Monica Seles' Biography
[by James]|
Let us first start out by saying that this biography, like any other, is not word for word. We can only hope that the information that we have collected on Monica is in fact correct. The Early Years:
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At the time, Karolj worked as an artist/cartoonist to make money to support his family and Esther also worked to support the household. To make tennis fun for Monica, he used to draw Tom & Jerry cartoons on the tennis balls. He made tennis fun for her! While Monica was still learning; Zoltán after only a short time playing, became a top junior player in Europe. This was just the beginning of Monica's tennis career, this little girl who just loved to hit the ball. Little did they know at this time that Monica would go on to be one of tennis' all time greats. By the time she was 8, she had become the number 1 junior player in Yugoslavia. In the following two years, she had become the best junior player in the world. )
Nick Bolletteri first saw 12 year old Monica at the Sport Goofy tournament at Disney world in Florida. Nick and the Seles family met shortly afterwards and he invited her to come train with him for 2 weeks at his academy in Florida (for her to see what his academy was like). Unfortunately it cost a lot of money to attend and the Seles' were not ready for that. But one year later, Nick and Monica met up again and he offered Monica a scholarship to come train with him in Florida. At this time, Monica was the #1 junior player in the world and had already won the Junior World Championships a couple of times. This time he offered for her to come train at his academy for free - he just wanted her to train there no matter what, She was too good to pass. )
At the age of 13, Monica and her brother left Novi Sad for Florida. While in Florida and out of her father's supervision & coaching, Monica began to loose part of her game. Nick and his coaches were teaching Monica to use the then "normal" one hander instead of the 2 hands off both sides which was Monica's style. Five months later, Karolj came to visit and to see how things were going. Needless to say when he discovered how they had tried to change the way Monica played, he was outraged. He told the coaches "...this is how she plays." and that he would stay and work with Monica. By 1987, she had gotten her ground strokes back and was back on track winning again by using her natural stroke of 2 hands off both sides. Monica played her first amateur match in March of 1988 at the age of 14, just for experience. She won 7-6, 6-3! At the match, Steffi Graf, Gabriela Sabatini, and Chris Evert (who was to play Monica next if she were to win), all came to watch and see who was this girl! Monica lost to Evert in the next round, but showed the world that this was only the beginning! 1989: )
In February 1989, at 15 years old, Monica turned professional and entered the WTA rankings at #88 in the world. In only her 2nd tournament, she won her first professional tournament in Houston, TX, by winning her rematch over Chris Evert, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. This was the start of Monica's professional career and she never looked back! In her first Grand Slam attempt, the 1989 French Open, Monica fought her way through to the semi-finals to play the then #1 player in the world, Steffi Graf. Although Steffi won in a tough 3 set match, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, Monica's first Grand Slam attempt was an awesome display of what was to come in the following year. 1990: )
In 1990, Monica went on a winning streak to win the following tournaments one after another:
At the Lufthansa Cup (the German Open), it was the first time since the merge of East and West Germany that both sides were getting to come together and enjoy this match. Also attended by the president of Germany at the time. All came to watch their beloved Steffi Graf play the final, and hopefully win. Unfortunately for Graf, standing on the other side of the net was Monica who was riding her own winning streak into the final. Just 2 weeks before she had thrashed Navratilova at the Italian Open 6-1, 6-1. In the press conference Martina stated that she felt like she had "been run over by a semi-truck". Winning her 5th tournament in a row, Monica defeated Steffi Graf in Germany, 6-4, 6-3. And then went on to win the French Open over Steffi 7-6, 6-4! Her first Grand Slam title! Her winning streak was stopped by Zina Garrison at Wimbledon in the quarter-finals which went to 9-7 in the 3rd set. Then Monica went on to play the Virginia Slims of Los Angeles and won the title against Martina Navratilova 6-4, 3-6, 7-6. She then defeated her again in winning the Oakland California tournament, in straight sets 6-3, 7-6. Monica ended the year at the Virginia Slims Championships at Madison Square Garden and won over Gabriela Sabatini in a classic 5 set match 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. I would think at this point the other players began to take notice of Monica, because she had won 9 out of the 15 tournaments she entered in 1990 - and by the end of the year she was ranked #2 in the world. An amazing year! 1991: In 1991, Monica won the following tournaments:
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On March 11th, Monica became the youngest #1 player in the world (at the time) at 17 years 3 months, overtaking Steffi Graf and becoming only the 5th player in history to reach the #1 spot since the rankings were started in 1975. Playing at the Australia Open for the first time she got to the final and defeated Jana Novotna 5-7, 6-3, 6-1, in a outstanding 3 set match. Winning her second French Open she easily dispatched Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario 6-3, 6-4. She then skipped Wimbledon and was under a fire of controversy surrounding her disappearance. The reason given to Wimbledon authorities was that she had a "minor medical emergency". Media speculation in tabloids suggested outrageous explanations regarding her last minute withdrawal of Wimbledon - "she was pregnant, abducted by aliens, and that she was hiding out at the Donald Trump estate, etc". It was later explained that she had shin splints from accidentally hitting her shin with her racquet after a serve. Shortly after she appeared on the David Letterman show. David Letterman asked her questions regarding all the media speculation surrounding the Wimbledon withdrawl, as she explained what really happened and laughed it off. But then she showed up to play an exhibition and was photographed holding up a t-shirt that had the names of the grand slam events with Wimbledon scratched off, and the name of the exhibition tournament in its place. Monica later said that she didn't know what the shirt said and that a man from the exo gave it to her to hold up as she was taking media photographs. However, it was not good publicity and a lot of the UK was not happy either. At the US Open, the 17-year one-month age gap between Monica (17 years, 9 months) and Navratilova (34 years, 10 months), was widest in a Grand Slam final in Open Era. Monica went on to defeat Martina Navratilova 7-6 (7-1), 6-1, for her first US Open title. She squeezed in 3 more titles after the Open before arriving at the Year End Championships in Madison Square Garden in New York. She fought all the way to the final and defeated Martina Navratilova again, this time in a best of 5 set match. Monica won 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 6-0. It was an amazing end to another great season! She entered 16 tournaments and won 10 of them! She won the 3 Grand Slams that she had entered in 1991, the Australian Open, the French Open, and the U.S. Open. She now had won 4 Grand Slam titles and was the season ending #1 player in the world! 1992: )
At the Australian Open she had no problem defeating Aranxta Sanchez-Vicario in the Semifinal 6-2, 6-2, and then defeating Mary Jo Fernandez in the final 6-2, 6-3 for her second Australian Open in a row. Then she went on to win the Essen Classic, Evert Cup, Houston, Barcelona, Monica was pretty much dominating the tour. At the French Open she defeated Jennifer Capriati in the quarterfinals, then defeated Gabriela Sabatini in a tough 3 set match 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. In the final she played Steffi Graf in a classic 3 set match that went on to be one of the all time great matches, with Monica prevailing 6-2, 3-6, 10-8. Monica was now only the 2nd woman to have won the French Open 3 times in a row (since Hilde Sperling did it in 1935-37). Monica's celebration didn't last long since she was to play Wimbledon just a few weeks after the French. Unfortunately for Monica, the British were not too happy with her because of last years disappearance. Through out the tournament she was being harassed by journalist and media about the disappearance, and for the grunting during play. They even had a telephone number that you could call and record your own grunt like Monica, and the winning person got some prize. Then during her matches they had made up some mic and called it the grunt-o-meter that recorded the level of decibels of Monica's grunting. She also had a bomb threat - it was ridiculous. During the quarterfinals, Nathalie Tauziat complained to the chair umpire that Monica was being too loud. Which prompted Martina Navratilova during their Semifinal showdown to complain as well. This time the chair umpire gave Monica a warning. Later in the match Navratilova complained again prompting the chair umpire to bend over during a change over and tell Monica to keep it down - which she replied "I'm trying the best that I can". Monica eventually won the match 6-2, 6-7, 6-4. But in the rain soaked final, she made a big mistake and tried to be quiet during the match. The grunting controversy finally took its toll on her. She tried to go out there and be quiet since everyone acted as if the grunting was a big deal - but unfortunately it backfired, she was too bothered about trying to be quiet that her game lacked the sting that it usually does. She lost easily to Steffi Graf 6-2, 6-1. )
By the US Open she was back in full grunt again and winning as usual. Destroying her opponents each round with those amazing ground strokes and just losing a few games here and there. She gets to the final where she defeats Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario 6-3, 6-3 to win her 2nd US Open in a row! Then she goes on to win the Nichirei International, Bank of the West Classic, and the Year End Championships (for the 3rd time in a row) over Martina Navratilova 7-5, 6-3, 6-1. She ended the year again as the #1 player in the world. Won 10 out of the 15 tournaments she entered, duplicating her previous years success. She defended her titles all the way by winning again at the Australian Open, the French Open, and at the U.S. Open. She was the youngest player to have won 30 titles before her 19th birthday. 1993: Monica started 1993 off strong winning the Australian open (for the 3rd time in a row) & then winning the Virginia Slims of Chicago; but then a crazed Steffi Graf fan felt that Monica had to be stopped so that Graf could regain the #1 position which had been held by Monica for the past 2 years. So during a change-over at a match in Germany when she was sitting down, he stabbed her in the back very close to her spine. The wound healed quickly but the psychological effects took its toll on her and she went into seclusion for 2 1/2 years. 1995: After a fairly long absence from tennis and after becoming a U.S. citizen in 1994, Monica returned to the game in 1995. The tennis world was just so excited to have her back. Everyone was, except maybe her tennis opponents. She was co-ranked #1 with Graf and won her first tournament back (as a wildcard entry) at the Canadian Open losing a record 14 games through out the tournament. Playing in her first Grand Slam in over 2 years, she went on to battle Graf at the much anticipated U.S. Open Final; with Graf eventually winning in a tough 3 set match 7-6, 0-6, 6-3. Monica was just so excited to be back playing tennis again, and so was the tennis world. Tennis thrived again because Monica was back! The game needed her. 1996: )
In 1996, Monica started off great by winning the Australian Open for the 4th time (her 9th Grand Slam title). She also won in Sydney over Lindsay Davenport, Eastbourne (her 1st grass tournament win) over Mary Jo Fernandez, the Canadian Open (defending title) over Anke Huber, and in Tokyo at the Nichirei International over Kimiko Date. She got to participate at the Olympics representing the USA - She defeated Gabriela Sabatini in the 3rd round before falling to Jana Novotna in the quarters. She also teamed up to play Fed Cup through out the year which helped the USA team win the title over Spain, winning the final match over Sanchez-Vicario. But retired during the Year End Championships 1st round against Kimiko Date due to left shoulder pain. Then during a warm up before an exhibition with Martina Hingis while practicing serves, broke her right ring-finger when she tried to catch a ball in mid flight after Hingis served. 1997: Then due to the broken right ring-finger sustained during practice in December 1996, was unable to defend her Australian Open crown and kept her out of game until March. Resulting in her ranking falling out of Top 5 (at No. 6) for first time (while playing) since March 25, 1990. Returned at Miami, reaching the final there for first time since winning in 1991; and then made it to the final of Hilton Head, but lost to world No. 1 Martina Hingis 7-6 in the third. During her 4th round win over Mary Pierce, we (Ronny and James) became fans of Monica and started watching tennis and following her results. She got all the way to the semifinal and extended Martina Hingis to 3 sets but lost 6-7, 7-5, 6-4. Monica then won back-to-back titles to win the Acura Classic over Lindsay Davenport, the Canadian Open (for the 3rd time in a row) over Anke Huber, and she again won the Tokyo Princess Cup over Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario; elevating her back to No. 2 in the world. A 14-match win streak was halted in the US Open quarterfinal where she held match point on Irina Spirlea before falling 6-7, 7-6, 6-3. She went on to win the Tokyo Pricess Cup and then lost a tough 3 set battle against Aranxta Sanchez-Vicario in the 1st round of the Year End Championships 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. 1998: )
In 1998, we (Ronny & James) started MonicaSelesSite.com. She missed the first three months of season due to her father's battle with cancer. Then right before the French Open was to start, Monica's father passed away from a 5 year battle with cancer. He left this earth a wonderful and compelling person who would have done anything to bring happiness to his family and to all that knew him. Monica not only lost her father and coach, but also her best friend. God bless him. Monica entered the 1998 French Open just days after her father's death with little and lots of hope. She, with her father's wedding ring bouncing around her neck, made it all the way to the final. Every match she was getting condolences from opponents, friends, and fans who knew what she was going through (Which I am sure made it harder for her to concentrate on tennis). Playing fairy-tale like tennis throughout the tournament, she demolished Martina Hingis in the semifinals 6-3, 6-2, and made it all the way to the final but lost to Aranxta Sanchez-Vicario in 3 sets. She went on to win the Canadian Open for the 4th time and also won both the singles & doubles at the Tokyo Princess Cup. The end of 1998 brought Monica to the Year End Championships, Monica faced Steffi Graf for the 1st time since the 1996 US Open final. They played each other in the 2nd round after Monica defeated Kournikova in the 1st round 6-4, 6-3. Monica came out blasting the ball all over the place and took the 1st set 6-1. Graf came back to win the 2nd set with a tough 6-4. Both players were hitting winners and playing great tennis till the end, and then Graf got a couple of balls her way and won 6-4 in the 3rd (for a 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 win for Graf). 1999: )
Monica started 1999 off with a trip to the Australian Open for the 1st time 3 years. She had never been defeated in Australia ever. Blasting her way through the draw, she met back up with Steffi once again in a very much anticipated quarterfinal match. Monica and Steffi played some outstanding tennis once again, but this time Monica was victorious in straight sets. After coming back from behind in the 1st set to win 7-5, Monica just rolled Steffi in the 2nd set 6-1 (for a 7-5, 6-1 win for Seles). Monica had placed herself in the semifinals of the Australian Open once again, and was still undefeated with a 33-0 Australian win streak! Waiting in the semifinals was Martina Hingis who was also riding her own Australian success story. Monica lost to Hingis on a hot and sunny day 6-2, 6-4 breaking her winning streak and putting Hingis in the final, where she went on to win her last Grand Slam. After the Australian Open, Monica struggled a little in 1999. She was a part of the winning Fed Cup team this year, playing for her country the United States in the 1st round vs Croatia. She defeated Croatian players Talaja 6-3, 6-1 and Majoli 6-0, 6-3 to help the United States progress in the draw and defeat Croatia. At the 1999 French Open, Monica fought all the way to the Semifinals with impressive ground strokes and her famous never quit attitude. Monica's opponent on the other side of the net was once again, Steffi Graf. This time after Monica won the 1st set 7-6, Graf came back to win 6-7, 6-3, 6-4. Although winning some big matches throughout the year, Monica's only title came at the Bausch & Lomb Championships over Roxandra Dragomir 6-2, 6-3 in the final. 2000: )
In 2000, Monica was a new player reaching at least the quarterfinal or better in all 16 events played! Going on to win her 1st title of the year at the IGA Super Thrift Oklahoma Tournament (Ronny & James attended, 1st time to see Monica). Then won the Bausch & Lomb Championships again, and won the Italian Open for the 1st time in 10 years when she defeated Amelie Mauresmo 6-2, 7-6; moving her back to No. 3 in the world! To top it all off in 2000, she won the Olympic Bronze medal in Sydney Australia over Jelena Dokic 6-1, 6-4! Monica was again apart of the winning Fed Cup team in 2000 and helped the United States defeat Spain in the Fed Cup Final. Monica also changed sponsors from Nike to Yonex in mid 2000 and it seemed to change her attitude and her play. Possibly playing in her last year end Championships, since the year end Championships was to be moved to Germany where Monica has stated she won't play. Monica fought her way to the final where she lost a tough 3 set thrilling match to Martina Hingis. Dressed from head to toe in Yonex now, she picked up former pro Player Mike Sell as a coach and was now ready for the 2001 season! 2001: ) Monica reached six finals in 2001, winning four titles. She began by reaching the quarterfinals of Sydney in the singles draw, and ending the Williams sisters' 22-match win-streak in doubles when she paired up with Martina Hingis for the first time. At the Australian Open, she lost to eventual winner Jennifer Capriati in quarterfinal match after leading 7-5, 4-2. In doubles, Seles and Hingis paired up again and defeated reigning champions Raymond/Stubbs in the 1st round before falling to the Williams sisters in the semifinals; who were out to avenge their Sydney loss, from a week before to Seles/Hingis. After Australia she went on to defended her Oklahoma City title (defeating Jennifer Capriati in the final). She then suffered a right-foot stress reaction after Indian Wells that caused her to withdraw from six tournaments, including Roland Garros and Wimbledon. She returned to the tour at Stanford after months off, reaching the semifinal. But it was at San Diego where she put together some of her best results since 1998, in defeating Jennifer Capriati 6-3, 6-3 and then world No. 1 Martina Hingis 6-3, 6-4. At the Los Angeles tournament, Monica saved 6 match points against Serena Williams in a titanic 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 quarterfinal win. And in the semifinal she defeated Martina Hingis again in 3 sets but lost to Lindsay Davenport in final. Despite her earliest loss in 11 years at the US Open (4th round to Bedanova), she went on to captured consecutive titles in Bahia, Japan Open (becoming eighth woman in Open Era to win 50 career titles) and Shanghai, these titles coming at the end to wrap up a great season! She then chose not to play the season-ending Championships in Munich, Germany for obvious reasons. 2002: Monica must have been preparing for her 2002 debut, because she came out blasting her ground strokes in all corners at the Australian Open. She ended Venus Williams 24 match win-streak with a fantastic 3 set quarterfinal win 6-7(4-7), 6-2, 6-3. However in the semifinal, she lost to Martina Hingis in 3 sets. She went on to Tokyo where she reached the final [Pan Pacific], before falling to Hingis again in 3 sets. Her 52nd title overall came in Doha, defeating Tamarine Tanasugarn in the final 7-6, 6-3! In Miami, she came from 5-7, 4-2 down to defeat Conchita Martinez in the 2nd round, and defeated No.5 ranked Kim Clijsters 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 before falling to then world No. 1 Jennifer Capriati in a massive 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) battle in the semifinal (after holding 2 match points). )
Representing the USA in 2002 Fed Cup vs. Austria (Ronny & James attended, 2nd time to see Monica), and With the controversy of Jennifer Capriati getting kicked off the team the night before and them being 0-1 down already, all hopes were on Monica. She unfortunately lost against Barbara Schwartz and gave the Austria team a chance to defeat Meghann Shaughnessy and win the meeting with the USA team, which they did. She did come back the next day and won a singles match and doubles match but it was too late to save the team vs Austria. She withdrew from the Italian Open with a stomach virus but came back to win Madrid, her 53rd title of her career moving her back up to world No. 4. Monica then teamed back up to play Fed Cup again, to keep USA in the world group after the loss to Austria. She won two singles matches in USA's win over Israel to secure a spot in the 2003 World Group. I think Monica really needed to play and win these 2 singles matches for her own self, after the loss to Austria a couple of months ago. I assume these 2 matches vs Israel were very important to Monica, and she won them with no problem putting the USA back in the world group. At the US Open, recovering from 6-1, 4-3 deficit to avenge the April Fed Cup loss to Barbara Schwartz, she won 1-6, 7-6, 6-2, which had the New York crowd jumping out of their seats! she then defeated Martina Hingis 6-4, 6-2 in the 4th round in a crushing display of power over the Swiss player, before losing to Venus Williams in the quarterfinal. She then withdrew from Zurich with a right foot injury and returned to the tour at the season-ending Championships which was moved back to the United States (Los Angeles). Her 12th time to qualify and ninth appearance; Saved 7 match points to defeat Lindsay Davenport in the 1st round 3-6, 7-6, 6-3. She eventually lost in the quarterfinal to world No. 2 Venus Williams 7-5, 6-4 after leading 4-1 in the first set. Retirement talk circulated around at the Championships, that this might possibly be Monica's last year end Championships. Monica then stated in a press conference at the end of 2002 that she is not ready to retire. She said that she feels like she can win a couple more Grand Slams and is still in the top 10 in the world. She is very much looking forward to the new 2003 season, and just picked up a new coach. She will play in Hong Kong and then to the Australian Open, from there, I will go to Tokyo and where ever life takes me. 2003: )
Monica then traveled to China to play the 2003 Hong Kong Ladies Challenge, and won. She defeated new upstart Maria Sharapova in the Semifinal 6-3, 6-0, and then defeated Rubin in the final. After Hong Kong she went to the Australian Open and twisted her foot during her second round match. Even though she was hurt, she played on with her ankle taped up but lost in a tough three set match. Two weeks later she got to the final of Toray Pan Pacific, but lost in three sets to Davenport. Then she got to the final of Dubai Duty Free Open, but lost another tough three set match. Monica held match points against Justine Henin-Hardenne in the second set, but couldn't convert and eventually lost 7-5 in the third set. The foot injury starts to flair up, but Monica manages to win her 1st round match in three sets at the Italian Open. Monica states in a press conference that she is having pain in her left foot. She ends up having to retire in her second round match due to the foot. With the lingering foot injury still giving her problems on and off, Monica goes ahead and plays the 2003 French Open, but loses in the 1st round. Unable to scramble around enough, she goes down in straight sets. After that match, Monica decided to take the time off the tour to heal this stress reaction in her left foot. Monica was gone from the tour from May 2003 until... 2004:
She signed on to play the exhibition with Martina Navratilova in Virginia called "Raise a Racquet, for charity on March 22, 2004. A way to test the foot after almost a year from playing competitively. She would play a doubles and singles match, and the night before they would sign and auction off tennis memorabilia for charity. We heard about the news of Monica signing on to play, so we decided to go for it and go see Monica for the 3rd time! Tickets got ordered, booked our flights, started counting down the days until the exhibition! We attended the event with a friend that we met through our Monica Seles Forum. She invited us to stay with her while we were in town, which was very nice of her to do that for us (thank you Jenz!). We all had bought tickets to the silent auction on Sunday evening, as well as tickets to the exhibition matches the following night. All four of us (Ronny & I, Jenz, and her husband) arrived in great anticipation to see Monica and maybe talk to her. As we were walking down the stairs to the floor, Monica and her mom, and Martina Navratilova, were standing at the bottom of the stairs! There were people all around them getting a chance to reach out their hand and say whatever they wanted to say, to these two tennis legends. So we scooted through the crowd and when we got an opportunity, Ronny reached out his hand as did she, and we all got to meet her and have our pictures taken with her! She was very kind and interested in what we had to say. Ronny and I got to tell her about our website dedicated to her, and that we had seen her play in Oklahoma, in 2000 - and that we saw her in 2002 also, at Fed Cup. We also told her that we were three of the people that sent the "Well wishes" and "Birthday wishes" to her a couple of months ago (we did receive an email from her assistant in January passing on a message from Monica, that said that Monica got them and that she has been reading them while recovering from her foot injury! And that she liked the 2004 Monica Tribute DVD that we sent!). She was very excited to hear that we sent those messages to her, surprised and excited - she thanked us for doing that. She even asked us to write down our website address, so that she could check it out! Later in the evening, she approached us again and invited us to hit some tennis balls with her the next morning!!!!
It was a dream come true for us to meet Monica, get to really talk to her, and then hit tennis balls with her! WOW! We never expected that we would get to do this. We had great expectations going into this trip. You always have dreams that you would love to meet Monica and have her invite you to go play tennis with her.....but you never really think that it could become reality. And that's exactly what happened on that magical two days. It is something that we will never, ever forget. Unfortunately Monica lost the singles match but won the doubles match, and as the months passed by after the exhibition Monica did not come back to the tour - but her assistant sent us another email from Monica thanking us for coming to Virginia to support her! The stress fracture in her foot had not healed all the way. But she did sign up to play 2 more exhibitions with Martina Navratilova early next year to test the foot again. 2005: )
Traveling down to New Zealand for the 2 tennis exhibitions early in the year with Martina Navratilova, Monica looked so trim and fit. It was obvious to fans and media that Monica had really slimmed up even more than when we all saw her at the "Raise a racquet" exhibition. Laughing at Martina's antics on the court and having a great time at both exhibitions, Monica fought hard but still lost both events. The foot was still not ready, neither was she. It was too soon. So she filled her time off the court with charity work, sponsor obligations, tv appearance's, fashion shows, movie premiers with other celebrities - Monica was everywhere but on the tennis court. During the women's Canadian Open tournament, Monica was given an award for her achievement in Canada for her 4 wins in a row (95-98). It was a wonderful gesture to commemorate a great champion. Fans and Media that were hoping she would make a comeback, were sad to see another year go by and Monica was not back on the tour. 2006: 2006 was much the same as 2005, although there were no exhibitions. But Monica did not stay hidden though, she was everywhere again. Sponsor obligations and Charity work filled most of her year with articles coming out every month wondering if she will ever return to the tour again. And if it was possible, media speculation and tennis fans alike speculated that maybe she was too thin now. Monica was sporting a physique like back in her teen days - trimmer than ever. The articles usually stated that she was still practicing and hoping for a return but, unsure whether or not it would happen. 2007: )
At the beginning of the year, a few articles came out saying that Monica and Martina Navratilova were to play a series of exhibitions throughout the year for charity. Then in March an article came out saying that they were set to play their first exhibition at the River Oaks Country Club in Houston, Texas on red clay. Since we (Ronny & James) live in Texas, we definitely wanted to buy tickets and attend! So we did. We didn't think we would have the dream meeting we had in 2004 - but still hoping we might get to talk with her again, but we didn't want to get our hopes up too much. So we brought 2 framed pictures that we had taken with her in Virginia and a doll that looked like a little Monica playing tennis. Luckily we did because we got to talk to her right before the match. We gave her the doll and talked about our last meeting. We told her that we had the 2 pictures that we had taken with her in 2004 but it was in the car, because we didn't know if we would get to talk to her. She wanted to see them and asked if we could get them and she would see us after the match. It was another great moment for Ronny and I, and it was very nice of her to speak with us before the match cause she didn't do that for anyone else. After she won the match over Navratilova 6-7, 6-2, 10-1, she started walking towards the court exit and we noticed that she had the doll attached to her Yonex bag! Ronny and I were so excited! She stopped and signed the photos of us together and we told her how excited we were to see the doll on her bag - she posed for another picture with the doll and wished us a safe trip back home. It was another amazing moment for us. Words can not express how excited we were. Then in June, another article came out saying the next stop on the series of exhibitions with Seles and Navratilova would be in New Orleans, Louisiana. Well the state of Louisiana is just right next to us, so we (Ronny & James) got tickets and drove to New Orleans. Now this time we really thought, "lets not get our hopes up, we are just going to go and enjoy watching her play". )
Monica won again! This time in straight sets. Monica was amazing, slamming balls in the corners, hitting passing shot winners. Martina Navratilova fought hard with drop shots and her classic net rushing, but could not keep up with the power coming from the other side. Monica won 6-4, 6-2. We were in the first few rows and after Monica won the singles and the crowd was cheering her on - Ronny and I yelled out "we love you Monica", she saw us and motioned that she would talk with us after the doubles match. They ended up playing with a few college players with Monica teaming with one and Martina the other. They just played a fun couple of games and I think the match was given to Navratilova's team because they did a next point wins kind of thing and Navratilova's team won it. It wasn't important, just for fun and to fill up the time left. Monica started signing autographs after it was over and she motioned for us to come over the railing. We complimented her on her play that evening and how well she was striking the ball. She said that once she won the first set she got her rhythm going more. We talked a little longer, got our pictures taken, wished her a safe trip to Romania and said our goodbyes. She spent a good amount of time talking with us and a guy named Michael that we met there - she seemed to enjoy the reunion. We did too! She is such a nice person (its hard to describe in words), she makes you feel like you are the only person in the world when she is talking with you - she gives you her full attention and seems genuinely interested and asks questions. A wonderful person to talk with. In November, she won "The Fan Favorite" award voted by the fans online over other tennis legends like Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Venus and Serena Williams. The poll results were broadcasted on Open Access show on The Tennis Channel. Just recently this month (Dec. 2007), and article was released the day after Monica's 34th birthday stating that she would like to try and return to competitive tennis next year. "I certainly would not ever be able to do a full schedule again, because of the foot," she said, "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." Is there another chapter in Seles' career, only time will tell. Until then... We would just like to mention how kind and generous of a person you are, especially to your fans! Thank you for the hearts you have touched with your life and amazing courage. We thank you for giving us the love and appreciation for the game of tennis, and if you ever want to hit some tennis balls around again, just send us an email - we are ready when you are! ^ James & Ronny ^ |
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