Monica Seles on DWTS Season 6

Grand Slam tennis champion Monica Seles will be dancing this year with Jonathan Roberts on NBC’s “DWTS Season 6.” Jonathan finished in third place last year with partner Marie Osmond – how far will he and Monica go? And, will Monica do her famous grunts while dancing?

Monica was born on December 2, 1973 in what was formerly known as Novi Sad, SFR Yugoslavia (now Serbia). Her father, Karoly began teaching her tennis when she was six years old. By age 9, she had won her first tournament – before she even fully understood the scoring system.

By age 11, she won the Orange Bowl tournament in Miami, Florida. She also caught the attention of tennis coach Nick Bollettieri, whose other famous students include Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, and Mary Pierce. The whole family moved to Florida in 1986 and Monica trained at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy for two years.

Monica was only 14 when she played her first professional tournament in 1988. In 1989, she started touring full time as a professional and won her first career title in Houston, beating tennis legend Chris Evert. She lost to Steffi Graf just a month later when she reached the semifinals of the French Open. By the end of her first professional year, Monica was ranked #6 in the world.

In 1990, she won the first of her nine Grand Slam titles, beating Steffi Graf to win the French Open. At the time, she was the youngest to win the French Open at the age of 16 years, 6 months. She began dominating the tour in 1991, winning the Australian Open and defending her title at the French Open. Although she was ranking #1 in the world, she missed Wimbledon due to shin splints. She beat another tennis legend, Martina Navratilova, at the U.S. Open in 1991. In 1992, she defended all three of her titles and reached the finals of Wimbledon, losing to Steffi Graf.

Monica played 34 tournaments between January 1991 and February 1993. During those tournaments, she reached the finals 33 times and won 22 titles. Her winning percentage was 90.2%, only Chris Evert had a better winning percentage in her first four years with a 91.1% average.

Monica was at the top of her game when a tragic event occurred on April 30, 1993. While resting on the sidelines during a match at the Hamburg Open, Monica was stabbed by a deranged fan of Steffi Graf. The man plunge a knife between her shoulder blades. Physically, Monica healed within a few weeks, but the psychological damage was done. She would not go back to competitive tennis for more than two years. The fan, Günter Parche, was found psychologically unstable and not jailed but sentenced to two year’s probation and psychological treatment.

Although Monica said she would not return, she did return to the professional tour in August 1995, just a year after becoming a U.S. citizen. She won the Canadian Open, but lost to Graf in the U.S. Open a month later. She won her final Grand Slam title in 1996, beating Anke Huber to win the Australian Open. She did win a bronze medal at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney Australia. Monica announced her retirement from professional tennis in February 2008. Tennis Magazine lists her as the 13th greatest player of all time (men and women both).

Monica is involved in humanitarian work including serving as a goodwill ambassador and spokesperson for the Global Sports for Peace and Development Programme Initiative, a part of the Intergovernmental Institution for the use of Micro-algea Spirulina Against Malnutrition (IIMSAM).

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