledon STEFFI GRAF 1992 U.S. Open MONICA SELES 1992 WTA Championships MONICA SELES 1993 Australian Open MONICA SELES ************************************************** ******* Seles, of course, as a top ranked teen phenom in the years 1990 through 1993, had a winning record vs. Graf as well before a jealous Steffi Graf fan stabbed Seles in the back with a knife. ************************************************** ******* 1989 Brighton International (Brighton) Final 7-5, 6-4 Steffi Graf 1989 Roland Garros (Paris) Semifinal 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 Steffi Graf 1989 Wimbledon (London) 4th round 6-0, 6-1 Steffi Graf ************************************************** ******* ***Monica made her professional debut in 1989 at 15 years of age where she lost all of her matches 0-3 against then world number one Steffi Graf who made her professional debut in 1983 and was four (4) years older than Seles. But, that was just the beginning for Seles*** ***By 1990 up until 1993( before the stabbing), Monica Seles took over the top ranking has 4-3 advantage against Graf in head to head match-ups and was 3-1 in Grand Slam Finals against Graf who had fallen to a consistent number two.*** ************************************************** ****** 1990 Lufthansa Cup (Berlin) Final 6-4, 6-3 Monica Seles 1990 Roland Garros (Paris) Final 7-6, 6-4 Monica Seles 1991 Citizen Cup (Hambourg) Final 7-5, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3 Steffi Graf 1991 Women's Hardcourt Champs (San Antonio) Final 6-4, 6-3 Steffi Graf 1992 Roland Garros (Paris) Final 6-2, 3-6, 10-8 Monica Seles 1992 Wimbledon (London) Final 6-2, 6-1 Steffi Graf 1993 Australian Open (Melbourne) Final 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 Monica Seles ************************************************** ******* ***Monica Seles also won her very last match against second ranked Graf at the Finals of the 1993 Australian Open*** In addition, no player in women's tennis history has won more than the 10 out of 12 major singles titles that Monica Seles won in those 30 months before being stabbed in April 1990 --- although Martina Navratilova in her prime 10 years earlier managed to match that 10 of the 12 biggest singles titles played consecutively. Based on the 12 biggest events between the end of 1990 and the early part of 1993 there was nothing whatsoever which would suggest that undisputed world number one Monica Seles was not going to continue her dominance over women's tennis going forward. Monica Seles was the ONLY player in women's tennis to win 2 of the 5 biggest singles titles in women's tennis in 1990 ... 1991 ... 1992 ... and the ONLY player to win a Grand Slam singles title in 1993 before she was stabbed in 1993 by a Steffi Graf fan. No way Steffi Graf is the best woman tennis player in tennis history when you consider the truth of Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova and Monica Seles in the years 1990-1993. Far from it...Not even close.... -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I just haven't quite figured out how to beat her.......... ------Steffi Graf....... after her loss to Monica Seles at the Australian Open Finals, 1993....... Steffi Graf's 1/2 Career in a Nutshell....... Gunther Parche and WEAK Competition once Seles was gone.

A great tennis player and a great person. On the court, she was the most intense player ever. But always had a good word for her opponent. And, unlike a lot of players, everything wasn't about her. My favorite player of all time.

seles does have talent. but is far from the likes of graf, everet and navratilove. she used the stabbing as an excuse for her bad playing. it's time for her to retire.

We should never forget what happened to her in Germany, when the psycho stabber her in the back. She was dominating the sport (except Wimbledon), and she would have won several more grand slam tournaments if not for that. To date, she has won 9 slams, but she was gone from the tour for almost three years, so she probably would have won at least 5 or 6 more.

If not for a bad break in the Australian open, could have gone all the way.

She is one of the greatest tennis players of all time. If she had not been stabbed by a maniac, would have set records for grand slam wins. Always gracious in victory and defeat, she is a model of what a sportsperson should be.

Her terrible noises must surely be off-putting to her opponents and as such she is allowed to have an unfair advantage. Why don't umpires penalise her? It is thoroughly bad sportsmanship on her part. Imagine if golfers started shrieking when their opponents were taking a shot!

Was great and it is truly tragic what happened to her a few years back. Unfortunately, she has never gotten back to where she was. Still dangerous but not in the elite class.

She had her days

I BELEIVE THAT MONICA WILL BE REMEMBERED AS THE ONE PLAYER THAT CHANGED THE WOMENS GAME COMPLETELY. SHE'S A GREAT AND INTENSE PLAYER THAT HAS HAD TO OVERCOME ALOT AND PLAY THE GAME SHE TRULLY LOVES. WIN OR LOSE SHE ALWAYS HAS A SMILE...AND YES I BELEIVE THAT SHE STILL HAS A FEW GRANDSLAMS LEFT TO WIN.

Monica Seles will crawl over broken glass to win a match how can you not admire that? In '91 and '92 she won 6 of the 8 grand slams! I think and believe she can win another so dismiss these claims that she cannot beat the Williams sisters, Hingis and Davenport because she can. And dont you just love that grunt? It adds so much character to all of her matches!

I like Monica and you have to admire the way she has returned to the top of her game after she was stabbed. However, I don't think she will win another Slam because she is pasted her peak. I hope I'm wrong because the game needs her (but not her grunting!!)

Did you read Monica's autobiography?!When you read this great book you will understand why poeple like her so much.For me she will always be world no1

I love watching Seles play and i still think she's awsome.What really makes me think she's awsome is that she can still make it to the quarters and semis of the grand slams and take Venus to three sets and beat Serena, and hit hard angled groundstrokes for winners, and she still rocks on any surface even though she was stabbed and has a two handed forehand which limits her reach and she does this all even though she has a tinsy weigt problem and is pretty slow! Seles you're my favorite player and i hope that you can win another grand slam!

I wish Monica could get fit and start winning the big ones again- she sure got shafted (stabbed), the short end of the stick. She is another lady on and off the court--most gracious, love her

I have never liked her much as a player - though it's hard not to sympathize with her for that bizarre stabbing incident. I think that my biggest problem with her stems from her grunting -I have played enough sports to know that somthing like that would be at best distracting, and at worst bush league.

That whole stabbing thing was pretty spooky but isn't she the one who was like living in some motel somewhere getting baked all the time sometime later? I guess having someone leap out at you with a knife could be a little hard to get over.

How can you not be a huge fan of Seles? She has fought her back to the top of women's game after being stabbed during a tournament. It's a real shame that we will never know how she would have stacked up with the all-time greats had she not been attacked.