It was a sad day in tennis today as Monica Seles announced her retirement from the game. Though she hasn’t played competitively since the 2003 French Open, Seles always held out hope for a return to the WTA Tour. She maintained that she would not return if she couldn’t play at a level which she was happy with and wouldn’t be a shadow of her former self. Foot injuries were the reason why she called it quits.
“I have for some time considered a return to professional play, but I have now decided not to pursue that.” said Seles in a statement.
Seles stormed onto the WTA Tour, winning in her first event, beating Chris Evert in the finals (side note: I have that match on DVD, it’s really cool to see them go at it). Seles won the 1990 French Open at 16 and became the number 1 ranked player in the world in 1991, then the youngest player to do so. Seles did more than just win 9 Slams and 53 singles titles. In 1990 when she won the French, she became a legitimate rival to Steffi Graf. Graf at the time was routinely whooping players left and right and without Seles, the WTA Tour may have become a 1 woman show. Thankfully, Seles and Graf provided tennis with a much needed rivalry that produced some incredible matches.
It was clear though after her return from her stabbing in 1993 that she wasn’t the same player. She reached the finals of the 1995 and 1996 US Opens, won the 1996 Australian Open and reached the finals of the French in 1998.
Seles led the United States to Fed Cup wins in 1996 and 2000, she also won a bronze medal at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.
Seles also had the displeasure of being involved in one of the worst moments in ESPN history. At the 1996 ESPY awards, Seles was up for Comeback of the Year. Given that she was stabbed, endured incredible emotional trauma and came back at the highest level, you would think she would have won, no contest. Nope. The award went instead to Michael Jordan. Michael Freaking Jordan. Jordan who retired voluntarily in 1993 (he claimed a lack of desire for his reason to retire…look on the bright side, at least he wasn’t stabbed), came back to a team sport and he won the award. What a freaking joke. The ESPY’s also picked Julie Crone, a stupid jockey, as the best female athlete in 1994 over Steffi Graf. Graf was also passed over in other years by Bonnie Blair (seriously?), Rebecca Lobo and Amy Van Dyken. Apparently being great isn’t a requirement for winning an ESPY. And they wonder why people don’t consider it to be a legitimate award. Anyway, I digress.
Seles’ influence is certainly seen on the WTA Tour today. She brought in the power game seen by the Williams’, Sharapova and others. Not to mention the grunting heard by so many players today. Still, this is a great loss for the game as one of the greatest players has ridden into the sunset.