Dr. Andrew Broad
Tennis
Monica Seles
Biography

Monica Seles is unarguably the greatest tennis-player of all time. Not only has she demonstrated this on numerous occasions on court, she proved it as a matter of principle by the glory of her Comeback from the Stabbing. That she came back at all was remarkable in itself; that she came back as the best player in the world makes her nothing less than divine! She deserves to have a religion devoted to her - a religion that I call Selesianity.

She's so divine
Her soul shines
Makes the night sleep tight
Her ever-loving face
Smiles on the whole human race
I say, "She's Somebody"
[parody of David Bowie's "Somebody Up There Likes Me" from Young Americans]

Monica has been my favourite player since I started following tennis at the beginning of Wimbledon 1992. The initial attractions for me were her awesome power and her loud, two-tone grunt - it's no mere coincidence that her name is an anagram of "camel noises"! ;-)

I love her unorthodox and extremely effective game, and the way she went for her shots - with two hands on both sides (always with her left hand at the bottom of the racket-handle) - and made them with phenomenal power and pinpoint accuracy. Monica also made the most hellacious angles with her groundstrokes, as well as being expert in down-the-line shots. No other player has such great angles, or hits searing winners that make me gasp with awe the way Monica's do!

Monica took the ball very early, and this - combined with her power and disguise - often left her opponents feeling rushed and confused. Nowadays, players do tend to take the ball much earlier - and hit it harder and flatter - than players in the early 1990s - and it was Monica who pioneered this. To quote from her biography in the World of Tennis series of annual books: "Her ability to hit a rising ball with perfect timing allows her to project thunderous drives on both wings that can destroy all opposition."

In the "Players of the Year" section of World of Tennis 1993, John Barrett described Monica as follows: "No woman has ever played the way Monica does - with two-handed drives on both wings that are taken often as half-volleys. They speed to their target, deep and fast, with the unerring accuracy of a laser beam... But her greatest asset is a mind that reacts to danger with the speed of a computer and makes her the finest match player of her generation."

Nick Bollettieri, in his autobiography My Aces, My Faults, describes Monica's groundstrokes as follows: "Her swing is very compact: a smooth, circular motion, and she can adjust it to any shot coming at her - no matter the speed, no matter the degree of difficulty - in a fraction of a second.
����������� "She prepares early and, on contact, transfers her weight perfectly. Her follow-through is long and aggressive, helping her not only hit harder, but recover quickly. She almost always makes contact inside the baseline and uses the opponent's power to magnify her own power.
����������� "Even though her groundstrokes are hit with topspin, she still hits through the ball instead of excessively brushing up the ball. Her spin gives her control, but at the same time her ball is almost flat and runs away from her opponent.
����������� "No other player - male or female - has so many formidable weapons at his or her command."

Monica had the most lethal returns of serve and passing-shots in the history of women's tennis, due to power, disguise and taking the ball early. The pre-1993 Monica had a relatively weak serve, but she developed one of the best power-serves in women's tennis, and when it was on song, she was very reliable at holding serve.

Monica is also the finest match-player in tennis-history, due to her incredible mental strength. She has been described as having "a mind like a steel trap - as soon as she gets you anywhere near defeat, the jaws snap shut and you are trapped" [John Barrett]. One has to admire her courage on the big points - she could be match-point down and hit a clean winner onto the line. She played with amazing intensity - always focused and concentrated, always looking - and sounding! - like she was giving 100% effort.

Although Monica's game is remembered primarily for the amazing power of her groundstrokes, she was also very intelligent at working out a rally before going for the big winner. She dissected her opponents' games with the ruthless precision of a chess-computer.

I have great admiration for Monica as a person as well as as a player. She has overcome severe adversity in her life - I could list a hundred problems she's had, with the Stabbing (in 1993) and watching her father Karolj fight a losing battle against cancer (1993 to 1998 - it was diagnosed just a few days after the Stabbing) at the top of the list. She may have lost that aura of invincibility that she had of old, but the fact that she was still out there at all in 1995-2003, still willing to stick her neck out and fight, is a testimony to her mental strength and courage. She approached tennis with a perfectionist attitude, and rarely played a tournament or match without being properly prepared.

Monica is such a nice person, too - modest in victory, gracious in defeat. She has always approached competition with humble expectations - and, as a reward for this, has been exalted. She's always been the person who wants to please others more than herself - the sort of person who even felt sorry for her beaten opponents. She has shown tremendous generosity of spirit by helping many of the underprivileged people in this world - in 1999, she was awarded the Player Who Makes A Difference award in recognition of this.

Monica won nine Grand Slam titles: the Australian Open in 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1996; the French Open in 1990, 1991 and 1992; and the US Open in 1991 and 1992). As of the end of 2007, this puts her at #6 on the all-time list of players ranked by number of Grand Slam Women's Singles titles, and when she announced her retirement on 14th February 2008 (having not played on the Tour since 27th May 2003 due to a persistent stress-fracture in her left foot), no active player had won as many as nine Grand Slams.
����������� Monica goes down in history as the youngest player ever to win the French Open. She was also the youngest-ever Australian Open champion until Martina Hingis broke that record in 1997. She was the only player in the Open Era (which started in 1968) to win three French Opens in a row until Justine Henin matched that feat in 2007.

Monica also won the WTA season-ending championships in 1990, 1991 and 1992. She won 53 WTA singles-titles (including Grand Slams) altogether (her first at the 1989 Virginia Slims of Houston - at the age of 15, only her second tournament as a pro - and her last at the 2002 Open de Espa�a Madrid). As of the end of 2007, this puts her at #8 on the all-time list of players ranked by number of WTA singles-titles (as 2008 began, she was quickly pushed down to #9 by Lindsay Davenport).
����������� She also led the United States of America to Fed Cup victory in 1996, 1999 and 2000.

However, Monica's greatest achievement was her comeback after being stabbed in the back by a deranged Steffi Graf fan named G�nther Parche, at a changeover in Hamburg on Friday 30th April 1993 (Bad Friday). Monica did not play tennis again until Saturday 29th July 1995 (Seleaster Day), when she marked her Comeback by defeating Martina Navr�tilov� 6-3 6-2 in an exhibition-match at Atlantic City.
����������� The way she returned to the WTA Tour after that was truly amazing: she won her first tournament back, the 1995 Canadian Open, for the loss of just fourteen games! In her next three tournaments back, she reached the US Open final (where she was almost certainly robbed of victory by a bad line-call at set-point up in the first set), and won Sydney and the Australian Open 1996 - her ninth Grand Slam title.

While I define Monica's all-time greatestness primarily by her triumph over terrorism - rather than by what she might have achieved but for the Stabbing - it's worth emphasising how it did change the course of tennis-history. At the time of the Stabbing, 19-year-old Monica had won 8 Grand Slams including 7 of the last 8 that she played, while Graf - who is 4� years older - had won 11 Grand Slams. Given Monica's Federer-like dominance and the rate at which she was winning Grand Slams, even Margaret Court's all-time record of 24 Grand Slams might have come under threat from Monica!

Monica was world number one from 1991 (she first ascended to the top ranking on 11th March - the quickest ascent to #1 ever, after just 30 tournaments in her career) almost continuously until June 1993, when Parche's vile act of terrorism succeeded in its objective to restore the #1 ranking to Graf (Parche had declared in his police-statement that his sole aim was for Graf to regain the #1 ranking).

Monica was rightfully given back the world #1 ranking when she came back in 1995 (albeit co-ranked #1 with Graf). Monica lost the #1 ranking again in 1996, having held the position for 178 weeks in her career (which puts her at #5 on the all-time list of players ranked by weeks at #1, as of the end of 2007), but she will always be the true number one in the hearts of all Selesians.

Monica's career has spanned several eras, and with the exceptions of Tracy Austin and Evonne Goolagong (whom she never played), she has beaten every single player to have been ranked #1 since the world rankings were introduced in 1975 and up to the end of 2007: Chris Evert, Martina Navr�tilov�, Steffi Graf, Arantxa S�nchez-Vicario, Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, Jennifer Capriati, Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin-Hardenne, Am�lie Mauresmo and Maria Sharapova. Monica has almost certainly beaten more top players than any other player - for example, in early 2003 you had to go down to about #45 in the rankings to find a player that Monica had lost to but never beaten!

Monica's career is full of amazing statistics. For example, she has never been beaten in defence of a Grand Slam title (despite winning nine of them and defending five of them), she was unbeaten at the Australian Open until her fifth attempt in 1999, never lost in the first round of a Grand Slam until the French Open 2003, and never in the second round of a Slam until Wimbledon 1996.

I would strongly recommend anyone on this planet to read Monica's autobiography, Monica - From Fear to Victory, for the valuable lessons it teaches about life. This 'Bible' (together with video evidence, and cuttings from the press and the Internet) will keep Selesianity alive long after Monica has completed her earthly ministry, and humanity will be much the richer for it.

Monica was born in Novi Sad to Karolj and Esther Seles on 2nd December 1973 (Selesmas Day). After playing under the Yugoslav flag for the first part of her career, she became a United States citizen on 16th March 1994. A not-so-well-known fact is that Monica is an ethnic Hungarian ("seles" is a Hungarian word for "windy"). She speaks Hungarian at home.

Her father Karolj played a major role in Monica's life, for he was also her coach and mentor. He taught her the fundamentals of tennis in a car-park in Novi Sad, motivating her by drawing cartoon-pictures on the balls. A cartoonist by profession, with an excellent understanding of biomechanics, he used animated drawings to show Monica how to correct her strokes. He believed in supporting his children with whatever they wanted to do in life, encouraging Monica's two-handed approach despite the advice of others. He never pushed her to play tennis - it was she who would drag him to the practice-courts! Sadly, he died on 14th May 1998, aged 64, after a five-year battle with cancer of the prostate and stomach.

Early highlights of Monica's tennis-career came in the Disney Sport Goofy singles competition, where she reached the last sixteen in 1983 at the age of nine, and won the singles-title in 1984 and 1985 (also winning the doubles in 1985). Legend has it that it was in Sport Goofy that Monica started to grunt, after one of her opponents started grunting! ;-)

Monica was discovered by Nick Bollettieri at the 1985 Orange Bowl, and in 1986 she moved from Yugoslavia to attend his tennis-academy in Florida, USA. Her parents initially had to stay in Yugoslavia to work, so she was accompanied only by her brother Zoltan (eight years older). This, combined with the language-barrier, made Monica's life very difficult, especially as the coaches forced her to play one-handed!

In the end, her parents decided to quit their jobs and join Monica in Florida - a major commitment to her tennis-career. Karolj insisted that the coaches allowed Monica to play two-handed, and this helped enormously to get her game back on track.

Competing as an amateur, the fourteen-year-old Monica played her first match on the WTA Tour at the Virginia Slims of Florida (Boca Raton) in March 1988, beating Helen Kelesi 7-6 6-3 to become the seventh-youngest player ever to win a main-draw WTA singles-match (tenth-youngest as of the end of 2007, having since been displaced by Jennifer Capriati, Martina Hingis and Michelle Larcher de Brito). She fell to Chris Evert 6-2 6-1 in the second round.

History does not record that Monica ever had to play qualifying or challengers - the usual way that young players make their way onto the WTA Tour these days. It appears that Monica relied on wild cards right from the start.

Monica played her second tournament later in March at the Lipton International Players' Championships (Key Biscayne, Florida). She trounced Louise Field 6-0 6-3, then fell to Gabriela Sabatini 7-6 6-3 in the second round.

Monica didn't play again until the Virginia Slims of New Orleans in October 1988, where she reached the semi-finals beating Amy Frazier 4-6 6-4 7-6, 8th seed Gretchen Magers 6-4 6-4, 3rd seed Lori McNeil 6-1 6-3, and retiring to Anne Smith at 1-6 3-4. This gave her an end-of-year ranking of #86.

Monica turned professional on 13th February 1989 - a difficult decision at the time because it made her ineligible for a college-scholarship, and meant that post-match press-conferences were compulsory.

Monica's first tournament as a pro was the Virginia Slims of Washington, where she again reached the semi-finals, beating 7th seed Larisa Savchenko 6-0 6-2, Robin White 6-3 6-0, and 3rd seed Manuela Maleeva 6-2 6-4 - her first win over a top-ten player, achieved despite Monica spraining her ankle in the second set. But this injury meant she had to pull out of her semi-final, much to the chagrin of the tournament-directors.

Monica dropped back out of the rankings in March because she hadn't played three tournaments in the last 52 weeks, but she bounced right back with an astonishing run to win her first WTA title at the age of fifteen, at the Virginia Slims of Houston in April. She beat Mary Lou Daniels, 6-2 6-3, sixth seed Amy Frazier 5-7 6-4 6-2, Andrea Temesvari 6-2 7-5, Carrie Cunningham 6-0 6-1 (revenge for a defeat by the same score that Monica had suffered at the Bollettieri Academy in 1987, when forced to play one-handed). In the final, Monica scored an amazing 3-6 6-1 6-4 victory over top seed Chris Evert! I find it ironic that Monica won her first title on 30th April - the minus-fourth anniversary of the Stabbing.

Monica made a sparkling Grand Slam d�but at the 1989 French Open, reaching the semi-finals with victories over Ronni Reis 6-4 6-1, Stacey Martin 6-0 6-2, 4th seed Zina Garrison 6-3 6-2, Jo-Anne Faull 6-3 6-2, and 6th seed Manuela Maleeva 6-3 7-5. She fell to top seed Steffi Graf in the last four, but only after a titanic 6-3 3-6 6-3 struggle against the world number one who had won the previous five Grand Slam tournaments. It was the start of a rivalry that would dominate women's tennis for the next four years, and then transcend it.

Monica marked her Wimbledon d�but with a tough 7-6 1-6 6-4 win over the dangerous, big-serving Brenda Schultz (who would come back to beat her at Eastbourne 1997). This was Monica's first time to be seeded at a tournament (#11), and she handled the pressure well. She went on to reach the fourth round, beating Claudia Porwik 6-2 6-4 and Eva Sviglerov� 6-4 6-3 before falling to Graf on her Centre-Court d�but in front of Princess Diana.

Monica marked her US Open d�but in similar fashion, using her 12th seeding to reach the fourth round with victories over Ann Henricksson 4-6 6-2 6-2, Anne Smith 7-5 6-2 and Shaun Stafford 7-6 6-2. But Monica couldn't bear the thought of being the one to end Chris Evert's Grand Slam career, and surrendered 6-0 6-2 to the fourth seed. This was enough to elevate Monica into the top ten, however.

Monica's sixth tournament of 1989, the Virginia Slims of Dallas, saw her upset second-seeded French Open champion Arantxa S�nchez 6-4 6-2 in the quarter-finals, reach the final with a 6-1 6-2 thrashing of Anne Smith, and lose her first meeting with Martina Navr�tilov� (the top seed) 7-6 6-3.

Monica continued with a quarter-final in Filderstadt, where she lost 6-4 4-6 7-6 to Mary Joe Fern�ndez (now one of her closest friends) after a controversial third-set tiebreak in which Monica argued with the umpire for overruling her shot as out at 3-1 up, then the umpire called 4-1 to Fern�ndez when it should have been 3-2 to Monica! :-|| It was the first injustice that Monica suffered in Germany - and it certainly wasn't the last.

Monica reached the semi-finals at Zurich with a 6-0 6-0 destruction of Helen Kelesi in the quarter-finals before falling 7-6 6-4 to 3rd seed Jana Novotn�. Monica was also runner-up in Brighton, beating 6th seed Hana Mandlikov� 6-0 6-1 in the quarter-finals and 2nd seed Manuela Maleeva 6-3 6-2 in the semi-finals before falling to Graf 7-5 6-4 in the final.

Monica qualified for the season-ending Virginia Slims Championships in New York's Madison Square Garden. She beat Conchita Mart�nez 6-0 6-1 in the first round, then lost 6-3 5-7 7-5 to 2nd seed Martina Navr�tilov� in the quarter-finals. Monica finished the year ranked #6 before her sixteenth birthday.

Monica started the new decade with a bit of a slump, losing in the first round of the Virginia Slims of Chicago to Rosalyn Fairbank-Nideffer. She reached the semi-finals of the Virginia Slims of Washington with a bye, a walkover and a 6-2 7-6 win over Pam Shriver, only to be crushed 6-3 6-0 by Martina Navr�tilov�. She lost to Laura Gildemeister in the third round of the Virginia Slims of Florida.

Monica returned to form in style, winning the 96-player Lipton International Players' Championships with six victories: Linda Harvey-Wild 6-1 6-4, Laura Lapi 6-1 6-1, revenge over Fairbank-Nideffer 6-3 6-4, Nathalie Herreman 6-3 6-1, Nathalie Tauziat 6-3 6-1, and Judith Wiesner 6-1 6-2 in the final. This elevated Monica to world number four.

That was the start of the longest winning streak of Monica's career: 36 matches and six titles in a row, culminating with the French Open! She won San Antonio beating Manuela Maleeva 6-4 6-3 in the final to become world number three; Tampa for the loss of just ten games in five matches, beating Katerina Maleeva 6-1 6-0 in the final; and the Italian Open for the loss of fourteen games in five matches, with a sensational 6-1 6-1 drubbing of top seed Martina Navr�tilov� in the final! Monica also won her first doubles-title at the Italian Open, with Betsy Nagelson: they beat Laura Garrone and Laura Golarsa 6-3 6-4 in the final.

Nick Bollettieri kicked Monica out of his academy after San Antonio and before Tampa. She just turned up there one day and they said they had no court for her, without giving her a straight answer. Bollettieri's letter of expulsion did little to clarify the situation; Bollettieri said in his autobiography My Aces, My Faults that the Seles family were making excessive and unreasonable demands. So they moved to a house in Sarasota with private courts, and Monica was coached only by Karolj from then on.

Monica scored her first victory over Steffi Graf in the Berlin final, the sixteen-year-old humbling the world number one 6-4 6-3. Oh now, that was SWEEEET!! Graf, who had won 66 matches in a row before this loss, was so angry that she punched a hole in the locker-room wall with her racket. G�nther Parche was also very upset, particularly as his beloved Graf had lost in Germany, in front of their Bundespr�sident.

Having grown five inches since the French Open 1989, Monica opened her second-seeded French Open 1990 campaign with a 6-0 6-0 thrashing of Katia Piccolini, followed by a huge scare in the second round against the fiery Helen Kelesi, who set out to "destroy" Monica for dumping her as her doubles-partner. Monica prevailed 4-6 6-4 6-4, survived a tight third-round 7-6 7-6 against Leila Meskhi, then brushed Laura Gildemeister aside 6-4 6-0. Monica came through a tough quarter-final scrap against Manuela Maleeva 3-6 6-1 7-5, saw off fourteen-year-old prodigy Jennifer Capriati 6-2 6-2 in the semis, and got her first taste of Grand Slam glory by beating Graf 7-6 (8/6) 6-4 in the final! Monica recovered from 0/5 and 2/6 (four set-points) in the first-set tiebreak!
����������� Monica is the youngest player ever to win the French Open, and - except for Martina Hingis - the youngest Grand Slam singles champion of the twentieth century.

Monica took her winning streak into Wimbledon, where she beat Maria Strandlund 6-2 6-0, Camille Benjamin 6-3 7-5, Anne Minter 6-3 6-3, and Ann Henricksson 6-1 6-0 to reach the quarter-finals. There she fell to the slice-and-forehand attacks of Zina Garrison, who ended Monica's 36-match winning streak with a 3-6 6-3 9-7 upset.

Monica won the Virginia Slims of Los Angeles with a 6-1 6-0 drubbing of Mary Joe Fern�ndez in the semi-finals, and a 6-4 3-6 7-6 triumph over top-seeded Wimbledon champion Martina Navr�tilov� in the final. But she suffered a surprising abberation at the US Open, losing 1-6 6-1 7-6 to Linda Ferrando in the third round.

After a quarter-final loss to Amy Frazier at the Tokyo Nichirei, Monica took the Virginia Slims of California at Oakland, avenging her Wimbledon defeat with a 6-1 3-6 6-2 win over Zina Garrison in the semi-finals, and beating Martina Navr�tilov� for the third time in a row, 6-3 7-6 in the final.

Monica won the season-ending Virginia Slims Championships, beating Barbara Paulus 6-2 6-2, Arantxa S�nchez Vicario 5-7 7-6 6-4, Mary Joe Fernandez 6-3 6-4, and in the final Gabriela Sabatini 6-4 5-7 3-6 6-4 6-2 - one of sixteen matches that the WTA nominated for Greatest Match of the Open Era voting in 2003. This was Monica's ninth title of the year, and elevated her to world number two. She also won the WTA's Most Improved Player award.

Monica had a spectacular year in which she won ten titles - including three Grand Slams - and was runner-up in the other six tournaments she played!

She started by winning the Australian Open at her first attempt, beating Sabine Hack 6-0 6-0, Cathy Caverzasio 6-1 6-0, Karin Kschwendt 6-3 6-1, Catherine Tanvier 6-2 6-1, Anke Huber 6-3 6-1, 3rd seed Mary Joe Fernandez 6-3 0-6 9-7 (after saving match-point) and 10th seed Jana Novotn� (who had beaten top seed Steffi Graf in the semi-finals) 5-7 6-3 6-1. Monica also reached the semi-finals of the women's doubles with Anne Smith.

Monica was runner-up to Martina Navr�tilov� at the Virginia Slims of Palm Springs, and ascended to world number one on 11th March - at seventeen years and two months the the youngest player ever to do so (the record has since been broken by sixteen-year-old Martina Hingis in 1997).

Monica won the Lipton over Gabriela Sabatini 6-3 7-5, was runner-up to Graf at San Antonio, and won the Virginia Slims of Houston over Mary Joe Fern�ndez 6-4 6-3. She was runner-up to Graf at Hamburg, and to Sabatini at the Italian Open. She won the doubles-titles at San Antonio (with Patty Fendick, beating Jill Hetherington and Kathy Rinaldi 7-6 6-2 in the final) and the Italian Open (with Jennifer Capriati, beating Nicole Provis and Elna Reinach 7-5 6-2).

Monica made a successful (as always) defence of her first Grand Slam title at the French Open, beating Radka Zrubakov� 6-3 6-0, Mariaan de Swardt 6-0 6-2, Karine Quentrec 6-1 6-2, Sandra Cecchini 3-6 6-3 6-0, 7th seed Conchita Mart�nez 6-0 7-5, 3rd seed Gabriela Sabatini 6-4 6-1, and 5th seed Arantxa S�nchez Vicario (who had stunned Graf 6-0 6-2 in the semi-finals) 6-3 6-4.

Monica caused a tabloid-sensation by pulling out of Wimbledon 1991 three days before it began, saying only that she had suffered "a minor accident". She then went into hiding, amidst wild rumours including nervous breakdown, pregnancy, insurance-claims, Olympic-eligibility (if she also pulled out of the Fed Cup due to injury), and a cash-bonus from Yonex if she preserved her number-one ranking (the WTA ranking-system prior to 1997 was average-based, so an early exit could do more damage to one's ranking than skipping the tournament). It turned out she was suffering from shin-splints which could have kept her out for six months if she'd tried to play, was recuperating in Vail, Colorado, and simply didn't know the importance of keeping the media and the fans informed of what she considered to be a private matter.

27 days later, Monica made a controversial appearance at an exhibition-tournament in Mahwah, New Jersey. This was at the same time as Fed Cup, from which she had withdrawn injured, so she was fined $20,000 and the ITF declared her ineligible for the Barcelona Olympics. Furthermore, a promoter seeking publicity tricked Monica into holding up a teeshirt that read "Rome, Paris, Wimbledon, Mahwah" (she didn't realise that Wimbledon was crossed out).

Monica returned to the tour at San Diego, where she was upset by fifteen-year-old Jennifer Capriati 4-6 6-1 7-6 in the final - a sign of things to come at the US Open. Monica then won the Virginia Slims of Los Angeles, beating Arantxa S�nchez Vicario 6-7 6-4 6-4 in the semis and Kimiko Date 6-3 6-1 in the final.

Monica did temporarily lose the number-one ranking after Los Angeles, but she would soon regain it, not to lose it again until after the Stabbing. And now that she had usurped his beloved Graf as world number one, G�nther Parche was already planning how to "injure Monica Seles in such a way that she would no longer be able to play tennis".

Monica won her third Grand Slam of the year at the US Open, beating Nicole Arendt 6-2 6-0, Emanuela Zardo 6-0 4-6 6-0, Sara Gomer 6-1 6-4, Regina Rajchrtov� (now married to Petr Korda) 6-1 6-1, Gigi Fern�ndez 6-1 6-2, 7th seed Jennifer Capriati 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7/3), and 5th seed Martina Navr�tilov� 7-6 6-1 in the final. I find it ironic that Monica was younger than the Girls' Singles champion, eighteen-year-old Karina Habsudov�.
����������� But it was that semi-final against Capriati that would go down as one of the greatest matches of all time, as it took women's tennis to a new level of power-hitting, as well as being a tense thriller with many twists and turns, including Monica coming back from 1-3 in the third set, and Jennifer two points from victory when serving for the match at 6-5 30/15.

Monica went on to win Tokyo Nichirei, avenging her 1990 defeat by Amy Frazier 6-4 6-0 in the semi-finals, and crushing Mary Joe Fern�ndez 6-1 6-1 in the final. Monica also won Milan, beating Conchita Mart�nez 6-3 6-3 in the semis and Martina Navr�tilov� 6-3 3-6 6-4 in the final. Navr�tilov� took a 6-3 3-6 6-3 revenge in the Virginia Slims of California final. Monica won the Virginia Slims of Philadelphia, beating Arantxa S�nchez Vicario 6-1 6-2 in the semi-finals, and Jennifer Capriati 7-5 6-1 in the final.

Monica successfully defended the Virginia Slims Championships, beating Julie Halard 6-1 6-0, 7th seed Mary Joe Fern�ndez 6-3 6-2, 3rd seed Gabriela Sabatini 6-1 6-1, and 4th seed Martina Navr�tilov� 6-4 3-6 7-5 6-0. Monica was voted WTA Singles Player of the Year.

Monica repeated her feat of winning ten titles and three Grand Slams, suffering only five defeats this time (one to each of the other members of the top six), although one of these was before a final.

In the absence (through illness) of Steffi Graf, Monica easily defended her Australian Open title, beating Akiko Kijimuta 6-2 6-0, Kimiko Date 6-2 7-5, Yayuk Basuki 6-1 6-1, Leila Meskhi 6-4 4-6 6-2, Anke Huber 7-5 6-3, Arantxa S�nchez Vicario 6-2 6-2, and in the final Mary Joe Fern�ndez 6-2 6-3.

Monica won Essen beating Mary Joe Fern�ndez 6-0 6-3 in the final, and Indian Wells beating Conchita Mart�nez 6-3 6-1 in the final. Then she lost to Jennifer Capriati, still only fifteen, 6-2 7-6 in the quarter-finals at the Lipton. It was the only pre-final defeat Monica suffered in all of 1991 and 1992!

It was at about this time (March 1992) that I first began to take an interest in professional tennis, for I had seen a photo of Capriati in a newspaper, and had developed quite a crush on her! :-o (I am five months older than Jennifer). The very first time I heard of Monica Seles was when I read a newspaper-article about how she helped Jennifer through some teenage fears and misgivings.

Monica won the Virginia Slims of Houston for the loss of a mere eight games, beating Zina Garrison 6-1 6-1 in the final, and when she won Barcelona - beating Arantxa S�nchez Vicario 3-6 6-2 6-3 in the final - she became the youngest player to win 25 titles at eighteen years and four months. She was runner-up at the Italian Open to Gabriela Sabatini 7-5 6-4, although she won the doubles with Helena Sukov�, beating Katerina Maleeva and Barbara Rittner 6-1 6-2 in the final (this was the only tournament at which Monica played doubles in 1992).

Monica won her third French Open crown in a row, beating Catherine Mothes 6-1 6-0, Karin Kschwendt 6-2 6-2 and Lori McNeil 6-0 6-1. She had a real scare in the fourth round against Selesian player Akiko Kijimuta: she was down 1-4 40/40 in the third set, but lost only five more points as she secured a 6-1 3-6 6-4 victory. She beat Capriati 6-2 6-2 in the quarter-finals, and then Sabatini 6-4 4-6 6-4, winning four games in a row from 2-4 in the third.
����������� She then won the WTA's Greatest Match of the Open Era (as voted by the media in 2003) after a titanic struggle against Steffi Graf in the final. Monica fought like a tigress to win 6-2 3-6 10-8 after overcoming the disappointment of missing four match-points at 5-3 in the third, the pressure of twice serving to stay in the match, and needing three attempts to serve it out.

I started watching tennis at Wimbledon 1992 after reading a most intriguing article about Monica in the Independent on Sunday shortly before. Monica became my favourite player before I even saw her play, though I didn't have to wait long because they showed the French Open 1992 final in a rain-delay, along with her fourth-round against Gigi Fern�ndez (6-4 6-2). To say I was instantly converted would be an understatement.
����������� There was a lot of controversy about Monica's loud grunting at Wimbledon 1992, and this came to a head in her quarter-final against Nathalie Tauziat, who complained to the umpire. Monica was asked to tone it down, but despite only quiet grunting she still managed to secure a 6-1 6-3 victory that the commentator thought would "send shivers down the spines of her opponents".
����������� Martina Navr�tilov� also complained about the grunting in their semi-final, comparing it to the noise of a pig being castrated. Monica won 6-2 6-7 6-4 - her greatest Wimbledon victory ever - and Navr�tilov� apologised to her after the match, but the damage had been done. Monica decided to cut out the grunting altogether in the final, and lost 6-2 6-1 to Steffi Graf. She wasn't helped by the many rain-delays that interrupted that match, nor by a bomb-threat that was reportedly sent to her on the eve of the final.

Monica was also runner-up at the Virginia Slims of Los Angeles to Navr�tilov�, and at Montr�al to Arantxa S�nchez Vicario - revenge for which was close at hand.

Monica swept to her second US Open title, beating Audra Keller 6-1 6-0, Lisa Raymond 7-5 6-0, Claudia Porwick 6-4 6-0, Gigi Fern�ndez 6-1 6-2, Patricia Hy 6-1 6-2, Mary Joe Fern�ndez 6-3 6-2, and Arantxa S�nchez Vicario 6-3 6-3 in the final (I saw that final, for 1992 was the last year in which the US Open was televised on ITV before Sky got the rights :-||).

Monica finished 1992 in a blaze of glory, winning Tokyo Nichirei over Sabatini 6-2 6-0, Oakland over Navr�tilov� 6-3 6-4, and the Virginia Slims Championships for the third year in a row, beating Nathalie Tauziat 6-1 6-2, Jana Novotn� 3-6 6-4 6-1, Sabatini 7-6 6-1, and Navr�tilov� 7-5 6-3 6-1. Monica was voted Player of the Year for the second year running, and her 1992 prize-money of $2,622,352 was a record for both women and men.

Monica began 1993 by winning her eighth Grand Slam title and her third Australian Open in a row, beating Gloria Pizzichini 6-1 6-1, Maria Strandlund 6-2 6-0, Patty Fendick 6-1 6-0, Nathalie Tauziat 6-2 6-0, Julie Halard 6-2 6-7 6-0, Gabriela Sabatini 6-1 6-2, and in the final she overcame Steffi Graf at her best, winning 4-6 6-3 6-2 with some of the most all-court tennis of her career. This meant Monica had won seven of the last eight Grand Slam tournaments, and it was fitting that Monica beat Graf in their last meeting before the Stabbing.

In February, Monica won her 32nd title at the Virginia Slims of Chicago, beating Martina Navr�tilov� 3-6 6-2 6-1 in the final, but lost to Navr�tilov� 6-3 4-6 7-6 in the Paris final the following week. Monica caught a nasty viral infection in Paris, so she pulled out of her next few tournaments and recuperated on a beach in Jamaica.

Ironically, Hamburg was her comeback-tournament. She only entered on a wild card because she wasn't fit in time for Barcelona the previous week. She was 6-4 4-3 up against Magdalena Maleeva in the quarter-finals on Friday 30th April when G�nther Parche stabbed her in the back at the changeover. He was raising the Knife to strike again when he was wrestled down by security-guards who broke his arm.

There were two screams: one from Monica, the other from Yulia, the mother of the Maleeva sisters. Monica staggered onto the court and collapsed. She was tended to by an anonymous spectator, trainer Madeleine van Zoelen, and her brother Zoltan. She was carried off court on a stretcher and taken to hospital. The tournament continued as if it had been a regular injury-retirement. :-||

Graf visited Monica in hospital to apologise for the Stabbing, but after that Monica never heard from her until December, because Graf was too busy stealing her number-one ranking just as Parche intended, and winning the next four Grand Slam titles. The police visited Monica in hospital to ask her to identify her blood-stained tennis-shirt and the Knife - images that, together with Parche's face, would haunt her for months to come.

Although the stab-wound needed only two stitches, Monica couldn't comb her hair for a month. But the psychological trauma would last much longer, and was exacerbated by the unjust decisions that followed, starting with the WTA voting not to protect Monica's ranking while she recovered. She felt, and I felt, that the world didn't think she mattered. I was saddened that it wasn't even mentioned at my school.

Worst of all, her father Karolj was diagnosed with prostate-cancer within a week of the Stabbing. Monica's doctors noticed that he was pale and sweating, and referred him for tests. He needed immediate surgery, followed by a year of chemotherapy.

Between May and June, Monica grew increasingly distant, taking herself on long and random car-drives. In July she started going to a psychologist, Dr. Jerry May, for therapy. In August she did a TV-interview to let the public know how she was faring since the attack, and also visited the US Open to pay tribute to Arthur Ashe.

In September, Monica started training with Bob and Jackie Kersee, and by December she was actually in the best physical shape of her life. She started hitting tennis-balls with Karolj in October. The physical exertion helped to take her mind off the Stabbing. But her newfound peace of mind was about to be destroyed.

Monica had expected the German law to give Parche a long prison-sentence. But unbelievably, on 13th October he was let off with nothing more than a two-year suspended sentence (the same sentence they would give Boris Becker for tax-evasion a decade later) on the basis of mental disorder. He spent one night in prison for his own safety, while Monica spent 27 months in her prison.

Monica's downward spiral continued as Karolj, having recovered from the prostate-cancer, now had stomach-cancer. The surgery and his subsequent suffering were much worse than before - in fact he only agreed to the surgery after Monica told him how much she needed him.

In December, Monica was suffering from terrible nightmares, frequent bouts of sobbing, and retreating to her den for hours at a time to obsess about the Stabbing, reading and rereading the material that the police had given her on G�nther Parche.

The media kept releasing false statements that Monica would be playing in forthcoming tournaments, in an effort to get her to talk. For example, they had said that she would make her comeback at an exhibition-tournament in Ireland in December 1993, that she would return to professional tennis at the Australian Open 1994. But these reports were completely fictitious - Monica never entered, and therefore didn't pull out of, any of these events.

I was missing Monica like crazy, and put my faith in these false reports. I couldn't wait for her comeback, and I believed it was only a matter of time. But in February 1994, she announced that she would definitely not return to professional tennis that year. I was heartbroken, and felt that I lost more on that day than on 30th April 1993.

On 14th February she dropped out of the rankings, having no longer played three tournaments in 52 weeks. Her ranking just before she dropped out was #18.

Two things that upset Monica in 1994 were the attack on skater Nancy Kerrigan that bore disturbing similarities to the Stabbing (a man acting on behalf of her arch-rival Tonya Harding whacked her in the knee with an iron bar), and Formula One driver Ayrton Senna being killed in a racing-accident on the very anniversary of the Stabbing.

Monica took to comfort-eating in January and February, ingesting whole cartons of ice-cream at once, avoiding exercise and putting on weight alarmingly. This probably did more damage after her comeback than anything else. "The only constants in my life were food, fear, and depression" [Monica - From Fear to Victory, Chapter 27].

Monica and her mother Esther became US citizens on 16th March 1994. Monica passed her citizenship-test with flying colours, answering all her questions correctly, including an additional question that wasn't on the list of 100 questions she'd been given. Game, set and match Miss Seles! :-)

In late March, Monica went back to Dr. May for more therapy. He asked what would make her happy in life (she said "playing tennis"), and explained that her depression was due to post-traumatic stress-disorder. He taught her how to balance her feelings, behaviours and cognitions, the 'stop-think' technique for replacing negative thoughts with positive ones, and systematic desensitisation (imagining uncomfortable situations when completely relaxed physically).

Monica started hitting tennis-balls for the first time in 1994 around April. Her first match was in Betsy Nagelsen's backyard: Monica and Mark McCormack against Betsy and Karolj. It was close, but Monica won. Betsy really helped Monica "to find joy in tennis again".

Monica continued to see Dr. May throughout 1994, and had over 100 hours of therapy altogether. By the end of the year she had begun to train in earnest (running and playing tennis), her eating-habits were slowly changing and she was starting to lose weight.

In early 1995, Monica started playing at her local tennis-club, for she missed the reaction of spectators to her tennis. In February, Martina Navr�tilov� visited her and they hit together. Martina gave Monica a gold bracelet as a token of good luck, to be returned when Monica came back. Monica began to think about her comeback.

In March, Monica had an overwhelming desire to play professional tennis again, and she met with Mark McCormack to plan a comeback in July. She was now practising every day, training and working on her diet.

In April, G�nther Parche faced a second trial after Monica had lodged an appeal against the outcome of the first. It changed nothing: to the horror and disgust of the rest of the world, his original suspended sentence was upheld. It didn't help that Monica refused to go to Germany and testify against him in person, but who can blame her? Monica couldn't help worrying that he might go after her again, but this time she was more philosophical, and it didn't stop her going ahead with her comeback.

On 6th June, the media announced that Monica would play Martina Navr�tilov� in an exhibition-match on Saturday 29th July. Although fresh rumours of a comeback had been circulating for a couple of months, 6th June 1995 was one of the happiest days of my life - as of course was 29th July!

The Return of the Champions match took place in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and was the highlight of 1995 for me. A glittering and momentous occasion, it was televised by the BBC (and all over the world), and every 29th July I celebrate Seleaster by watching that match on video. Monica beat Martina 6-3 6-2, showing phenomenal passing-shots and a powerful new serve. She was also two inches taller and 10lb heavier than when she was stabbed.

The WTA invented a special ranking for Monica when she came back. She would be co-ranked number one for her first six tournaments or for a year (whichever was shorter). After that, her ranking would be calculated using the usual formula, but dividing her points by the number of tournaments she played in the last 52 weeks, rather than applying the usual minimum divisor of 12.

Monica returned to the WTA Tour at Toronto. Her first match (in the second round after a bye) was on the night of 15th August and she beat Kimberly Po 6-0 6-3 (Po was going to retire at the end of 1995, but this match inspired her to continue for several more years). In the third round she beat 12th seed Nathalie Tauziat 6-2 6-2, and 7th seed Anke Huber 6-3 6-2 in the quarter-finals.
����������� In the semi-finals, she scored a crushing 6-1 6-0 victory over 6th seed Gabriela Sabatini. I was on holiday in France at the time, and I watched this match in a bar (no alcohol was consumed) with the sound off (not by my choice). Monica was frighteningly good, firing winners all over the court at breakneck speed against a hapless opponent.
����������� The final was a similar result, 6-0 6-1 over Amanda Coetzer (who had knocked out Steffi Graf in the second round). I didn't get to see this match, for it was played in the small hours of the morning in France, but Monica had won her first tournament back for the loss of just fourteen games, and I was so excited that I suggested Monica should enter the men's US Open and win that too! :-)
����������� Iva Majoli congratulated Monica on her amazing victory, and the pair exchanged high fives. Now I had two active players to support! :-)

Although Monica didn't technically win the US Open, her first Grand Slam tournament since the Australian Open 1993 was certainly a moral victory. She beat Ruxandra Dragomir 6-3 6-1, Erika de Lone 6-2 6-1, Yone Kamio 6-1 6-1, Anke Huber 6-1 6-4 (the first time she dropped more than three games in a set in her comeback), Jana Novotn� 7-6 6-2, and Conchita Mart�nez 6-2 6-2 to set up a final against Graf.
����������� The final was nominated by the WTA as one of the greatest matches of the Open Era in 2003. The first set went to a tiebreak, and Monica hit an ace on set-point at 6/5. But the umpire overruled it as a fault, and Graf won the first set 7-6 (8/6). Monica stormed back to win the second 6-0, but tired in the third and lost it 6-3. But morally she won 7-6 (7/5) 6-0.

Monica didn't play again in 1995, because of a tendonitis in her left knee sustained by running on hard roads before 29th July, plus a sprained right ankle. But the future looked extremely bright if she could regain her stamina and speed around the court, and get her weight down to her optimum fighting-weight. She was voted Comeback Player of the Year and Most Exciting Player.

My faith in Monica was extremely high at the beginning of 1996. I believed she could do the Golden Grand Slam: win all four Grand Slams, plus a Gold Medal at the Atlanta Olympics. And surely it was only a matter of time before she would win Wimbledon for the first time.

Monica made a good start at Sydney, beating Dominique Monami (van Roost) 6-1 6-2, followed by three of the biggest hitters in women's tennis: Mariaan de Swardt 6-3 6-2, Brenda Schultz-McCarthy 7-6 6-4, and in the final Lindsay Davenport 4-6 7-6 6-3 after saving match-point in the second set with an audacious dropshot.

Monica won her ninth Grand Slam title and fourth Australian Open, defying a groin-injury sustained in the Sydney final to beat Janet Lee 6-3 6-0, Katar�na Studen�kov� 6-1 6-1 (ironic that this should have been her easiest victory, given what was to happen at Wimbledon), Julie Halard-Decugis 7-5 6-0, Naoko Sawamatsu 6-1 6-3, and Iva Majoli 6-1 6-2 to reach the semi-finals.
����������� There, suffering from a left-shoulder injury that would ruin the rest of her season, Monica survived a real skirmish with Chanda Rubin, winning 6-7 6-1 7-5 after coming back from 2-5 in the third. Rubin double-faulted when serving for the match at 5-3, and Monica pounced like a shark when it smells blood, losing only two more points.
����������� Monica won the final against 8th seed Anke Huber 6-4 6-1, although the first set was extremely tight, hinging on a 14-minute game with Huber serving to consolidate a break at 3-2. This victory extended Monica's win-loss record in Australia to an amazing 32-0. But it remains the only Grand Slam title she has won since the Stabbing.

Monica was upset by Iva Majoli 1-6 7-6 6-4 in the quarter-finals of the Tokyo Pan Pacific Open on 2nd February. I'm a big fan of Iva too, so I was delighted for her to score such a huge win and go on to win the tournament.

After that, Monica's left-shoulder injury flared up (requiring two hours of treatment a day for the rest of the year) and she didn't play again until Madrid in May, where she beat Barbara Schett 3-6 7-6 6-2 after saving match-points, but had to pull out before her semi-final match with Jana Novotn�. Her Golden Grand Slam campaign was hanging by a thread.

Monica got to the quarter-finals of the French Open with a magnificent 6-1 6-1 victory over Magdalena Maleeva in the fourth round, but lost 7-6 6-3 to Novotn�. Monica missed shot after shot, served poorly, and admitted she had "played scared". That was the day she lost not only her Golden Grand Slam, but also her aura of invincibility. It was only her fifth-ever defeat on clay!

Monica won the first grasscourt title of her career at Eastbourne, beating Meredith McGrath 6-2 6-4, Ines Gorrochategui 6-3 6-1, Nathalie Tauziat 6-4 6-4, and Mary Joe Fern�ndez 6-0 6-2 in the final. Her chances of winning her first Wimbledon title were looking good!

In the second round of Wimbledon, on 26th June, Monica suffered the biggest shock-defeat in Wimbledon history (until Jelena Dokic thrashed top seed Martina Hingis 6-2 6-0 at Wimbledon 1999) as she lost 7-5 5-7 6-4 to Katar�na Studen�kov�, an unheralded 23-year-old Slovakian that Monica was expected to brush aside with similar ease to when they met at the same stage of the Australian Open. But Studen�kov� played out of her mind with a sharp, powerful forehand, and a sliced backhand that died away on the slick green grass so that Monica couldn't unload her lethal groundstrokes.
����������� Monica, for her part, played an erratic match, every brilliant winner followed by an error, not least when she was 4-2 up in the third set after a 40-minute rain-delay at 3-2. The match was absolutely mesmerising, for it had a theatrical quality and the tension was unbearable. And nervous though I was, I couldn't help noticing that Studen�kov� was extremely pretty. I didn't want to have feelings for her, but I couldn't get her out of my mind for three years - not until Jelena exorcised the ghost of this match by beating Studen�kov� in the second round of Wimbledon 1999.

Monica also fell well short of winning Gold at the Atlanta Olympics, where she was the top seed. She beat Li Chen 6-0 6-4, Patricia Hy-Boulais 6-3 6-2 and Gabriela Sabatini 6-3 6-3, but suffered a recurrence of her Paris nightmare against Jana Novotn� in the quarter-finals, losing 7-5 3-6 8-6 after serving for the match at 5-4. But I have to hand it to Novotn�, who played a great match.

Monica got her chance to avenge her Wimbledon defeat in her very next match on the WTA Tour, as she beat Studen�kov� 6-2 6-0 at Montr�al. She went on to beat Sabatini 7-6 6-1, Magdalena Maleeva 6-4 6-2, Yayuk Basuki 6-0 6-3, and Arantxa S�nchez Vicario 6-1 7-6 in the final to defend the title she won on her return to the tour in 1995.

Monica was runner-up at the US Open again, beating Anne Miller 6-0 6-1 (followed by a walkover against Laurence Courtois), Dally Randriantefy 6-0 6-2, Sandrine Testud 7-5 6-0, Amanda Coetzer 6-0 6-3 and Conchita Mart�nez 6-4 6-3 before losing to an on-form Graf 7-5 6-4 in the final.

Monica won Tokyo Nichirei beating Mana Endo 6-4 6-4, Naoko Sawamatsu 6-1 6-4, Kimiko Date 6-3 1-6 7-6, and Arantxa S�nchez Vicario 6-1 6-4 in the final.

Monica then led the United States of America to Fed Cup victory for the first time in her career. Monica had made her Fed Cup d�but in the semi-finals in July, beating Ai Sugiyama 6-2 6-2 and Kimiko Date 6-0 6-2 as the USA beat Japan 5:0. Now she was instrumental in a victory over Spain in the final, beating Conchita Mart�nez 6-2 6-4 in the opening rubber, and Arantxa S�nchez Vicario 3-6 6-3 6-1 in the third rubber to seal an unassailable 3:0 lead for the USA, who won the tie 5:0 thanks also to the singles skills of Lindsay Davenport, and the doubles skills of Mary Joe Fern�ndez and Linda Wild.

All seemed to be well again, but Monica was still troubled by the chronic left-shoulder injury she'd picked up at the Australian Open. In October she began a rehabilitation-programme to avoid surgery, but lost 6-3 6-3 to Jennifer Capriati in the semi-finals of Chicago, suffered a dispapsinating 6-2 6-0 loss to sixteen-year-old Martina Hingis in the final of Oakland, and retired at 4-5 against Kimiko Date in the first round of the season-ending Chase Championships.

The year that had such wishful beginnings for Monica had turned into a watershed. For the first time in her tennis-career she was assailed by the dreaded demon of doubt, unable to go for her shots like she used to as recently as when she won the Australian Open. She was still slow and overweight, and the shoulder-injury put a large question-mark over her future as she was unwilling to undergo surgery. She finished the year co-ranked number two.

Monica didn't defend her Australian Open title - not because of her shoulder, but because she had broken the ring-finger of her right hand at an exhibition-tournament in Brno in December 1996. This proved to be a blessing in disguise, because without playing her shoulder-injury cleared up without needing surgery.

Her father Karolj had stomach-cancer again and this time, tragically, it was terminal. He was seriously ill throughout 1997, and this adversely affected Monica's performances on court.

Monica began her season at the Lipton, where she reached the final with five victories including a 6-1 6-0 win over Barbara Paulus in the semi-finals, but was once again humbled by Martina Hingis, this time 6-2 6-1 in 44 minutes as Hingis ascended to world number one.

Monica was also runner-up to Hingis at Hilton Head but this time, on green clay, at least it was competitive: 3-6 6-3 7-6 after Hingis had led 5-2 in the third. Monica withdrew from Amelia Island with bronchitis, lost to Mary Pierce in the third round of the Italian Open, and at Madrid she was runner-up to Jana Novotn� 7-5 6-1.

At the French Open she reached the semi-finals with victories over Mary Pierce 6-4 7-5 and Mary Joe Fern�ndez 3-6 6-2 7-5, and when down fighting to Hingis 6-7 7-5 6-4, thus denying me a mouthwatering Grand Slam final between Monica and Iva Majoli, who beat Hingis 6-4 6-2 in the final! :-)

In the quarter-finals of Eastbourne, Monica lost to Brenda Schultz-McCarthy 7-5 7-5 in extremely windy conditions. It was the prelude to another disappointing Wimbledon, where she eased past the tasty Rachel McQuillan 6-0 6-2, struggled past Kristina Brandi 5-7 6-3 6-3, then suffered a traumatic 0-6 6-4 8-6 loss to Sandrine Testud in the third round.
����������� Monica was 5-2 up in the third set, served for the match at 5-3 when she was upset by a line-call, and squandered a match-point at 6-5. Monica was in tears at the press-conference, and it was a vivid illustration of how her father's illness robbed her of the inner strength which she would normally draw on in such a crisis.

After retiring in her semi-final of the exhibition-tournament in Mahwah due to back-spasms (she pulled out while leading Chanda Rubin 6-3 2-3), Monica suffered a rare defeat to Conchita Mart�nez in the quarter-finals of Stanford, then was runner-up to Martina Hingis 7-6 6-4 at San Diego.

Monica won her first title of 1997 at Manhattan Beach. She took revenge over Sandrine Testud 6-7 7-6 6-3, scored crushing victories over Natasha Zvereva 6-1 6-1 and Amy Frazier 6-0 6-2, and overcame Lindsay Davenport 5-7 7-5 6-4 in the final after saving match-point, just as she had done at Sydney 1996.

Monica won the 40th title of her career and her third Canadian Open in a row at Toronto, beating �sa Carlsson 6-2 6-4, Rita Grande 6-2 6-2, Conchita Mart�nez 6-2 7-6, and Anke Huber 6-2 6-4. But at Atlanta she pulled out before her quarter-final against Testud with a throat-virus and high fever.

Monica reached the US Open quarter-finals with a 1-6 6-2 6-2 victory over Mary Pierce, but fell to 11th seed Irina Spirlea 6-7 7-6 6-3 after missing two match-points in the second-set tiebreak.

Monica won the Tokyo Princess Cup with victories over Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-1 6-4, Natasha Zvereva 6-1 6-0, Naoko Sawamatsu 6-3 6-1, and Arantxa S�nchez Vicario 6-1 3-6 7-6 (7/5) in the final - although Monica was not happy with her serve and her movement. She also won the doubles with Ai Sugiyama, hammering Julie Halard-Decugis and Chanda Rubin 6-1 6-0 in the final.

The rest of 1997 was disappointing as Monica lost in the quarter-finals of Chicago to rookie Serena Williams, in the quarter-finals of Philadelphia to Irina Spirlea (again), and in the first round of the Chase Championships to Arantxa S�nchez Vicario 3-6 6-4 6-4. She finished the year ranked #5, and won the WTA's Most Exciting Player award.

Monica skipped the Australian Open to be with her dying father, who appointed Gavin Hopper as Monica's new coach.

As in 1997, she began her season at the Lipton, where she lost to Anna Kournikova 7-5 6-4 in the third round after clear leads in both sets. She reached the semi-finals at Hilton Head but lost to Irina Spirlea 6-4 1-6 7-6. She lost to Lisa Raymond in the third round of Amelia Island, 7-6 6-4 after Monica had led 5-0 in the first set.

Monica lost to Sandrine Testud 6-2 4-6 7-5 at the Italian Open, then heard that her father had taken a turn for the worse and flew home to join him. Karolj Seles died on 14th May, aged 64.

Still in mourning, but with the distraction of her father's illness behind her, Monica lived up to her reputation as the ultimate comeback-queen, honouring her father's memory by reaching the final of the French Open. Wearing his wedding-ring on a chain around her neck, Monica beat Annabel Ellwood 6-0 6-2 (only 12 days later), Marion Maruska 2-6 6-1 6-0, Barbara Schwartz 6-1 7-5, and Chanda Rubin 6-1 6-4. She reversed her 1996 quarter-final defeat against Jana Novotn� 4-6 6-3 6-3, and her 1997 semi-final defeat against Martina Hingis - who had won the previous three Grand Slam titles - with a fantastic performance to overpower the top seed 6-3 6-2. This was Monica's first win over Hingis after five defeats.
����������� All the cards seemed to be in place for Monica to win her fourth French Open and tenth Grand Slam title, but sadly she lost an emotional final to 1989 and 1994 champion Arantxa S�nchez Vicario 7-6 0-6 6-2 - a similar score to the US Open 1995 final.

Looking leaner and fitter than at any time since 1993, Monica swept through the first four rounds at Wimbledon beating Selesian player Mar�a Antonia S�nchez Lorenzo 6-3 6-4, Alexandra Fusai 6-1 6-1, Yayuk Basuki 6-2 6-3 and Sandrine Testud - who had beaten her at Wimbledon 1997 - 6-3 6-2. Monica was playing better all-court tennis than at any previous Wimbledon, and looked like a top contender for the title.
����������� But she was denied in the quarter-finals by Natasha Zvereva, who had beaten Steffi Graf in the third round. Zvereva played incredibly smart tennis, messing up Monica's rhythm with junk-shots and clever placements, while Monica looked confused and made many unforced errors on her way to a 7-6 6-2 loss.

Monica reached the semi-finals of Stanford losing to Venus Williams, and lost to Lindsay Davenport in the semi-finals of both Carlsbad and Manhattan Beach. Then she won her fourth Canadian Open in a row in spectacular fashion at Montr�al, beating Tara Snyder 6-2 6-1, Yayuk Basuki 6-3 6-3, Anke Huber 6-3 6-4, Martina Hingis 4-6 6-3 6-1 and Arantxa S�nchez Vicario 6-3 6-2 in the final.

Unfortunately it was third time lucky for Hingis at the US Open as she beat Monica 6-4 6-4 in the quarter-finals. By this time Monica had regained some of the excess weight that she had lost when she returned after the death of her father.

Monica won her third Tokyo Princess Cup in a row, beating Naoko Sawamatsu 6-3 3-6 6-3 (which sent Sawamatsu into retirement), Julie Halard-Decugis 6-2 6-1, Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-1 6-4, and top seed Arantxa S�nchez-Vicario 4-6 6-3 6-4 in the final. She also defended her doubles-title - this time with Anna Kournikova - beating Mary Joe Fern�ndez and Arantxa S�nchez-Vicario 6-4 6-4 in the final.

Monica reached the Moscow final with a 6-3 7-6 win over Sandrine Testud, but lost 7-6 6-3 to Mary Pierce. She reached the Philadelphia semi-finals with a 6-0 6-1 revenge over Natasha Zvereva, and fell 6-3 6-3 to Lindsay Davenport.

Monica beat Anna Kournikova 6-4 6-3 in the first round of the Chase Championships, where she was debilitated by a virus, and lost 1-6 6-4 6-4 to Steffi Graf in the quarter-finals. She finished the year ranked #6 and was voted WTA Comeback Player of the Year.

Monica sacked Gavin Hopper as coach in December.

Monica played her first Australian Open in three years, beating Tina Krizan 6-1 6-0, Alexia Dechaume-Balleret 6-1 6-4, Sabine Appelmans 6-3 3-6 6-4, Sandrine Testud 6-0 6-3, and in the quarter-finals she thrashed her old foe Steffi Graf 7-5 6-1. This was the first time Monica had beaten Graf since the Australian Open 1993 final, and the fifth time altogether, and it extended her win-loss record in Australia to 37-0. But sadly her perfect record was blemished with a 6-2 6-4 defeat by Martina Hingis in the semi-finals. Her unbeaten run of 33 matches in the same Grand Slam is a record for both women and men, and it was during the 1999 Australian Open that she overtook Suzanne Lenglen's record of 31 at Wimbledon, which had stood since 1926.

Monica reached the semi-finals of the Tokyo Pan Pacific Open, losing to Amanda Coetzer. She lost to Henrieta Nagyov� in the third round of Indian Wells, to Serena Williams in the fourth round of the Lipton, and to Elena Likhovtseva in the third round at Hilton Head. All these were straight-sets defeats to lower-ranked players.

Monica won her only title of 1999 at Amelia Island for the loss of fourteen games, beating Kveta Hrdlickov� 6-2 6-2, Alexandra Fusai 6-0 6-1, Amanda Coetzer 6-3 6-0, Conchita Mart�nez 6-0 6-1, and Ruxandra Dragomir 6-2 6-3 in the final.

Monica reached the semi-finals of the French Open beating Li Fang 6-2 6-4, Lubomira Bacheva 6-3 6-4, Mar�a Antonia S�nchez Lorenzo 6-1 6-4, Julie Halard-Decugis 6-1 7-5, and Conchita Mart�nez 6-1 6-4. She lost to Graf in a heartbreaking semi-final, 6-7 6-3 6-4.

Monica lost her opening match at Eastbourne 6-4 6-4 to Anne Kremer. At Wimbledon she made a highly impressive start, ploughing through Cristina Torrens Valero 6-3 6-1 (after 3-3 in the first) and Marlene Weing�rtner 6-0 6-0. But in the third round she ran into the hard-hitting seventeen-year-old Croatian, Mirjana Lucic, who played the match of her life to upset Monica 7-6 7-6 - Monica served very well, but was let down by her usually lethal returns.
����������� It's strange that every time Monica has played Eastbourne, she has lost before the fourth round of Wimbledon, and every time she has played Wimbledon without Eastbourne, she has reached at least the fourth round! 1999 was the last time Monica played Eastbourne, which is a shame for me as I only started attending it in 2002.

Monica's bid for a fifth consecutive Canadian Open was thwarted in the final at Toronto, where she lost 6-4 6-4 to Martina Hingis. At New Haven she was thrashed by Venus Williams 6-1 6-3 in the semi-finals, and at the US Open she lost to eventual champion Serena Williams 4-6 6-3 6-2.

Monica played on a winning Fed Cup team for the second time in her career. In the first round in April she beat Silvija Talaja 6-3 6-1, Iva Majoli 6-0 6-3, and she and Chanda Rubin beat Majoli/Talaja 6-3 6-2 in the doubles as the USA crushed Croatia 5:0. In the semi-finals in July she lost to Silvia Farina 6-4 4-6 6-4 as the USA beat Italy 4:1, pulling out of the rest of the tie with tendinitis in her right arm. Sadly, Monica did not have the honour of actually playing in the September's final (USA beat Russia 4:1), because although she was the world number five, three other Americans were ranked higher(!).

Monica was runner-up to Lindsay Davenport at the Tokyo Princess Cup in late September. Then she was sidelined for the rest of the year with a stress-fracture in her right foot - an injury that would trouble her for the rest of her career. She qualified for the Chase Championships but had to miss it due to the injury, and finished the year ranked #6.

Monica appointed Bobby Banck as coach in October 1999, having gone through 1999 without a coach.

Monica returned from a five-month injury lay-off at the end of February, by which time she had dropped just outside the top ten. She won her first tournament back, the IGA Superthrift Tennis Classic in Oklahoma, beating Francesca Lubiani 6-3 6-3, Sarah Pitkowski 6-0 6-0, Amanda Coetzer 6-1 6-2, and Nathalie Dechy 6-1 7-6 in the final. Another highly successful comeback.

Monica lost to Lindsay Davenport in the quarter-finals of Scottsdale, to Martina Hingis in the quarter-finals of Indian Wells, and suffered the worst defeat of her career to Hingis in the semi-finals of Miami, when she played on an injured ankle and couldn't run.

Monica bounced right back to defend her Amelia Island title, beating Anna Smashnova 7-6 6-0, Corina Morariu 6-3 6-1, Arantxa S�nchez-Vicario 6-1 6-3, Paola Su�rez 6-3 6-2, and Conchita Mart�nez 6-3 6-2 in the final. At Hilton Head she was beaten in the semi-finals 6-1 6-1 by a red-hot Mary Pierce who caught Monica on one of her sluggish days.

Monica won her third title of the year at the Italian Open where she beat Magdalena Maleeva 7-5 6-1, Anne-Ga�lle Sidot 3-6 6-1 6-1, Jelena Dokic (who had stunned Venus Williams 6-1 6-2 in the third round) 6-1 3-6 6-3, Corina Morariu 6-3 6-1, and Am�lie Mauresmo 6-2 7-6 in the final. The win elevated Monica to world number three.

At the French Open she beat Mauresmo again, 7-5 6-3 in the fourth round, but lost to eventual champion Mary Pierce 4-6 6-4 6-3 in the quarter-finals - a real disappointment as I and many other Selesians had a strong feeling that this was Monica's time to win her tenth Grand Slam title.
����������� This defeat created an intriguing qf-sf-f-sf-qf symmetry among the first five French Opens of Monica's Comeback. Furthermore there seemed to be a corresponding symmetry among the Wimbledons: 2r-3r-qf-3r-??. This pattern prophesied a second-round defeat at Wimbledon 2000!

I had a great desire to see Karina Habsudov� play again, and in April I had wished for a first-round match between Monica and Karina at Wimbledon, because that was the best and most attractive chance of Karina getting televised. My wish came true!! Monica and Karina did meet in the first round of Wimbledon, and it was a mouthwatering match of brilliant tennis from both players, Monica's serves and drive-volleys finally overcoming Karina's flairsome groundstrokes and spreading rallies to win 3-6 6-2 7-5.
����������� Fortunately the second-round Wimbledon prophecy did not come true, as Monica motored past Els Callens 6-4 6-4. She then caned a tearful Sarah Pitkowski, whom she had double-bagelled at Oklahoma, 6-0 6-3. In the fourth round she won an exciting Centre-Court match against Arantxa S�nchez-Vicario 6-3 6-4 - it was much tighter than the scoreline suggests.
����������� She started well against Lindsay Davenport in the quarter-finals, but suddenly ran out of gas after a marathon game to hold for 3-3 in the second set, and slid to a 6-7 6-4 6-0 defeat as Davenport found an extra gear.

Monica lost to Davenport again in the semi-finals of Stanford, and was runner-up to Venus Williams at both San Diego and New Haven (tendinitis of the left arm kept her out between these two tournaments). This completed an astonishing Noah's Ark pattern of defeats (Monica losing to the same player for exactly two losses in a row) stretching back to the Tokyo Princess Cup 1999!

Monica reached the quarter-finals of the US Open with a 6-3 6-4 win over Jennifer Capriati (just as she had at the US Open 1999, only 6-4 6-3), but was clearly intimidated by her previous meeting with Martina Hingis as she lost 6-0 7-5.

Having narrowly pipped Serena Williams for a berth in the singles at the Sydney 2000 Olympics (each country is allowed a maximum of three players, who qualify based on rankings), Monica reached the semi-finals for the loss of just ten games: Katalin Marosi-Aracama 6-0 6-1, Miriam Oremans 6-1 6-1, Nathalie Dechy 6-3 6-2 and Dominique van Roost 6-0 6-2. Unfortunately she ran into Venus Williams, who was already on a 30-match winning-streak, but Monica did take advantage of a loss of concentration extend Williams to three sets before losing 6-1 4-6 6-3.
����������� Monica then defeated Jelena Dokic 6-1 6-4 to win the Bronze Medal - the first Olympic medal of her career. I'm delighted that the BBC televised the second set of this match, because you couldn't get many better combinations of talent than Monica and Jelena on a singles court! :-)

All through 2000, Monica beat everyone she played except Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams and Mary Pierce - but never those four players. The game had stratified, with those four players in the top stratum, Monica and Serena Williams in the second stratum, and then everyone else. If Monica is going to overcome her current plateau of expertise and move into the top stratum, she needs to improve her mobility and her fitness (which can let her down in three-set matches). Sadly, her bid to do so has been undermined by a series of injuries, which make her rusty and vulnerable to losing to lower-stratum players.
����������� Monica desperately needed a confidence-boosting win over a player in the top stratum, because her inability to beat these players had become a mental as well as a physical barrier, especially Hingis whom she should have been able to blast off the court as the other power players could, but Monica was psyched out against Hingis after some dispapsinating losses. Perhaps the way to overcome this psychological barrier would have been to admit that she's psyched out against these players (which is not the same as admitting that she can't beat them, because it's important to believe that she can).

On 30th September 2000 - the Selebbath after she won the Bronze Medal - Monica beat Serena Williams 6-3 0-6 7-6 (7-1) in the Nortel Networks Challenge exhibition in Hong Kong! Williams had two match points at 6-5 40/15 in the third. This win gave Monica the confidence that she could beat the Williams sisters (she had never beaten either of them before). This win undoubtedly helped Monica overcome the mental barrier of not having beaten any players in the top stratum since 1998. It had been getting her down that she couldn't beat them even occasionally, even to the point of hinting retirement (Monica, don't even think about retiring!). I considered this win over Serena Williams, in an exhibition, to be a partial breakthrough... which eventually led to the 'total' breakthrough of beating Hingis, Jennifer Capriati, Venus Williams and Davenport on the tour in 2001 and 2002.

Monica had to retire from her Tokyo Princess Cup semi-final against Julie Halard-Decugis (the only non-top-stratum player she 'lost' to in 2000) on 7th October with tendinitis in both feet, which kept her out until the Chase Championships.

Monica had an amazing run to the final of the Chase Championships, having admitted that she wouldn't have played that week if it hadn't been such an important tournament: she believed it would be her last Chase Championships, as they moved to Germany in 2001 - a reprehensible decision by the WTA which I wrote a protest-letter about. Monica was very angry about it herself, resigning from the Players' Council in protest after they didn't even consult her about the move.
����������� Monica beat Sandrine Testud 6-3 6-4, Amanda Coetzer 6-3 6-4, Elena Dementieva 6-1 7-6, and nearly beat Hingis in a fantastic final which Hingis won 6-7 6-4 6-4.

Monica was on the winning Fed Cup team for a third time in 2000: with the semi-finals and the final both being played in the same week in November, she beat Justine Henin 7-6 6-2 in the first rubber as the USA defeated Belgium 2:1 in the semi-finals, and beat Conchita Mart�nez 6-2 6-3 in the second rubber as they defeated Spain 5:0 in the final.

On 28th November 2000, Monica beat Lindsay Davenport 6-4 6-4 in an exhibition-match in Denver, hitting 24 winners to Davenport's eight! It may have been just an exhibition, but this win over a top-stratum player was a great confidence-boost! :-)

Monica finished the year ranked #4.

Monica and Selesian player Jan-Michael Gambill took America to the final of the Hopman Cup by winning all three of their round-robin ties. On New Year's Day they beat Slovakia 3:0, Monica overcoming a game Karina Habsudov� 6-3 3-6 6-1; Monica and Jan-Michael beating Karina and Dominik Hrbat� 4-6 6-2 7-6. They beat Russia 2:1, Monica whelming Elena Likhovtseva 6-3 6-3; Monica and Jan-Michael beating Likhovtseva and Marat Safin 4-6 6-2 6-2. Monica was alarmed when a middle-aged man tapped her on the shoulder to ask for her autograph at the end of the USA v Russia tie. They beat Belgium 3:0, Monica beating Kim Clijsters 7-6 6-0; Monica and Jan-Michael beating Clijsters and Olivier Rochus 4-6 6-1 7-6. But they lost the final 1:2 to Switzerland, Monica losing to Martina Hingis 7-5 6-4, although Monica and Jan-Michael won the dead doubles rubber 2-6 6-4 7-6.

Monica lost to Am�lie Mauresmo in the quarter-finals of Sydney. She partnered Hingis in the doubles, and they scored a famous triumph over the Williams sisters in the first round: 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7/2) after saving four match-points. They also beat Lindsay Davenport and Corina Morariu 7-5 6-3 before Hingis withdrew injured before their semi-final.

At the Australian Open she won an exciting fourth-round against Justine Henin - a player on a 14-match winning-streak - 4-6 6-4 6-4 after being a break down in the third. But she lost to eventual champion Jennifer Capriati in the quarter-finals, 5-7 6-4 6-3 after being up a set and a break (Capriati is renowned for her 'second wind').
����������� Monica reached the semi-finals of the women's doubles with Martina Hingis, beating top seeds Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs 7-6 6-3 in the first round, then Jelena Dokic and Capriati 6-3 6-3; Kim Clijsters and Laurence Courtois 6-2 6-4; Nicole Pratt and Meghann Shaughnessy 6-0 7-5. The Williams sisters avenged their Sydney defeat 7-5 6-2 in the semis.

Monica successfully defended her Oklahoma title, beating Jennifer Hopkins 7-6 6-3, Alexandra Stevenson 6-3 6-4, Shinobu Asagoe 6-7 6-2 6-2, and avenging her Australian Open defeat by Capriati in the final 6-3 5-7 6-2.

Monica lost to Meghann Shaughnessy in the semi-finals of Scottsdale, and most surprisingly to Tathiana Garbin in the second round of Indian Wells.

Monica was sidelined for the next four months with another foot-injury - although she tried to come back at Madrid (where she lost her opening match to Rossana de los R�os), she had to miss the French Open and Wimbledon.

With a new coach, Mike Sell, Monica made her comeback at Stanford, beating Meilen Tu 7-6 6-2 and Lilia Osterloh 6-2 7-5 to reach the semi-finals, where she lost 6-4 6-2 to Lindsay Davenport.

She then enjoyed a spectacular couple of weeks, beating Jennifer Capriati 6-3 6-3 in the quarter-finals and Martina Hingis 6-3 6-4 to reach the final of San Diego, where she lost 6-2 6-3 to Venus Williams. She was also runner-up at Manhattan Beach, beating Serena Williams 6-2 3-6 7-6 (7/2) in the quarter-finals and Hingis 6-3 1-6 6-4 in the semi-finals, before losing to Davenport 6-3 7-5 in the final.

Monica reached the semi-finals of Toronto, beating Jelena Dokic 6-3 7-6 in the third round and Justine Henin 1-6 6-2 6-2 in the quarter-finals, but Serena Williams avenged her Manhattan Beach defeat 7-5 7-6. Monica rose to her highest ranking of 2001: #7.

But sadly her impressive preparations for the US Open didn't pay off, as she had an off-day in the fourth round and lost 7-5 4-6 6-3 to promising Czech teenager Daja Bedanov�.

Monica won Bahia beating Janette Hus�rov� 6-3 1-6 6-0, Tatiana Panova 6-1 6-0, Henrieta Nagyov� 7-5 5-7 6-3, and winning a mouthwatering final with Jelena Dokic 6-3 6-3 - the first-ever final between two of my players! :-)
����������� That was the week of the 11th September terrorist-attacks on New York. Monica subsequently pulled out of the Tokyo Princess Cup to avoid flying, though she did start travelling again sooner than other Americans such as Capriati, Davenport and the Williams sisters. The USA team controversially pulled out of the Fed Cup finals after the FBI advised them not to travel to Spain.

Choosing to play some lower-key tournaments as a fun way to end her season, Monica won her 50th career title at the Tokyo Japan Open, beating Yoon-Jeong Cho 6-2 6-3, Rita Grande 6-1 6-2, Ai Sugiyama 7-5 6-4 and Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-3 6-2. She won Shanghai the following week, beating Lenka Nemeckov� 6-0 6-0, Saori Obata 6-4 6-2, Stephanie Foretz 6-1 5-7 6-2, Alicia Molik 6-1 6-0 and Nicole Pratt 6-2 6-3.

Monica qualified for the WTA Tour Championships, but boycotted them as they were held in Munich, Germany. She finished the year ranked #10.

Monica was involved in a road-accident on 5th December. Monica was driving her car in Florida when a pick-up truck veered into her path. She and her mother Esther were treated in hospital for minor injuries. The truck-driver, Cynthia Bauman, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol.

Monica and Jan-Michael Gambill took America to the Hopman Cup final once again: in the round-robin they beat France 3:0 (Monica beat Virginie Razzano 6-3 6-4; Monica and Jan-Michael beat Razzano and Arnaud Clement 6-1 6-4), lost to Italy 1:2 (Monica lost to Francesca Schiavone 6-4 2-6 6-4; Monica and Jan-Michael beat Schiavone and Davide Sanguinetti 6-1 6-3) and beat Belgium 2:1 (Monica beat Kim Clijsters 4-6 6-4 6-2; Monica and Jan-Michael lost to Clijsters and Xavier Malisse 7-6 6-2). In the final they lost to Spain 1:2 (Monica beat Arantxa S�nchez-Vicario 6-1 7-6; Monica and Jan-Michael lost to S�nchez-Vicario and Tommy Robredo 6-4 6-2).

Monica enjoyed a spectacular Australian Open, where she reached her first Grand Slam semi-final since the French Open 1999 with victories over Patty Schnyder 6-1 6-2, Cara Black 6-1 6-1, and a 6-4 6-4 revenge over Francesca Schiavone. She was leading Ana Isabel Medina Garrigues 4-2 30/0 in the fourth round when the young Spaniard fell awkwardly and had to retire with a very nasty knee-injury.
����������� Monica scored her first-ever victory over Venus Williams 6-7 6-2 6-3 in the quarter-finals. Admittedly Williams was struggling with a hamstring-injury, but Monica defied a fever to play her best tennis in years. Sadly she lost out to the greater consistency of Martina Hingis in the semi-finals, who beat her 4-6 6-1 6-4.

Monica was runner-up to Hingis at the Tokyo Pan Pacific Open in another tough match, 7-6 4-6 6-3. Jelena Dokic scored her first-ever win over Monica 6-3 3-6 6-4 in the semi-finals of Paris.

Monica won her first title of the year at Doha, beating Maria Vento-Kabchi 6-2 6-3, Nicole Pratt 6-1 6-0, Alicia Molik 6-3 6-7 6-4, and Tamarine Tanasugarn 7-6 6-3 in the final. Her ranking rose to #6. But the following week she lost to Am�lie Mauresmo in the semi-finals of Dubai.

Monica lost to Hingis in the semi-finals of Indian Wells, denying me a mouthwatering final with Daniela Hantuchov�. At Miami she upset 4th seed Kim Clijsters in the quarter-finals before narrowly losing to top seed Jennifer Capriati 4-6 6-4 7-6 in the semis. At Charleston she suffered a shock third-round defeat to qualifier Stephanie Foretz 6-4 7-6.

Monica won the 53rd title of her career at Madrid, beating Marta Marrero 7-5 6-2, Anna Smashnova 6-3 6-2, Paola Su�rez 4-6 6-1 6-3, and Chanda Rubin 6-4 6-2 in the final.

It was at the French Open that Monica had her first (and latest) showdown with Daniela Hantuchov�. Monica overcame the flairsome Slovakian 6-4 7-5 in the fourth round. She lost 6-4 6-3 to Venus Williams in the quarter-finals. She reached #4 in the rankings - a position she was to hold until August.

Monica also reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, but was frustrated once again in her attempt to win the only Grand Slam that has eluded her, losing 7-5 7-6 to the talented Justine Henin in a match with two rain-delays.

Monica lost to Lisa Raymond in the quarter-finals at Stanford. She was then out until the US Open with another stress-fracture in her foot.

Monica reached the quarter-finals of the US Open, although she was made to battle by the dangerous Barbara Schwartz 1-6 7-6 6-2 in the second round, and she had a major wobble against Yoon-Jeong Cho in the third round, leading 6-1 5-1 but only winning 6-1 5-7 6-3.
����������� She then ended the Grand Slam career of Martina Hingis, who was struggling after recent ankle-surgery, 6-4 6-2 in the fourth round, then lost 6-2 6-3 to Venus Williams in the quarter-finals. If only she could have beaten Hingis at the Australian Open instead! ;-)

Monica's Bahia title-defence failed in the semi-finals against Eleni Daniilidou, then she was out for almost two months with her recurring foot-injury.

As in 2000, Monica returned in time for the season-ending championships, which had moved from Germany to Los Angeles despite a three-year contract, due to poor crowds in Munich. In the first round she scored a rare victory over Lindsay Davenport, saving seven match-points in the second set, which was decided by an amazing tiebreak, to win 3-6 7-6 (8/6) 6-3. She lost to Venus Williams 7-5 6-4 in the quarter-finals.

In December, Monica played in the Collins Cup at Dublin, a best-of-seven-rubbers contest between America and Europe to raise money for victims of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. America won 6:1, with Monica beating Anna Kournikova 7-6 6-4 and teaming up with Davenport to beat Iva Majoli and Barbara Schett 6-2 7-6.

Monica changed her coach from Mike Sell to David Nainkin at the end of 2002.

Monica finished the year ranked #7, and spoke out against the retirement-rumours that had been circulating in 2002: "As long as I can play Top 10, I'll play. The last three, four years have been good, except for a foot problem. But I'm injury-free now. And to have a good solid year like this is very encouraging. I know I have another three or four years if I want them. Retirement, it's not even crossing my mind. I'm just going out there because I love it."

Monica began the year by winning an exhibition-tournament in Hong Kong, beating sixteen-year-old Selesian player Peng Shuai 6-2 6-0, fifteen-year-old Maria Sharapova 6-3 6-0, and Chanda Rubin 5-7 6-1 6-2 in the final.

At the Australian Open, Monica seemed sharp as she thrashed Lubom�ra Kurhajcov� 6-0 6-1 in the first round. But she twisted her left ankle in the third game of her second-round match against qualifier Kl�ra Koukalov�, and couldn't move freely as she crashed out 6-7 7-5 6-3.

Monica reached the final of the Tokyo Pan Pacific Open, beating Ai Sugiyama 7-5 5-7 6-1, Lina Krasnoroutskaya 6-4 6-4 and Chanda Rubin 4-6 6-4 6-2. She was runner-up to Lindsay Davenport 6-7 6-1 6-2.

Monica failed to defend her Doha title, losing her opening match to Lina Krasnoroutskaya 7-5 7-5 as her ankle continued to bother her. But in Dubai, having beaten Francesca Schiavone 6-3 6-2 and Iroda Tulyaganova 6-1 7-5, she reversed 2002's semi-final loss to Am�lie Mauresmo as the defending champion retired of a thigh-injury with Monica leading 6-3 2-2. She gave Justine Henin-Hardenne a titanic struggle in the final, coming within two points of victory before losing 4-6 7-6 (7/4) 7-5. This put Monica at #10, having dropped out of the top ten for one week after losing her Doha title.

Monica sustained a stress-fracture in her left foot while practising at home, and was sidelined until Amelia Island, where she lost again to Henin-Hardenne 6-2 6-4 in the quarter-finals. On 17th March she had dropped from #10 to #12 in the rankings.

Monica beat Myriam Casanova 4-6 6-2 6-3 in the first round of the Italian Open, but retired whilst trailing Nadia Petrova 3-6 1-4 in the second round as her foot-injury flared up again. "It's a problem that comes and goes. I can't run at the level I need to."

Monica was determined to play the French Open and make another (one last?) push for her tenth Grand Slam title. She tried a new treatment on her foot with a laser. Ironically she drew Petrova again in the first round, and from 4-3 up in the first set, she slid to a 6-4 6-0 defeat in 40 minutes - her only defeat ever in the first round of a Grand Slam. Petrova was probably the most dangerous unseeded opponent in the draw, for she hits the ball extremely hard and went on to reach the semi-finals at the expenses of Jennifer Capriati and Vera Zvonareva.
����������� Monica admitted that this injury may force her to end her playing-career, but said: "This is not the way I would like to leave. Last year I had a very good year, and when I'm healthy I know I can play well, have good results, and still have real pleasure out there. I won't give up."

Monica did not play again in 2003. She missed Wimbledon and the French Open, and in September she announced that she would be out for the rest of the year, as she still could not run. She is unwilling to undergo surgery, but emphasised that she doesn't plan to retire: "I don't want to go out this way. Playing the Australian Open is my goal, but if that doesn't work out I'll probably return in Miami [in March 2004]."

By the end of 2003 Monica had dropped to #60 in the rankings.

Monica knew she wouldn't be able to rush her comeback from the stress-fracture in her left foot, which was in a soft cast until March. "I'm such an impatient person. But I know I need to slowly come back and see how it holds up under practice - not to push it and not to reinjure it. Retirement does go through my mind, because my brain wants to be out there, playing or practising, but my body says 'wait'. I have to listen to my body - I'm not 18 years old any more."

On 22nd March, Monica played an exhibition-match against Martina Navr�tilov� at Richmond, Virginia. Navr�tilov� won 6-4 7-6 (7/3). "I've got to take it very slowly. I've got to take baby steps. I have a tendency to go right into it, but I learned my lesson. I've got to be careful with this injury."

Due to her inactivity, Monica's ranking went into freefall. On 19th April she dropped out of the rankings altogether for the second time in her career, having played fewer than three tournaments in 52 weeks. Her final ranking before she dropped out was #223, but she should be eligible to return with an injury-protected ranking of #18, as she was ranked immediately after the French Open 2003.

Monica was hoping to play the French Open 2004, but wasn't ready. But her foot was "holding up well in practice", and on 28th June (second Monday of Wimbledon), she played tennis with John McEnroe on a grass court on a barge on London's River Thames in aid of Sport Relief.

On 8th-11th July, Monica played World Team Tennis, a quasi-exhibition team-competition featuring one-set rubbers that are played to 5 games instead of the usual 6, with a tiebreak at 4-4. Monica lost 5-4 (7/3) to Samantha Reeves, 5-0 to Viktoriya Kutuzova, 5-2 to Anik� Kapros, and also lost her three mixed-doubles rubbers. :-(

Monica was planning to play New Haven and the US Open, and at one point we were just a few days away from her possible return to the WTA Tour! Unfortunately, according to Charles Bricker of Sun-Sentinel.com her foot was "still not where she wanted it to be", her game was "extremely rusty", and "a source close to her now says it is very unlikely that she will ever play a professional match again." ':-(

In November, she said: "By January, I will make a decision. If I can't play then, I probably will retire. But not until January. I am trying to get ready to play this year. I don't want to talk about retirement because I am still trying so hard. I am not going into it with that frame of mind. I am trying to stay in a positive frame of mind. I have been feeling good. I have been hitting in the morning and then in the afternoon about three times a week. It is feeling better."

January passed without the dreaded announcement from Monica, who was then hoping to return to the WTA Tour in March or April.

She played two exhibition-matches against Martina Navr�tilov� in New Zealand, but lost them both (6-4 6-4 at Auckland on 1st February, and 4-6 6-2 6-4 at Christchurch on 3rd February). These were (to public knowledge) the only matches that she played in 2005.

In April, she said: "I have been training for the last six months, and am nearly fully recovered. It's very frustrating because you feel capable of returning but your body won't allow you to. The most difficult thing is knowing how to handle the setbacks on the way."

During a rain-delay at Wimbledon, Monica was interviewed on Centre Court. "My life is definitely in tennis. I'm still playing. I'm trying to give stuff back, coaching kids in America and Canada, but I'm also studying a little bit of architecture."

On 15th August, Monica attended a tribute to herself at the Rogers Cup in Toronto, marking the tenth anniversary of her first match back on the WTA Tour after the Stabbing. She was interviewed, and said: "I don't believe in official retirement. Once you retire, you really want to be retired. When I really feel I'm definitely retired, then it's retiring. But I don't feel I'm at that stage yet."

In December, Monica was practising five days a week, and said that she would either return to the WTA Tour in 2006 or retire at the end of 2006. "Right now I think I'm in the decision-stage of which way I'm going to go. It's not easy because if I do come back, I want to come back at a high level. I'm still training and trying, but at the same time I'm realistic. After 2006 then it'll be pretty sure and you have to move on."

2006 was a very quiet year for Monica-fans, as it passed without her playing so much as an exhibition-match, nor announcing her retirement.

Looking in great shape, and considerably slimmer than when she last played professionally, Monica hosted a special coaching-session for children at Barcelona on 21st May - the day before she presented the Laureus Sports Award for World Sportsperson Of The Year With A Disability to wheelchair-athlete Ernst van Dyk.

In an interview published in August, Monica said: "My foot is not looking too good, to put it simply. Reality's coming in there. But I've been trying really hard in the last few years. In the next few weeks or a month, I'm going to decide one way or the other. But it doesn't look too good."

But the year ended without her announcing any such decisions, which left open the possibility of a comeback in 2007.

In October, she was sighted at the WTA Japan Open in Tokyo, running a tennis-clinic for children and playing doubles-exhibitions with Maria Kirilenko.

On 7th November, Monica and Martina Navr�tilov� were among thirteen sporting legends who visited Alexandra, South Africa to meet children from the Laureus Sport for Good Projects.

On 5th April 2007, Monica beat Martina Navr�tilov� 7-6 (7/1) 2-6 [10/1] (Super tiebreak in lieu of third set) in an exhibition-match at Houston, Texas. Monica said: "Except for [a groin-pull], I am happy with everything and especially my foot. This was a good start, and I am looking forward to playing more.
����������� "My personal theory is: if you're retired, you're retired. You don't come back. And I don't feel like I'm ready to say that. I'm in such good shape. I only wish I was in this good a shape when I was playing. It's hard to accept that, just because of an injury, you're finished. For me, it's so simple: I just love to play tennis."

Monica beat Navr�tilov� in two more exhibitions in September: 6-4 6-2 at New Orleans on 14th September, and 3-6 6-3 [10/7] at Bucharest on 16th September.

On 2nd December - Monica's 34th birthday - she told the Los Angeles Times that she might play a limited number of tournaments in 2008, possibly starting with the Super Tier I at Miami in March. "I guess I kind of had two tennis-careers, and now perhaps a third. I certainly would not ever be able to do a full schedule again - because of the foot - but I'm thinking about the Slams and about some of the better tournaments that lead into them. I won't decide for sure until the beginning of the year and the Australian is certainly not possible. But Miami. Maybe."

But sadly it wasn't to be, as Monica announced her retirement from professional tennis on 14th February 2008: "Tennis has been and will always be a huge part of my life. I have for some time considered a return to professional play, but I have now decided not to pursue that. I will continue to play exhibitions, participate in charity-events and promote the sport, but will no longer plan my schedule around the WTA Tour. I look forward to pursuing other opportunities with the same passion and energy that fuelled my dedication to tennis, and to devoting more time to two of my passions: children and animals."