Monica Seles

Monica Seles was born in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia on December 2, 1973. Monica picked up here first racket at a young age, 6 to be exact, but a couple months later she decided to stop. She has one brother who is a little older than her who played tennis. Her father, Karolji, never really insisted on her playing tennis but when she saw her older brother playing and winning tournaments she decided to try again. She was 8 when this happened. Monica's father was her first coach. He knew how to keep her playing and he could get her to try hard. They would play in the parking lot around and over the cars. After she got a little bit better they started to go to real tennis courts. Karolji would find interesting ways to keep her motivated. For example, he would draw cartoons of tennis. Monica won her first tournament at the age of 9. She got lucky because she barely knew the rules of the game. When Monica was 10, she won the European Junior Championships. In 1985 she was named the Female Athlete of the Year in Yugoslavia. In 1986 she moved to America so she could go to the famous Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida.

In 1985, the rising star won the orange bowl in Miami that was where she was going to meet Nick Bolletteri. He took her and her brother to his camp. When Monica was just a teenager, she was rated the #1 women's tennis player! Monica was only 15 when she became a professional. She still is very good. She was playing in Germany when a spectator jumped from the crowd and stabbed her in the back with a knife. As sad and as surprising as that is, it's true. Fortunately, she did not die from this injury. She stopped playing for about a year. After the incident, the safety of tennis players was a concern to many people and players. But she did come back and even yet she came back to be the world number one women's tennis player again!

Monica Seles is still playing right now. She had to decide if she was going to retire before starting the season. She is not playing at her best right now because of a foot injury but she is the favorite of many many people in many countries.

by Charlie, fourth grade, 2005