Monica Seles

powerful strokes of all time

She was the best along with Steffi!

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

The greatest, all considered, by a mile!

Seles was a great champion - even we dont know how the rivalery with Graf would have ended. What better can you say than: her appearance brought to game to a new level.

Her groaning was hot.

she is great to watch and good personality. She could have beaten Graf many times and win 8-10 grand slams if not for the stab.

Monica is the best!

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!

My favorite female player... Monica's totally original and unorthodox play (and even her grunt) are part of the reason I became really interested in tennis during my teenage years. In her heyday her extremely angled shots were amazing to watch. There's even some talk about a comeback for Monica, but regardless she's a true all-time champion.

GOOD GIRL!!! SHORT TIME!!!

monica was - and hopefully will be - a really great player. like graf she brought the game to a new level. unforgettable how she appeared with these unbelievable hard double-handed groundstrokes. with navratilova she was in my opninion the only player being able to defeat graf when graf was playing her best tennis. very tragic that she lost her mental strength after that attempt. so we lost the most impressive rivalery since navratilova and evert. i m sure she would have been one of the greatest female players ever. if she would have been the best of them i m not sure. her both-handed game seemed to be a bit limitated on grass-court. and i m not sure about if her game would have fit very good for winning against the younger power-generation as much as grafs in fact did. her game was a perfect contradiction to grafs weaker backhandside. but latest since there were players like the william-sisters that hit as hard as seles did her both-handed game also showed also its weakness. i think a... Read more

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 s... Read more

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 ... Read more

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.

Perhaps the second-best after Martina if she had not been injured. Don't know if she would ever have won Wimbledon as she seemed lost on grass. She came back a nice and likeable person but sadly wasn't the same as a player.

CLASSY TO THE MAX - The Australian Open owes so much to this woman, a consummate professional.

When she was skinny and at her best, she was the best player of all time. Her return of serve was so vicious that she made the serve and volley style almost obsolete, except Novotna or Navratilova on grass. Her serve was good enough to set up her groungstrokes and no one ever, when they could get their feet set, hit harder and more daring shots off the ground. Her ability to take the ball on the rise was truly unique and robbed her opponets of the time they needed to recover. Forget what Graf did or what Monica could've won had she not been stabbed, when she was at her best, she was the best

Women's tennis changed dramatically 11 years ago, altered forever in the middle of an otherwise ordinary match by a man with a knife.World number one and winner of the last seven Grand Slams for the past three years Monica Seles was resting during a changeover at the Hamburg Open. She had gone through hundreds of them in a career that had taken her to the top of women's tennis.This one was not routine.The 19-year-old winner of six Grand Slam titles in the previous two years was toweling off in a chair, catching her breath for the next game against Magdalena Maleeva. She had been sidelined for more than two months with a viral infection. She would have to pace herself in a match she was leading 6-4, 4-3.Then, in an instant, Seles felt a sharp pain in her back.Guenter Parche had made his way through the stands to courtside. With no one stopping him, the German came up behind Seles and plunged a 5-inch knife into her back, just below her left shoulder blade.Seles screamed and collapsed, h... Read more

The greatest tragedies that could happen to an athlete took this tennis icon out in the peek of her career. Sure, she might not have been the most complete player, but we'll never know what could have been. Before she was attacked, there was no one in the early 90s who was dominating the game like she was.

There's no doubt abt the fact tht she's the best tennis player ever.... She brought power to tennis and overcame tragedy... Guess it's not only the no. of grand slams but grit too tht makes her the gr8est player

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.

Seles was well on her way to being one of the greatest female tennis players in history when she was stabbed by an insane German man who wanted to see Steffi Graf back at number one. At the time, Seles was primarily known for two things: her powerful groundstrokes off both sides, and her loud grunt (which sounded more like a piercing shriek). Monica herself acknowledged that she didn't like hearing herself grunt on replays of her matches, and John McEnroe has said that he's never gotten used to the Seles sound. However, there's nothing unfair or unsporting about it, as long as you don't do it when your opponent is about to hit the ball; many players grunt when they hit hard, including McEnroe. I remember when Lendl played Agassi in the 1988 U.S. Open semifinal; Lendl, getting his butt kicked soundly in the first set, began complaining to the chair umpire about Agassi's grunts. The chair's response? "It's part of the game of tennis." In 1992, Seles was dominating the women's game... Read more

Played the best tennis the sport had ever seen the two years before she was stabbed brutally. It was great to see her finally return and claim another major title, but she clearly was never psychologically the same. A fabulously gracious person, and a true class act.

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.

Would have been one of the best ever ,a true shame.

I was looking for the 0 for rating seles, but alas, I can only get it down to 1. Having watched her and Graf, the only comparison of any consequence was seles' "OBNOXIOUS" grunts. She should have been banned from the game as this was an obvious tactic to interfere with her opponent's game. It would be like just when woods is teeing off, duval yells "MISS." If it wasn't for her "DISGUSTING" grunt, seles wouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath as Graf. In fact, she shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as Graf even with that "GROSS" grunt of hers. The previous posters are not very knowledgeable about the game if what they say about seles is what they believe.

She could have been as great as Martina if she wasn't robbed of her place on the top. Even so, she is clearly in the top 5.

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

I was never a big rap on Seles as a player or a person on court. However, I have since seen her play in recent times, and admire her ability to overcome the fear of returning to the centre court for yet another round of tennis. Seles appears to be a very genuine woman with a heart of gold. Her game is good and perhaps in her heyday, she was a brilliant player. I cannot put Seles into Martina's class, however she does has savvy.

I am impressed with how well she dominated Sabatini. She had all of the answers.

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 is the the most mentaly tough player in the game today period. she still has the ability to take home more grandslam titles no matter what anyone seems to think. all that is holding her back is her fitness level. however her fitness has improved tremendously. if she continues to train the way she is she is going to be the best player in the game again. mark my words folks. watch out for monica this year.

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!!)

she could have been the greatest player of all-time. The stabbing had interruped the possible feat.It also affects her mastery and perfection of her game. She suffered losses from new players because she lost the time to improve. But she can do it again!!!!!

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.

It's a shame Monica's career was interrupted by a crazy fan with a knife. She had the potential to establish herself alongside Martina and Chris and Steffi as the major modern female tennis legends, but the stabbing stopped her short of the long-term dominance required to be included in that group.

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.