Monica Seles, an ethnic Hungarian born in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia (now Serbia and Montenegro) on 2 December 1973, is a noted female tennis player and the winner of many competitions including nine Grand Slam titles (the Australian Open in 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1996; the French Open in 1990, 1991, and 1992; and the US Open in 1991 and 1992).
On April 30, 1993, she was stabbed on court by a deranged fan (38-year-old German Guenter Parche). Seles, who was ranked No. 1 in the world at the time of the attack, did not play competitively again for more than two years. Although she won the Australian Open within months of her return, and has remained a consistent Top 10 performer, she struggled psychologically with the death of her father in 1998 and physically with a series of nagging injuries.
The 5' 9" Seles plays left-handed, and uses two hands on both her forehand and backhand. Even more unusually, she does not change her grip when switching sides; she actually hits her forehand cross-handed. |
