RateItAll: The Opinion Network

powerful strokes of all time

She was the best along with Steffi!

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!

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.

So much better that Steffi Graf in every way: Talent, Personality, Sportsmanship and Humanitarian. And on top of all this NO EGO WHATSOEVER. A true champion who would be in anyone's top 5 all time greatest. A Champion in the Evonne Goolagong style, and thats says a LOT !!!

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 also that the rivalery between graf and seles was notyet at its final decision. as much as it changed over the years between evert and navratilova for example. but whatever: a wonderful player, a historical one and a great person to me.

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

If she only hadn't been stabbed. No one knows for sure what would have happened but Monica would have won at least a few more Slam titles if it hadn't have happened. She's now and even better person than she ever was a player and that counts for a lot.

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, her face contorted with shock and pain. Aides rushed to her and she was taken to Hamburg Hospital.Never mind the personal implications, the life-altering event that was, Martina Navratilova said. It changed the course of tennis history. We'll never know what she might have been, how many more slams she would have won. Seles was clearly on her way to becoming the greatest ever.The attack reverberated across sports. Players became more wary of fans, teams and organizers were forced to re-examine security arrangements. Seles does not like to talk about that violent day in Germany, but at one recent interview she was asked about her legendary but violently interrupted career.I really don't dwell in the past, she said. Would I change? Yeah, I wish I didn't get stabbed and played and competed at the highest level for those few years.Parche was obsessed with Steffi Graf, who was competing with Seles for the top spot in women's tennis. By injuring Seles, he reasoned, he would give Graf an edge.He was right about that.Navratilova had Chris Evert to create one of the great rivalries in sports. But Graf never really had Seles, who arrived on the scene after Graf swept the four Grand Slam tournaments in 1988.Seles was the undisputed No. 1 player in the world and clearly on her way to being the greatest ever when she was attacked. She had won the Australian, French and U.S. Open titles in each of the previous two years. There had been three straight Australian crowns after Graf had won three in a row there. Seles had won 30 singles titles in just five years, eight of them Grand Slams. In only four years as a professional she won 8 Grand Slams titles. Morever, she had never lost a Grand Slam final in her first 6 GS finals. Only one other player had ever been as flawless under pressure: Margaret Court. No one else though. Billie Jean King was 2-4 in her first six Grand Slam finals: Steffi was 4-2, Martina Navaratilova was 3-3. Even the so called new wunderkinds like Hingis and both the Williamses, with all the hype about their finesse and power never came close. Seless success rate was the best in history.Then Parche struck.The knife wound healed quickly. The psychological injury took far longer.Seles was off the court for 27 months. In Seles absence, Steffi Graf had come again to dominate womens tennis.Suddenly it was the late 1980s again, and Graf was nothing short of invincible. She has reigned as the games number one again. It was not so long ago that Seles came along and took over atop the womens ranking in March 1991 and never relinquished it till the tragedy. With Seles out of the picture, In the 13 months since the attack on Seles, Graf had won four consecutive Grand Slams and went on to win even more even upon the return of Seles who was never the same player after the attack. Grafs play was suddenly flawless and impeccable. And yet, she hardly seemed like she really deserved of reclaiming her lost glory.winning all those Grand Slams were hollow. Graf had to live with the guilt of having played a role, however unintentional. She had to cope with the spectre of Monica Seles hanging over every point, every set every match, every tournament. What If Monica were here??? Its not easy for me to live knowing that Im number one because she was attacked Graf told Sports Illustrated after the stabbing. Now the Grand Slam events were the exclusive domain of Steffi Graf. Even Grafs agent , Phil de Picciotto, had to admit that time the game was in a rut. When Seles finally came back in 1995 to reclaim what was was truly hers. It was still vintage Seles. Or was it?????

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 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, and she made it to the Wimbledon final against Graf. For the whole fortnight, the London tabloids had mercilessly pilloried Seles, going so far as to introduce a "grunt-ometer" to measure Seles' decibel level. In the final, Seles surprised everyone by coming out and not making a peep. She let the tabloids get to her. Of course, it wasn't a fair fight. Seles was a teenager who admired glamorous movie stars like Julia Roberts, so it's not too surprising that the daily rags were able to make her self-conscious. The result was a one-sided Graf victory, 6-2, 6-1. No one could have predicted it. At the time, I didn't feel too bad about it; I was tired of seeing Seles blow everyone off the court, so I was glad to see her share the wealth a little. Who could have imagined that Seles would soon literally be stabbed in the back, and that she would never be the same again? Seles was great, and she deserved a Wimbledon title. Of course, it's not a sure thing Seles would have won in '92 even if she'd grunted to the moon and the stars. Graf was a great champion, playing on a surface much better suited to her game than to Seles'. But if Seles hadn't been stabbed, she wouldn't have been denied on the grass courts for long. She had the best groundstrokes I've ever seen on the women's side.

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.

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.

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.

She was absolutely dominating the game when she got stabbed. Who knows what else she would have done? The tragedy in Hamburg would be comparable to someone today coming up behind Tiger Woods and plunging a knife into his back. She was THAT good.

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

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.

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!!!!!

Right before Seles was stabbed, she was the best in the world. She also wasn't particularly popular. She was beginning to dominate, but her grunts during matches seemed to be getting more publicity than her incredible game. I didn't like her too much. Now, however, I have as much respect for her as any athlete in the world. She has come back to play world class tennis. Every day she must face the demons of what she went through. Each fan she sees must bring a certain level of fear. Unfortunately, the competition improved during her years of inactivity and she can't stay with the likes of Hingis, Davenport, or the Williams sisters in today's matches. But, if it wasn't for that nut, she would be remembered as one of the greatest ever.

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.

I have a great deal of respect for Monica Seles' strength of character to overcome the assination attempt upon her. He is a very strong person with a powerful will.

Monica is the best and can do it all. She's been around so she has plenty experience and players have a lot to learn from her.