Great tennis comebacks - Monica Seles - By: Rodney J Smith

Monica Seles burst onto the professional tennis scene at the tender age of 14, and played in her first grand slam final at the 1989 French Open, where she lost to World Number One Steffi Graf in three sets. The following year the two met again in the French Open final, where this time Seles emerged the victor, and in so doing became the youngest winner of the French Open, at the age of 16 and a half.

Known as much for her trademark on-court grunting as her feisty and tenacious play, she was utterly dominant in 1991 and 1992, where she won the Australian Open, French Open and US Open both years (she didn't compete at Wimbledon in 1991 due to injury and was the losing finalist there in 1992).

Monica looked set to continue in the same vein in 1993, but then was tragically stabbed in the back by a psychologically disturbed Steffi Graf fan during a changeover at a tournament in Hamburg. Fortunately she was not seriously injured physically, but the incident left lasting psychological scars which kept her out of tennis for over two years, during which time she battled depression and a food disorder. She vowed never to play in Germany again after her attacker was spared jail and simply given probation and psychological treatment.

It's a credit to Monica that she made a successful comeback to the sport in 1995, losing in the final of the US Open (once again to Steffi Graf), then going on to win the 1996 Australian Open for the fourth time. But sadly she never quite managed to reach her former heights as a player, and this was to be her final grand slam victory. Ironically, the stabbing incident endeared her to the tennis public and she enjoyed far greater support in the latter part of her career than when she was previously unstoppable.

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