Who: Monica Seles and Jennifer Capriati
What: Semifinals of the US Open
When: September, 1991
Where: Flushing Meadows, NY
Why: Fame, glory, millions


An 11-year-old boy sits in a couch in his bright living room. His life, which recently became chaotic when his family moved for the second time in a year - this time to Allendale - has stopped because his idol, 14-year-old tennis phenom Jennifer Capriati, is playing for a chance to breakthrough to the finals of a grand slam tournament. She has Monica Seles, the number one player in the world on the ropes, running from side to side and desperately clinging to her hope of winning her third grand slam title of the year. The boy plays along with Capriati, willing her to win and to destroy Seles, the disgusting, grunting, machine. Seles fights and claims victory, 6-3 3-6 7-6.



Who: Monica Seles and Maleeva
What: Quarterfinals of the Citizen Cup
When: April, 1993
Where: Hamburg, Germany
Why: Tune-up for the French Open


While watching teen-oriented sitcoms, a teaser for the nightly news comes on during the commercial break and mentions that the world's top ranked player was stabbed in the back during a tennis match by a maniacal fan of Steffi Graf, the player Seles replaced as number one. The boy had always rooted for Seles when his favorite, Capriati, was ousted. He always wanted Seles to defeat Graf when the two played their amazing matches. But, Gunter Parch, who would go on to receive only a slap on the wrists for his attempt to destroy Seles' career, took away that rivalry and the joy Seles had for the sport. He replaced that with fear.



Who: Monica Seles and Martina Navratilova
What: Exhibition match
When: July, 1995
Where: Atlantic City, NJ
Why: To celebrate Seles' return to the game


Monica won the match rather easily, but that didn't matter. Neither did the increased security. The only important things were that she was smiling and excited and one of the major forces in women's tennis had returned. Seles went on to win the first tournament she entered, a tier one event (the most important non-grand slam events) and came close to defeating Graf in the finals of the US Open, her second tournament after over two years away from the game. Seles went on the make the finals of the French Open and the US Open again and she won the Australian Open. She's currently ranked among the top five players in the world.



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