Monica Seles

Monica Seles , 1973-, Yugoslav-American tennis player, b. Serbia, of Hungarian heritage. She won her first major tournament, the French Open, in 1990, at the age of 16 and soon dominated women's tennis. In 1991 and 1992 she won the Australian, French, and U.S. opens. In 1993 she won the Australian Open again before she was stabbed in the back during a tournament in Hamburg, Germany, by a self-described fan of Steffi Graf . Although her wound was apparently superficial, Seles stayed away from competitive tennis for two years, disturbed in part by the German courts' failure to deal sternly with her attacker. She returned in 1995 but enjoyed only limited success, winning the 1996 Australian Open and the bronze medal in the 2000 Olympic Games. Seles is noted for the power of her ground strokes.

Seles, Monica (1973– ) US tennis player, b. Yugoslavia. Seles won her first major championship (French Open, 1990) when only 16 years old. She also won the US Open (1991), and the Australian Open in three successive years (1991–93). Seles' career was briefly halted in 1993 when she was stabbed by a fan of her rival, Steffi Graf. She resumed competitive play in 1995, and reclaimed her Australian title in 1996.