Seles to return in December
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This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from October 1993.
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But the good life collapsed on a court in Hamburg in April when Seles was stabbed in the back during a changeover by a fanatical supporter of her big rival Steffi Graf.
The transition from giggling material girl to hounded victim took Seles only two years. The knife wound inflicted far more than physical damage and many are wondering if Seles, once noted for her supreme confidence and singlemindedness, can make it back to the top.
Seles has attracted many critics since she became the youngest player in history to hold the world's top ranking March 1991, at the age of 17, three months. On court she was criticised for her monotonous, ungainly game and the grunting which infuriated many opponents. Off court, she was regarded as giddy with her obsession with shopping and spending money and her constant giggling.
But none could deny the huge impact she had on the women's game. She mercilessly thrashed all comers and in 1991 and 1992 won six of the seven Grand Slam tournaments she entered, reaching the final in the seventh.
In January this year, she took the Australian Open for the third successive time and seemed set to go for the Grand Slam until the stabbing put her out of action.
Ironically, the attacker - who said he wanted to help his idol Graf to regain the world's top ranking - has achieved his aim.
In Seles's absence, Graf has won the year's remaining Grand Slam titles - Wimbledon, the French Open and the U.S. Open - and moved back to number one. Seles has slipped to fourth.
The enforced break has hit her earnings hard. In 1992, Seles won more than 2.6 million dollars in prize money. This year she has earned 437,000 while Graf has raked in 2.5 million. Graf, who has had problems with over-zealous fans herself one slashed his wrists in front of her has paid tribute to Seles in her victory speeches and made an emotional visit to her in hospital soon after the stabbing.
Even before the attack, Seles had been a target because of her Serbian origins. Though she has lived in the United States for many years and plans to apply for citizenship, Seles received death threats from Croats.
Security at tennis tournaments has been stepped up since the attack but even though the physical wound has healed it remains to be seen whether mental scars remain.
Seles plans to return to action in a special, six-player tournament in Dublin in December, ready to defend her Australian Open title in January.
But when she moves to her chair for the changeovers in Melbourne, Seles will need to summon up all the mental strength she was famous for in the past to keep her mind on the game and shut out the memory of Hamburg.
