Monica Seles makes her move

By Sandra Eggers Sports Central Columnist

At the age of 15, she reached the semifinals of the first Grand Slam event she entered. One year later, she came back to win the title.

By the age of 19, she was dominating the world of women's tennis and had already collected eight Grand Slam singles titles. Monica Seles was destined to become one of the greatest players ever.

That's when "it" happened.

On April 30, 1993, during a change-over at a tournament in Germany, a crazed Steffi Graf fan somehow made it onto the court where Seles was playing and stabbed her in the back. Seles would be emotionally and physically scarred forever.

She started playing again two-and-a-half years after the incident, almost picking up where she left off. Though most observers felt that it wasn't the same Monica, she was competitive from the moment she walked on the court.

She won her first tournament back, and reached the finals of the U.S. Open that same year, then went on to win her fourth consecutive Australian Open title in 1996.

As if she hadn't been through enough, in May 1998, her beloved father and coach Karolj passed away. Just a few weeks later, Seles showed what a true champion is made of as she competed at the French Open in his honor, and made a run all the way to the finals. Though she didn't win the title, she won the hearts of every tennis fan across the world.

Seles continues to play today, as she did then, because of her great love of the game that her father Karolj instilled in her.

During recent years, Seles has had mixed results at major events, but has not been nearly as dominant as she once was.

Her love of tennis was always there, but the commitment wasn't. With pinpoint accuracy on her ground strokes, Seles was able to hang with the top players, but her conditioning was suspect in long matches.

She was no longer a threat to come through the big tournaments, especially with the new girls on tour who had her same power, but were even more fit and had better movement.

Through much of 2000 and early in 2001, Seles has battled through numerous injuries. Her most recent occurrence kept her off the tennis court and forced her to off-court conditioning during the recovery.

She has hired a fitness trainer and is making remarkable strides in improving the physical part of her game. Though she still has a ways to go with her conditioning, Seles is already seeing improved results.

After returning from her most recent injury earlier this year, Seles pounded her way through the summer hardcourt season leading up to the U.S. Open. She has wins over Jennifer Capriati (twice this year), Martina Hingis (twice in two weeks) Justine Henin, and Serena Williams. She consistently reached the finals and semifinals of the summer events, and looks ready to go deep into the draw of the final Grand Slam event this year in New York.

The old Monica isn't back, but the new and improved version has made her debut. Seles may not take the U.S. Open title this year, but watch out in 2002 at her "home away from home" in Australia.

Article courtesy of Sports Central.