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{{MedalBronze | ] Sydney| Singles}} {{MedalBronze | ] Sydney| Singles}}
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'''Monica Seles''' (born ] ]) is a ]<ref>{{cite web|year=]|url=http://www.monica-seles.com/fr/news_content.asp?numero=20030324.html|title=Tennis Magazine Interview|publisher=www.monica-seles.com|accessdate=2006-10-27}}</ref> professional ] player born in ], present day ]. She has won nine ] singles titles playing for ] and the ]. She became the youngest-ever champion at the ] in ]. She was the top ranked player in the women's game during ] and ]. '''Monica Seles''' (born ] ]) is a ]<ref>{{cite web|year=]|url=http://www.monica-seles.com/fr/news_content.asp?numero=20030324.html|title=Tennis Magazine Interview|publisher=www.monica-seles.com|accessdate=2006-10-27}}</ref> professional ] player born in ], present day ]. She has won nine ] singles titles playing for ] and the ]. She became the youngest-ever champion at the ] in ]. She was the top ranked player in the women's game during ] and ].


==Biography== ==Biography==
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] was an equally dominant year. She successfully defended her titles at the Australian Open, the French Open, and the U.S. Open. She also reached the final at Wimbledon, but could not manage to break Graf's dominance on the ] surface and lost 6-2, 6-1. Some observers, however, attribute her loss to her decision to remain silent throughout the match, resulting in less penetrating shots. Two opponents (including Navrátilová in the semifinals) had strongly complained about Seles's grunts. ] was an equally dominant year. She successfully defended her titles at the Australian Open, the French Open, and the U.S. Open. She also reached the final at Wimbledon, but could not manage to break Graf's dominance on the ] surface and lost 6-2, 6-1. Some observers, however, attribute her loss to her decision to remain silent throughout the match, resulting in less penetrating shots. Two opponents (including Navrátilová in the semifinals) had strongly complained about Seles's grunts.


During the period from January 1991 to February 1993, Seles won 22 titles and reached 33 finals out of the 34 tournaments she played. She compiled a 159-12 win-loss record (92.9% winning percentage), including a 55-1 win-loss record in Grand Slam tournaments. In the broader context of her first four years on the circuit (1989-1992), Seleš had a win-loss record of 231-25 (90.2% winning percentage) and collected 30 titles. Only Evert had a better first four years in terms of winning percentage (91.1% from ] to ]) and titles (34) in the open era. However, Seles was unable to maintain that high a winning percentage for the remainder of her career. During the period from January 1991 to February 1993, Seles won 22 titles and reached 33 finals out of the 34 tournaments she played. She compiled a 159-12 win-loss record (92.9% winning percentage), including a 55-1 win-loss record in Grand Slam tournaments. In the broader context of her first four years on the circuit), Seleš had a win-loss record of 231-25 (90.2% winning percentage) and collected 30 titles. Only Evert had a better first four years in terms of winning percentage (91.1% from ] to ]) and titles (34) in the open era. However, Seles was unable to maintain that high a winning percentage for the remainder of her career.


Seles was the top women's player heading into 1993. In January 1993, Seles defeated Graf in the final of the Australian Open, which was her third win in five Grand Slam matches with Graf. Seles was the top women's player heading into 1993. In January 1993, Seles defeated Graf in the final of the Australian Open, which was her third win in five Grand Slam matches with Graf.
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| after = Steffi Graf | after = Steffi Graf
| title = ] | title = ]
| years = 1991-1992 | years =
|}} |}}
{{succession box | {{succession box |
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| after = Steffi Graf | after = Steffi Graf
| title = ] | title = ]
| years = 1991-1992 | years =
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{{succession box | {{succession box |

Revision as of 18:43, 15 May 2007

Monica Seles
Country (sports) Yugoslavia and
 United States
ResidenceSarasota, Florida, USA
Height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Turned pro1989
PlaysLeft; Two-handed both sides
Prize money$14,891,762
Singles
Career record595-122
Career titles53
Highest rankingNo. 1 (March 11, 1991)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenW (1991, 1992, 1993, 1996)
French OpenW (1990, 1991, 1992)
WimbledonF (1992)
US OpenW (1991, 1992)
Doubles
Career record89-45
Career titles6
Highest rankingNo. 16 (April 22, 1991)
Last updated on: N/A.
Olympic medal record
Women’s Tennis
Representing  United States
Bronze medal – third place 2000 Sydney Singles

Monica Seles (born December 2 1973) is a Yugoslav-American professional tennis player born in Yugoslavia, present day Serbia. She has won nine Grand Slam singles titles playing for Yugoslavia and the United States. She became the youngest-ever champion at the French Open in 1990. She was the top ranked player in the women's game during 1991 and 1992.

Biography

Monica Seles (Serbian : Моника Селеш, Monika Seleš; Hungarian: Szeles Mónika (pronounced /sɛlɛʃ/); was born in Novi Sad, SFR Yugoslavia (present-day Vojvodina, Serbia); in an ethnic Hungarian family.

Considered to be one of the best players of all time, Seles began playing tennis at the age of six, coached by her father Károly Seles. She won her first tournament at the age of nine, despite not fully understanding the scoring system of the game and having only a vague idea of whether she was leading or trailing her opponents during matches. In 1985 at the age of 11, she won the Orange Bowl tournament in Miami, Florida, and caught the attention of tennis coach Nick Bollettieri. In 1986, the Seleš family moved from Yugoslavia to the United States, and Seles enrolled in the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, where she trained for two years.

Seles played her first professional tournament in 1988 at the age of 14. The following year, she joined the professional tour full-time and won her first career title at Houston in May 1989, where she beat Chris Evert in the final. A month later, Seles reached the semifinals in her first Grand Slam singles tournament at the French Open, where she lost to World No. 1 Steffi Graf, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 . Seles finished her first year on the tour ranked World No. 6.

With punishing, sharp-angled two-fisted forehand and backhand shots and a dominating return of serve, Seles is considered by many to be the first "power player" in the women's game, paving the way for players such as Venus and Serena Williams, Lindsay Davenport, and Maria Sharapova. She was also well-known for grunting loudly on court. On a few occasions, her opponents claimed that the grunting was distracting and prevented them from hearing the ball make contact with her racquet.

Seles won her first Grand Slam singles title at the French Open in 1990. Facing World No. 1 Graf in the final, she saved four set-points in a first-set tie-breaker, which she won 8-6, and went on to take the match in straight-sets. In doing so, she became the youngest-ever French Open champion at the age of 16 years, 6 months. She also won the 1990 season-ending championships, defeating Gabriela Sabatini in five sets, finishing the season ranked No. 2.

1991 was the first of two years in which Seles dominated the women's tour. She started out by winning the Australian Open in January, beating Jana Novotná in the final. In March, she replaced Graf as the World No. 1. She then successfully defended her French Open title, beating the former youngest-ever winner Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in the final. However, instead of playing at Wimbledon, she took a six-week break, blaming shin splints. But she was back in time for the U.S. Open, and won it beating Martina Navrátilová in the final to cement her position at the top of the world rankings. She also helped Yugoslavia win the Hopman Cup that year and won the season-ending championships, beating Navratilova in four sets.

1992 was an equally dominant year. She successfully defended her titles at the Australian Open, the French Open, and the U.S. Open. She also reached the final at Wimbledon, but could not manage to break Graf's dominance on the grass court surface and lost 6-2, 6-1. Some observers, however, attribute her loss to her decision to remain silent throughout the match, resulting in less penetrating shots. Two opponents (including Navrátilová in the semifinals) had strongly complained about Seles's grunts.

During the period from January 1991 to February 1993, Seles won 22 titles and reached 33 finals out of the 34 tournaments she played. She compiled a 159-12 win-loss record (92.9% winning percentage), including a 55-1 win-loss record in Grand Slam tournaments. In the broader context of her first four years on the circuit), Seleš had a win-loss record of 231-25 (90.2% winning percentage) and collected 30 titles. Only Evert had a better first four years in terms of winning percentage (91.1% from 1971 to 1974) and titles (34) in the open era. However, Seles was unable to maintain that high a winning percentage for the remainder of her career.

Seles was the top women's player heading into 1993. In January 1993, Seles defeated Graf in the final of the Australian Open, which was her third win in five Grand Slam matches with Graf.

However, everything changed following an incident that shocked the tennis world on April 30, 1993. During a quarterfinal match with Magdalena Maleeva in Hamburg that Seleš was leading in 6-4, 4-3, a 38-year-old deranged fan of Graf, Günter Parche, ran from the middle of the crowd to the edge of the court during a break between games and plunged a steak knife between Seleš's shoulder blades. She let out a piercing scream and was quickly rushed to a hospital. Her physical injuries took a few weeks to heal, but the psychological scars from this incident left a much deeper impression on Seles. She did not return to competitive tennis for over two years. Parche was charged following the incident but was not jailed because he was found to be psychologically abnormal and was instead sentenced to two years' probation and psychological treatment. The incident prompted a significant increase in the level of security at tour events. She vowed to never play tennis in Germany again.

After the incident, Graf re-established herself as the leading player on the women's tour and regained the World No. 1 ranking. During her layoff from competitive tennis, Seles became a United States citizen on May 17, 1994.

Seles returned to the tour in August 1995 and won her first comeback tournament, the Canadian Open, beating Amanda Coetzer in the final 6-1, 6-0. Many believed that she would soon be dominating the circuit again in the way she was before the 1993 stabbing incident. The following month at the U.S. Open, Seles lost the final to Graf 7-6, 0-6, 6-3, after having held set-point in the first set.

In January 1996, Seles won her fourth Australian Open, beating Anke Huber in the final. But this was to be her last Grand Slam title. Seles struggled to recapture her best form on a regular basis. Her difficulties were compounded by having to cope with her father and long-term coach Karolj being stricken by cancer and eventually passing away in 1998. Seles was runner-up at the U.S. Open to Graf again in 1996. Her last Grand Slam final came at the French Open in 1998 (a few weeks after her father's death). She defeated world No. 3 Novotna in three sets and world No. 1 Martina Hingis in straight sets before losing to Sánchez Vicario in three sets, a match that even Sánchez Vicario said Seles should have won.

After becoming a U.S. citizen in 1994, Seles helped the U.S. team win the Fed Cup in 1996 and 2000. She also won a bronze medal at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.

In the spring of 2003, Seles sustained a foot injury that has sidelined her from the tour ever since. In February 2005, she played two exhibition matches in New Zealand against Navrátilová. Although Seles lost both matches, she played competitively and announced that she could return to the game early in 2006. She has not done so, however, though she has said that she intends to play a few more tournaments before officially retiring.

She was listed as the 13th greatest player of all time (men and women) by Tennis magazine and was also one of 15 women named by Australian Tennis magazine as the greatest champions of the last 30 years (players were listed chronologically). Seles is also known as one of the greatest "big point" players of all-time, having tremendous mental fortitude during the toughest situations on the court.

Seles is currently single and lives in Florida.

Grand Slam singles finals

Wins (9)

Year Championship Opponent in Final Score in Final
1990 French Open Germany Steffi Graf 7-6(6), 6-4
1991 Australian Open Czechoslovakia Jana Novotná 5-7, 6-3, 6-1
1991 French Open (2) Spain Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario 6-3, 6-4
1991 U.S. Open United States Martina Navratilova 7-6(1), 6-1
1992 Australian Open (2) United States Mary Joe Fernandez 6-2, 6-3
1992 French Open (3) Germany Steffi Graf 6-2, 3-6, 10-8
1992 U.S. Open (2) Spain Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario 6-3, 6-3
1993 Australian Open (3) Germany Steffi Graf 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
1996 Australian Open (4) Germany Anke Huber 6-4, 6-1

Runner-ups (4)

Year Championship Opponent in Final Score in Final
1992 Wimbledon Germany Steffi Graf 6-2, 6-1
1995 U.S. Open Germany Steffi Graf 7-6(6), 0-6, 6-3
1996 U.S. Open Germany Steffi Graf 7-5, 6-4
1998 French Open Spain Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 7-6(5), 0-6, 6-2

Titles (59)

Singles (53)

Legend
Grand Slam (9)
WTA Championships (3)
Tier I Event (9)
WTA Tour (32)
Titles by Surface
Hard (28)
Clay (14)
Grass (1)
Carpet (10)
No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score
1. April 30, 1989 Houston, USA Clay United States Chris Evert 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
2. March 25, 1990 Miami, USA Hard Austria Judith Wiesner 6-1, 6-2
3. April 1, 1990 San Antonio, USA Hard Bulgaria Manuela Maleeva 6-4, 6-3
4. April 22, 1990 Tampa, USA Clay Bulgaria Katerina Maleeva 6-1, 6-0
5. May 13, 1990 Italian Open, Rome, Italy Clay United States Martina Navratilova 6-1, 6-1
6. May 20, 1990 Berlin, Germany Clay Germany Steffi Graf 6-4, 6-3
7. June 10, 1990 French Open Clay Germany Steffi Graf 7-6(6), 6-4
8. August 19, 1990 Los Angeles, USA Hard United States Martina Navratilova 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(6)
9. November 4, 1990 Oakland, USA Carpet (I) United States Martina Navratilova 6-3, 7-6(5)
10. November 18, 1990 WTA Championships, New York City, USA Carpet (I) Argentina Gabriela Sabatini 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
11. January 27, 1991 Australian Open Hard Czechoslovakia Jana Novotná 5-7, 6-3, 6-1
12. March 24, 1991 Miami, USA Hard Argentina Gabriela Sabatini 6-3, 7-5
13. April 21, 1991 Houston, USA Clay United States Mary Joe Fernandez 6-4, 6-3
14. June 9, 1991 French Open Clay Spain Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario 6-3, 6-4
15. August 18, 1991 Los Angeles, USA Hard Japan Kimiko Date 6-3, 6-1
16. September 8, 1991 U.S. Open Hard United States Martina Navratilova 7-6(1), 6-1
17. September 22, 1991 Tokyo, Japan Hard United States Mary Joe Fernandez 6-1, 6-1
18. October 6, 1991 Milan, Italy Carpet (I) United States Martina Navratilova 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
19. November 17, 1991 Philadelphia, USA Carpet (I) United States Jennifer Capriati 7-5, 6-1
20. November 24, 1991 WTA Championships, New York City, USA Carpet (I) United States Martina Navratilova 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 6-0
21. January 26, 1992 Australian Open Hard United States Mary Joe Fernandez 6-2, 6-3
22. February 9, 1992 Essen, Germany Carpet (I) United States Mary Joe Fernandez 6-0, 6-3
23. March 1, 1992 Indian Wells, USA Hard Spain Conchita Martínez 6-3, 6-1
24. April 19, 1992 Houston, USA Clay United States Zina Garrison 6-1, 6-1
25. April 26, 1992 Barcelona, Spain Clay Spain Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
26. June 7, 1992 French Open Clay Germany Steffi Graf 6-2, 3-6, 10-8
27. September 13, 1992 U.S. Open Hard Spain Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario 6-3, 6-3
28. September 27, 1992 Tokyo, Japan Carpet (I) Argentina Gabriela Sabatini 6-2, 6-0
29. November 8, 1992 Oakland, USA Carpet (I) United States Martina Navratilova 6-3 6-4
30. November 22, 1992 WTA Championships, New York City, USA Carpet (I) United States Martina Navratilova 7-5, 6-3, 6-1
31. January 31, 1993 Australian Open Hard Germany Steffi Graf 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
32. February 14, 1993 Chicago, USA Carpet (I) United States Martina Navratilova 3-6, 6-2, 6-1
33. August 20, 1995 Toronto, Canada Hard South Africa Amanda Coetzer 6-0, 6-1
34. January 14, 1996 Sydney, Australia Hard United States Lindsay Davenport 4-6 7-6(7) 6-3
35. January 28, 1996 Australian Open Hard Germany Anke Huber 6-4, 6-1
36. June 23, 1996 Eastbourne, United Kingdom Grass United States Mary Joe Fernandez 6-0, 6-2
37. August 11, 1996 Montreal, Canada Hard Spain Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario 6-1, 7-6(2)
38. September 22, 1996 Tokyo, Japan Hard Spain Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario 6-1, 6-4
39. August 10, 1997 Los Angeles, USA Hard United States Lindsay Davenport 5-7, 7-5, 6-4
40. August 17, 1997 Toronto, Canada Hard Germany Anke Huber 6-2, 6-4
41. September 21, 1997 Tokyo, Japan Hard Spain Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(5)
42. August 23, 1998 Montreal, Canada Hard Spain Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario 6-3 ,6-2
43. September 27, 1998 Tokyo, Japan Hard Spain Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
44. April 11, 1999 Amelia Island, USA Clay Romania Ruxandra Dragomir 6-2, 6-3
45. February 27, 2000 Oklahoma City, USA Hard (I) France Nathalie Dechy 6-1, 7-6(3)
46. April 16, 2000 Amelia Island, USA Clay Spain Conchita Martínez 6-3, 6-2
47. May 21, 2000 Italian Open, Rome, Italy Clay France Amélie Mauresmo 6-2, 7-6(4)
48. February 25, 2001 Oklahoma City, USA Hard (I) United States Jennifer Capriati 6-3, 5-7, 6-2
49. September 16, 2001 Bahia, Brazil Hard Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Jelena Dokić 6-3, 6-3
50. October 7, 2001 Tokyo, Japan Hard Thailand Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-3, 6-2
51. October 14, 2001 Shanghai, China Hard Australia Nicole Pratt 6-2, 6-3
52. February 17, 2002 Doha, Qatar Hard Thailand Tamarine Tanasugarn 7-6(6), 6-3
53. May 25, 2002 Madrid, Spain Clay United States Chanda Rubin 6-4, 6-2

Doubles (6)

No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents in the final Score
1. May 13, 1990 Italian Open, Rome, Italy Clay Canada Helen Kelesi Italy Laura Garrone
Italy Laura Golarsa 		6-3, 6-4
2. March 31, 1991 San Antonio, USA Hard United States Patty Fendick Canada Jill Hetherington
United States Rinaldi Stunkel 		7-6(2), 6-2
3. May 12, 1991 Italian Open, Rome, Italy Clay United States Jennifer Capriati Australia Nicole Bradtke
South Africa Elna Reinach 		7-5, 6-2
4. May 10, 1992 Italian Open, Rome, Italy Clay Czechoslovakia Helena Suková Bulgaria Katerina Maleeva
Austria Barbara Rittner 		6-1, 6-2
5. September 21, 1997 Tokyo, Japan Hard Japan Ai Sugiyama France Julie Halard-Decugis
United States Chanda Rubin 		6-1, 6-0
6. September 27, 1998 Tokyo, Japan Hard Russia Anna Kournikova United States Mary Joe Fernandez
Spain Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario 		6-4, 6-4

Runner-ups (35)

Singles (32)

Doubles (3)

Singles performance timeline

Tournament Career Win-Loss Career SR 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
Australian Open 43-4 4 / 8 A A A W W W A A W A A SF A QF SF 2R
French Open 54-8 3 / 11 A SF W W W A A A QF SF F SF QF A QF 1R
Wimbledon 30-9 0 / 9 A 4R QF A F A A A 2R 3R QF 3R QF A QF A
US Open 53-10 2 / 12 A 4R 3R W W A A F F QF QF QF QF 4R QF A
Grand Slam SR N/A 9 / 40 0 / 0 0 / 3 1 / 3 3 / 3 3 / 4 1 / 1 0 / 0 0 / 1 1 / 4 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 4 0 / 3 0 / 2 0 / 4 0 / 2
Grand Slam Win-Loss 180-31 N/A 0-0 11-3 13-2 21-0 27-1 7-0 0-0 6-1 17-3 11-3 14-3 16-4 12-3 7-2 17-4 1-2
WTA Tour Championships 18-6 3 / 9 A QF W W W A A A 4R 4R QF A F A QF A
Tokyo 9-4 0 / 4 NH NH NH NH NH A A A QF A A SF A A F F
Indian Wells 17-5 1 / 6 NH A A F W A A A A A A 3R QF 2R SF A
Miami 32-7 2 / 9 2R A W W QF A A A A F 3R 4R SF A SF A
Charleston 12-5 0 / 5 A A A A A A A A A F SF 3R SF A 3R A
Berlin 5-0 1 / 1 A A W A A A A A A A A A A A A A
Rome 21-5 2 / 7 A A W F F A A A A 3R 3R A W A A 2R
Toronto/Montreal 31-3 4 / 7 A A A A F A A W W W W F A SF A A
Moscow 3-1 0 / 1 NH NH NH NH NH NH NH NH A A F A A A A A
Finalist 32 N/A 0 2 0 6 4 1 0 1 2 4 2 2 3 2 1 2
Titles Won 53 N/A 0 1 9 10 10 2 0 1 5 3 2 1 3 4 2 0
Overall Win-Loss 595-122 N/A 5-3 33-8 54-6 74-6 70-5 17-2 0-0 11-1 47-8 45-13 46-13 38-13 58-13 40-10 47-14 10-7
Year End Ranking N/A N/A 86 6 2 1 1 8 - 1 2 5 6 6 4 10 7 60

NH = tournament not held

A = did not participate in the tournament

SR = the ratio of the number of singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played
The Indian Wells tournament achieved Tier I status only in 1996.

WTA Tour career earnings

Year Majors WTA wins Total wins Earnings ($) Money list rank
1990 1 8 9 1,637,222 2
1991 3 7 10 2,422,206 1
1992 3 7 10 2,622,352 1
1993 1 1 2 437,588 16
1994 DNP
1995 0 1 1 397,010 16
1996 1 4 5 1,154,499 5
1997 0 3 3 914,020 5
1998 0 2 2 1,021,672 6
1999 0 1 1 744,741 8
2000 0 3 3 1,140,850 5
2001 0 4 4 627,211 15
2002 0 2 2 1,096,630 8
2003 0 0 0 276,213 38
Career 9 44 53 14,891,762 8

Trivia

  • Seleš was the first female tennis player to win her first six Grand Slam singles finals: 1990 French Open, 1991 Australian Open, 1991 French Open, 1991 U.S. Open, 1992 Australian Open, and 1992 French Open.
  • Seleš won the first five set women's singles match in many years, in 1990 against Gabriela Sabatini at the year end WTA Tour Championships.
  • Until her loss to Martina Hingis at the 1999 Australian Open, Seleš had a perfect record at the event (33-0), which is the longest undefeated streak for this tournament. It also marked her first defeat in Australia, having won the Sydney Tournament in 1996.
  • Seleš was the first female player since Hilde Krahwinkel Sperling in 1937 to win the women's singles title three consecutive years at the French Open. Chris Evert, however, won the title four consecutive times she played the tournament (1974, 1975, 1979, and 1980).
  • Seleš' final against Martina Navratilova at the 1991 U.S. Open was the only all left-handed women's singles final of a Grand Slam event.
  • The age gap between Seleš (17 years old) and Navratilova (34 years old) at the 1991 U.S. Open was the largest in a Grand Slam women's singles final.
  • Seleš appeared on the sitcom The Nanny as herself.
  • Seleš won the inaugural Sanex Hero of the Year award in 2002. This award was voted by fans around the world.
  • Young Elders, a band from Melbourne, Australia sent their song called Fly Monica Fly to Seles while she was recuperating from the 1993 stabbing incident. According to her autobiography , the song provided inspiration to her at that time and Seles subsequently met the band (who later changed their name to The Monicas) following her victory at the Australian Open in 1996.
  • Singer/songwriter Dan Bern has a song about Seles on his Fifty Eggs album entitled "Monica".

References

  1. She started to play for USA from 1995 season
  2. "Tennis Magazine Interview". www.monica-seles.com. 2003-03-24. Retrieved 2006-10-27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  3. Seles, Monica (1996). Monica: From Fear to Victory.

External links

See also

Preceded bySteffi Graf
Steffi Graf
Steffi Graf
Steffi Graf
Steffi Graf 		World No. 1
March 11, 1991 - August 4, 1991
August 12, 1991 - August 18, 1991
September 9, 1991 - June 6, 1993
August 15, 1995 - November 3, 1996 (with Graf)
November 18, 1996 - November 24, 1996 (with Graf) 		Succeeded bySteffi Graf
Steffi Graf
Steffi Graf
Steffi Graf
Steffi Graf
Preceded byArantxa Sanchez Vicario WTA Most Improved Player
1990 		Succeeded byGabriela Sabatini
Preceded bySteffi Graf WTA Player of the Year Succeeded bySteffi Graf
Preceded bySteffi Graf ITF World Champion Succeeded bySteffi Graf
Preceded byMeredith McGrath WTA Comeback Player of the Year
1995 		Succeeded byJennifer Capriati
Preceded byMary Pierce WTA Comeback Player of the Year
1998 		Succeeded bySabine Appelmans
Preceded byMerlene Ottey United Press International
Athlete of the Year
1991, 1992 		Succeeded byWang Junxia
Women's Tennis Association (WTA) world No. 1 singles players

United States Chris Evert (1975/1985 – 260 w)
Australia Evonne Goolagong (1976 – 2 w)
United States Martina Navratilova (1978/1987 – 331 w)
United States Tracy Austin (1980 – 22 w)
Germany Steffi Graf (1987/1997 – 377 w)
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia/Federal Republic of Yugoslavia/United States Monica Seles (1991/1996 – 178 w)
Spain Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (1995 – 12 w)
Switzerland Martina Hingis (1997/2001 – 209 w)
United States Lindsay Davenport (1998/2006 – 98 w)
United States Jennifer Capriati (2001/2002 – 17 w)
United States Venus Williams (2002 – 11 w)
United States Serena Williams (2002/2017 – 319 w)
Belgium Kim Clijsters (2003/2011 – 20 w)
Belgium Justine Henin (2003/2008 – 117 w)
France Amélie Mauresmo (2004/2006 – 39 w)
Russia Maria Sharapova (2005/2012 – 21 w)
Serbia Ana Ivanovic (2008 – 12 w)
Serbia Jelena Janković (2008/2009 – 18 w)
Russia Dinara Safina (2009 – 26 w)
Denmark Caroline Wozniacki (2010/2018 – 71 w)
Belarus Victoria Azarenka (2012/2013 – 51 w)
Germany Angelique Kerber (2016/2017 – 34 w)
Czech Republic Karolína Plíšková (2017 – 8 w)
Spain Garbiñe Muguruza (2017 – 4 w)
Romania Simona Halep (2017/2019 – 64 w)
Japan Naomi Osaka (2019 – 25 w)
Australia Ashleigh Barty (2019/2022 – 121 w)
Poland Iga Świątek (2022/2024 – 125 w)
Aryna Sabalenka (2023/2024 – 9 w)

  • WTA rankings incepted on 3 November 1975
  • (year first held/year last held – number of weeks (w))
  • current No. 1 in bold, as of week of 20 October 2024
Australian Open women's singles champions
Amateur Era
Open Era
French Open women's singles champions
Amateur Era
(national)
Amateur Era
(international)
Open Era
US Open women's singles champions
Amateur Era
Open Era
WTA Year-end championships women's singles champions
Women's tennis players who won two or more Grand Slam singles titles in one calendar year
Four wins
Three wins
Two wins
AO=Australian Open, FO=French Open, WI=Wimbledon, US=US Open
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