Goodbye to Monica; we were lucky to have her

Monica Seles officially retired. This is sad - especially considering that recently there was talk of a comeback. It had been over 5 years since she played apparently so one would not really expect too much in the comeback arena, but still how nice it would have been to see her pounding the ball, double-fisting from both sides. She has even slimmed down again, which was inspiring.

Anyway, I just love Seles for every reason imaginable. Her entrance to the tour, blowing everyone off the court with her power, and let's face it, she certainly should be credited for raising the level of play of everyone who came after her - or at least the strength and power. Granted, it was inevitable, but she certainly revolutionized this. Everything about her is just so interesting, even beyond her fierce groundstrokes. Off the court, she seemed like a non-stop gigglefest. I often wondered how she could be so tough on the court when afterwards, it didn't seem like she took anything seriously. There is much talk lately about grunting in the women's game. Apparently grunting for men is no issue. Well, Monica grunted first. I thought it was amazing and totally fun. I know most disagree with me.

I guess it can' be a tribute to Seles unless we acknowledge that fateful day in 1993. I won't dwell on it, because I am sure Monica wouldn't want me to, but on that day, she got stabbed in the back by a crazy Steffi Graf fan. She is still haunted. And who could blame her.

Graf and Seles probably have the 2nd greatest rivalry after Navratilova and Chris Evert, but this stabbing is just freaky and almost makes me think twice about even commenting on their rivalry. If you are counting, Graf holds a commanding lead 10-5, which kinda shocks me. As I recall Seles was kinda owning Graf for a while, but I was like 14 so it is all so hazy.

Monica won 9 slam titles: 4 Australian, 3 French, 2 US Open, Finalist at Wimbledon once, Finalist at the US Open two other times, and one more at the French.

Here is a link to her US Open semifinal match against Capriati in 1991, which rightfully stands as one of the best women's matches ever.

Thanks for being there for us, Monica.
I think you should coach Jelena.