In 1991, Yugoslavia tennis star Monica Seles ended Germany’s Steffi Graf’s streak of 186 weeks ranked as no.1 on the Women’s Tennis Association ranking. Seles played her first professional tournament as an amateur in 1988 at age 14. She turned professional the following year in 1989 and played her last match in 2003. Seles led a stellar career winning nine Grand Slam singles titles over the years. Seles won the Australian Open 4x, US Open 2x, and the French Open 3x. Seles was also the youngest ever player to win the French Open at age 16 in 1990.
In 1993, Seles suffered a stabbing attack by a crazed fan during a match in Hamburg, Germany. Despite being sidelined, Seles recovered and made an extraordinary comeback to tennis in 1995. Seles won her first comeback tournament at the Canadian Open followed by another win in the 1996 French Open. In total, Seles spent 178 weeks ranked as the WTA no. 1 player. Seles was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame on July 11, 2009. In 2011, Seles was named one of the “30 Legends of Women’s Tennis: Past, Present and Future” by Time.