Monica Seles was born December 2, 1973 in Nevisad Yugoslavia.  She was introduced to tennis at the age of 5, because her older brother Zoltan played this sport.  She began playing in the parking lot outside her apartment building.  There, her father strung a rope between 2 cars and Monica learned to hit the ball over the "net."

    At the age of nine, Monica won the Yugoslavian championships for 12 and under, a feat made more impressive but the fact that she did not know how to keep score.  In 1985, at the age of 11, Seles caught the attention of legendary coach Nick Bolleterri, who eventually offered her a full scholarship to train at his academy.  In 1986 Monica and Zolotan left Yugoslavia for the Bolleterri academy.

    In 1988, Monica played her first pro tournament.  She made her debut as a professional in 1989.  There, she reached the semi-finals.  Seles finished the year ranked sixth in the world.  By 1990 she had climbed to #2 in the world and by 1991 she achieved her dream of becoming the top tennis player int eh world.

    Monica Seles had a stellar year in 1992, losing only 5 matches the entire course of that year.  1993 began just like '92, and ended up with Monica dominating the competition.  That would all end tragically at the tournament in Hamburg.  Seles was playing Magdalena Maleeva in the lat quarter final match of the day when Gunther Parche stabbed Monica in the back on a change over.  He was a crazed fan of Stefi Graf, and he was upset that Monica had been #1 in the world.

    It took a long time for Monica to recover from the attack.  She spent two and a  half years away from professional tennis.  She made her comeback to tennis on July 29, 1995 in an exhibition match.  After that match, Seles rejoined the tour ranked a co-number 1.  She played the 1995 US Open in August, and reached the finals losing to Steffi Graf, however, she triumphed by winning the Australian in January.  It is the only Grand Slam Seles has con since her stabbing.

    Today Monica is still a dominant player on the WTA tour, consistently remaining a top 10 player.  Through all the tragedy and hardship she had to endure, Monica remains one of the most outgoing and appreciable players in the  WTA tour.