Biography Monica Seles (USA)

Residence: Sarasota Fl. USA
Birthdate: December 2, 1973
Birthplace: Novi Sad, Yugoslavia
Height: 5' 10 1/2" - 1.79 m
Weight: 154 lbs. - 70 kg
Plays: Left-handed (two-handed fore-and backhand)
Status: Pro since February 13 1989

Career highlights:

1988

Monica made her debut at the Boca Raton tournament of 1988 at the age of 14 years and 3 months. Lost to #3 Chris Evert in the 2nd round.
Lost the 2nd round to #5 Gabriela Sabatini at the Miami tournament of 1988.

Reached the semi-final at the 1988 New Orleans tournament but had to retire.

Ended 1988 ranked at #88.

1989

She won her first WTA tour singles title in 1989 at the Houston tournament defeating Chris Evert at the age of 15.

Her ranking climbed to #23 after her first title.

Reached the Roland Garros 1989 semi-final after defeating #5 and #7 Garrison and Maleeva. Lost to #1 Steffi Graf in three sets.

Monica reached #14 in the WTA ranking.

Fourth round in the 1989 Wimbledon Championships and in the US Open of that same year.

Became the finalist in Dallas and Brighton tournament of 1989, losing to #2 Navratilova and #1 Graf.

Qualified for the season ending Championship losing to #2 Navratilova.
Monica ended the year 1989 ranked at #6.

1990

She became the winner of the 1990 tournaments in Miami, San Antonio, Houston, Rome and Berlin.

In Rome ‘90 Monica wins the double final with Kelesi.

She won her first Grand Slam in Paris at the 1990 French Open.

Reached quarter final at 1990 Wimbledon Championships, lost to #5 Garrison.

Won 1990 Los Angeles Tournament and the season-ending Championships.

Finished the year 1990 ranked at #2.

1991

In 1991 Monica won her second Grand Slam at the Australian Open.
Monica took over the #1 spot at the WTA Tour ranking ending the 186 weeks reign of Steffi Graf.

Two double title’s in 1991 with Capriati and Fendick.
Second Roland Garros title and her third Grand Slam win.
Monica also won the 1991 US Open.

Besides the Grand Slams Monica won titles for 1991 at the Virginia Slims Championships, Miami, Houston, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Milan and Philadelphia Tournaments.

Played and lost the youngest ever final versus Jennifer Capriati at the San Diego Tournament.

Finished the 1991 season ranked at #1.

1992

Monica won the 1992 Australian Open for the second time.

Won the ’92 Roland Garros for the third consecutive time.

Winning the third Grand Slam of the year at the US Open of 1992.

Also winning Virginia Slims Championships, Essen, Indian Wells, Houston, Barcelona, Tokyo and Oakland in singles and the double title in Rome with Helena Sukova in 1992.

1993

In 1993 she won the Australian Open for the third time defeating #3 Sabatini and #2 Graf.

Monica won in Chicago defeating Martina Navratilova.

Returned in Hamburg after withdrawing from four tournaments due a viral infection.

Monica was stabbed during a change over in the quarterfinal match against Maggie Maleeva in Hamburg ’93. Günter Parch, a fanatical Graf fan, wanted to see Steffi Graf back at the #1 spot again. Monica would not be playing again for two years and three months.

1994

Dropped from the tour ranking due to the stabbing injury in February 14th 1994.

1995

Monica was ranked as a co #1 on the tour after her comeback for six tournaments or 12 months from the date she started her first tournament again.

Monica won the Canadian Open after getting a wild card. The first tournament played after almost 28 months of absence from the tour.
Lost the US Open final as a no.2 seed to Steffi Graf in three sets.
Shared her season ending rank with Steffi Graf at #1

1996

She won her 9th Grand Slam at the 1996 Australian Open after beating Lindsay Davenport in the Sydney final two week earlier.
Won her first grass tournament in Eastbourne 1996 but lost in the 2nd round of Wimbledon.

Defended her Canadian Open title against Sanchez Vicario in 1996.
Reached the 1996 US Open final but lost to Steffi Graf in two sets.
As a member of the US FED cup team Monica won the 1996 FED Cup title.

Won the Tokyo 1996 tournament against Date in the final but had to retire from the season ending championships against Date in the first match.
Ended the season ranked at a split #2

1997

As 1996 ended with one injury for Monica, 1997 started with another injury. A broken right ring finger kept her out of the Australian Open to defend her title.

Her ranking went down to #6 because of not defending her titles until March 1997.

Reaching finals in Miami, Hilton Head, the Semi Final at Roland Garros and winning in Los Angeles and Toronto brought her back to #2 in the WTA Tour ranking.

Ended the season ranked #5

1998

Monica didn’t play the first three months of 1998. Her father was suffering from cancer during that time.

Three weeks after her fathers death Monica played Roland Garros and lost to Sanchez Vicario in the final.

She won the 1998 Canadian Open and the 1998 Tokyo Princess Cup for the third time.

Monica reached the $10 million barrier in earnings. Becoming the fourth player to accomplish that.

Finishing the season #6

1999

Monica reached the semi final of the 1999 Australian Open losing it to Martina Hingis. It was the first time she ever lost a match at the Australian Grand Slam tournament. She had 33 consecutive wins at this Grand Slam.
The first clay court win in seven years at the 1999 Amelia Island tournament.

Monica reached her sixth Canadian Open final in 1999 losing it to Martina Hingis.

Won the 1999 FED cup as a member of the US team.

Again injured at the end of the season kept her from playing the Seasonending Championships.

Finishing the season ranked #6

2000

Monica won her first tournament after being away with a foot injury at the 2000 Oklahoma tournament.

Also won Amelia Island and Rome in 2000.

After her ranking had dropped to #14 she worked her way up back to the #3 spot of the WTA Tour ranking.

Finals in San Diego and New Haven and lost to Venus Williams in both.
Monica earned a bronze medal at the 2000 Olympics.

Reached the final at the season ending championships but lost to Hingis.

2001

Defeated Jennifer Capriati to defend her 2001 Oklahoma City title.

Monica didn’t play until the 2001 Stanford tournament due to foot injuries.

At the 2001 San Diego tournament Monica defeated Martina Hingis, for the first time in eight meetings, to reach the final in where Monica was beaten by Venus Williams.

The second title of the year was won in the 2001 Bahia tournament against Jelena Dokic in the final.

The 50th singles career title for Monica was won at the 2001 Japan Open one of eight women to do so.

Monica won the fourth title of the year at the 2001 Shanghai Open tournament.

Qualified for the season ending tournament in Munich but Monica does not play in Germany since Günter Parch, who stabbed her in ’93, was never convicted for his act.

Monica ended her 13th season ranked at #10.