Monica Seles

Monica Seles was born on December 2, 1973 and is a former Yugoslavian world champion tennis player. She is also a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Raised in Serbia, Monica became a naturalized US citizen in 1994. In her career, she has Monica has gained Grand Slam titles nine times which eight of these titles as a citizen of Yugoslavia.

Monica was the youngest French Open winner at the age of 16. She won eight grand slam singles before she turned 20 and was the World #1 player in 1991 and 1992. On April 1993 she was stabbed her in the back with a 9-inch knife. Monica did not return to tennis for more than two years after this attack. She played in the Australian Open in 1996, but was never able to reproduce her stunning tennis form. She played her last professional match in 2003 at the French Open and declared her retirement in February of 2008.

Her father helped Monica hone her two handed style which made her the most powerful tennis player in the world. Monica moved with her family to Miami in 1985 to further train with Nick Bollettieri. Monica was only 14 when she played her first professional tournament 1988). She joined the professional tour full-time at 15 and won her first career title in 1989.

1992 was a very dominant year for Monica. She defended her titles at the Australia Open, the US Open and the French Open. She reached the finals at Wimbledon but lost to Stefi Graf. Monica had the habit of grunting when she played. She was asked not to make noise which broke her timing and breathing. Monica's stabbing on the court in 1993 brought changes to the security of the games and today trophy presentations take place on the court rather than in the stands and spectators are held back.

Monica is dating billionaire Tom Golisano (2009) and is currently unmarried.