Monica Seles
By Team WTA
July 11 2002
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Biography Monica Seles (USA)
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. 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. 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. Two double title’s in 1991 with Capriati
and Fendick. 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. 1996 She won her 9th Grand Slam at the 1996 Australian
Open after beating Lindsay Davenport in the Sydney final two week earlier. Defended her Canadian Open title against Sanchez
Vicario in 1996. 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. 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. 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. 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. |