One-on-One with Chris Evert | Episode 9: Monica Seles 

Yeah. An extraordinary statement. And if Chris Evert of all people says this...well.

I disagree... Competition was shit Also Williams and other players would've destroyed her

@@varunshahvo-tv9854 but you're not Chris Evert, so your opinion is....irrelevant. Sorry.

@@jordanaus75 nooo every human being deserves a voice I don't care if she's Chris evert and she says shit just to make seles happy as a guest The bottom line is many legends who speak bluntly and honestly believe me too And next time NEVER DISRESPECT THE VOICE OF THE HARD WORKING MIDDLE CLASS... IDIOT

@@varunshahvo-tv9854 there are people who know what they are talking about in relation to their expertise, eg Chris Evert here, and those who don't but want their irritating screams to be heard like a child having a tantrum who doesn't like someone/something, eg you. My original call was correct: irrelevant. And next time: Never disrespect the voice of someone who knows more than you, and check to see if your self-entitled contribution is just taking the opportunity to have a bitch and be derogatory.

Totally agree. She was another level of intense and, even more than that, it was her boldness when her back was against the wall that makes her stand out. She'd aim for the lines or hit return winners when she was seemingly down and out.

Totally Agree Too... she is not mentioned enough when they talk about The Greats... if ever... Crazy... Simply One of The Best of All Time... 8/9? Majors before the age of 20...

@@johnanderson8096 Agree. She was begining to dominate everybody, including Steffi, until her tragic stabbing, and she was never the same player after that. For her attacker only to receive a 2 year suspended sentence is still an incomprehensible decision. Great champion.

Chris Evert is human, prone to bias, prejudice, hate. Again: she is human, prone to lies and deceit. Saying that, her statement "Had you not had your injury, I believe without doubt you would have been the greatest player ever" comes from those tendencies. I would humiliate Chris' pop culture stupidity sense for intellect one-on-one. The last thing I fear is stupidity. MANY athletes, in all sports, do well for some years then they descend. It happens and Monica was no exception. This is but one of many points against her mindless thinking. STEFFI GRAF had mental things to deal with and a knee surgery through her career. Had she not, she would have won more slams than anyone. Seles' wins did NOT come overall against Steffi but against others. Steffi had a winning record against Seles h2h before the cut and after. There is no opinion here but facts and evidence. Chris is just like those who say The Beatles are the best band/artists ever when they are obviously Not. Pop culture stupidity is killing the world.

@@markuse3472 When you get stabbed in the back, nothing anyone says can come close to making that better. Give Chris a break, and for goodness sake, we all should tell Monica she would have been the greatest. She was literally stabbed in the back, your comment is very unsympathetic.

8 of 9? She won 7 of 8.

She won 7 of 8 in a row, but she still won 8 as a teen, and had just turned 19 before winning #8.

Chris Evert is human, prone to bias, prejudice, hate. Again: she is human, prone to lies and deceit. Saying that, her statement "Had you not had your injury, I believe without doubt you would have been the greatest player ever" comes from those tendencies. I would humiliate Chris' pop culture stupidity sense for intellect one-on-one. The last thing I fear is stupidity. MANY athletes, in all sports, do well for some years then they descend. It happens and Monica was no exception. This is but one of many points against her mindless thinking. STEFFI GRAF had mental things to deal with and a knee surgery through her career. Had she not, she would have won more slams than anyone. Seles' wins did NOT come overall against Steffi but against others. Steffi had a winning record against Seles h2h before the cut and after. There is no opinion here but facts and evidence. Chris is just like those who say The Beatles are the best band/artists ever when they are obviously Not. Pop culture stupidity is killing the world.

She has 9

"As a teenager" should be in CAPITAL LETTERS as well.

I don't think we'll ever know, sadly. There were plenty of other factors that may very well have affected Monica before then. Firstly, it's just mentally and physically impossible to keep up the kind of winning run Monica had in the early 90s for more than a couple of years in a row. Players like Navratilova, Graf, Federer and Djokovic have all had big dips after runs like that because it's just too exhausting. As early as 1991, people were commenting on Monica's weight, and she talked openly back then about how she couldn't stop eating butter. So some signs were there that the stress was really building up. Perhaps there were also some signs showing that Monica finding it harder going in 1992. She went for a three month period, June to September, without winning anything - she looked very listless during that period - bored and tired with it all. Monica was also never blessed with the most robust health - in early 93 for example she had to take three months off the tour because of illness. That meant that in the year leading up to the stabbing, she went for six months of tour time without winning anything. Injuries were often a problem too - for example, the one that forced her out of Wimbledon in 1991. It's very possible that if she'd kept on playing, the injuries that eventually forced her out of the game would have started earlier. Finally, there were some signs that players were just starting to figure her out a little. In 1992, she lost easy straight sets matches to 4 different players, and also lost her first match to Arantxa Sanchez Vicario. In early 1993, she also very nearly lost to Brenda Shultz McCarthy. I guess we'll never know.

@@th8257 Very thoughtful. Thank you for the insights! And yes, so true that we only know what came to pass, anything else is speculative. In the end I am so glad to see she is doing so well today. Cheers

@@th8257 do you mean she "didn't win anything" from June-September 1992 because she lost in the FINALS of the big tournaments (1 Major) like Wimbledon (to Steffi) and Canada (to Arantxa, incredible player too often very little recognized) are? I appreciate your comment very much but don't agree here.

@@th8257 There are parts of your post that I agree with: sadly, we will never know, but just as sadly, there are people who pretend like her dominance was ending anyway and the stabbing didn't matter. I agree that no player, including Seles, has ever dominated for more than a few years. And even in 91-92, Seles wasn't as dominant as Graf in 87-90 or Navratilova in 83-86. I also agree that there were likely factors that would have impeded her dominance from being sustained - namely her father's first cancer diagnosis in '93 and Graf's resurgence/change of racket starting in '94; however, there are inaccuracies and far too much conjecture in your statement. The players you mention didn't have "big dips." Their dominance wasn't sustained, but they were still at the top of the game and in '93-95, the difference between Graf/Seles and everyone else was huge. Even with a "dip," she and Graf would have continued to dominate. She wasn't "athlete-fit" like Graf, but there were no comments about her weight in '91. Perhaps their were comments about her diet, but not about her weight. Look at her in '93: she's thin and wirey. Watch the '93 AO Final: it was hot as blazes and she dug out so many balls. She did have a lull in the summer of '92, but during the 12 months prior to the stabbing, she won seven tournaments, including the French Open, US Open, YEC, and Australian Open, and she made five finals - out of 12 tournaments played in those 12 months, she never failed to reach the final. If injuries were going to plague her in '93-'95 they would have already begun. She missed Wimbledon '91 due to shin splints and was out for a while in the spring of '93; however, she was not injury prone until her comeback. This might have been related to the extra weight, but bodies break down. She was 22 at that time and looking at other players, this is about the age that injuries start to kick in. This was also when her father's cancer returned. I think her focus and dedication to the game as well as her fitness would have waned in '96, but she would have continued to split slams with Steffi in '93-'95 and probably wouldn't have been so out of shape in '97-'98 when there was still a window for her to win slams. Of course it's all speculation and sadly we won't know what might have been, but based on what was actually happening, there is a reasonable alternate universe in which Seles won many more, and others won fewer than they did. Happy she is happy, but there are some signs in this interview that she, too, wishes history would have been kinder to her.

@@th8257 I think your post requires a few clarifications..one in 1992 the period you mention Monica had lost for four months …the Wimbledon final Monica had a lot to deal with the whole grunting issue then lost in the finals of LA and Montreal as she was injured with an ankle injury .once those issues were resolved she paved the field until end of the year ..Monica did miss some time in early 93 due to a virus ( hardly uncommon) so not sure that she was prone to injuries ..I believe she could have managed her schedule and lastly a lot of her post stabbing injuries were weight related ( her constant foot injuries for example) .the true answer is that we will never know ..one thing I agree with Monica on, in early 93 she was on fire and was clearly head and shoulders above the field

Chris Evert is human, prone to bias, prejudice, hate. Again: she is human, prone to lies and deceit. Saying that, her statement "Had you not had your injury, I believe without doubt you would have been the greatest player ever" comes from those tendencies. I would humiliate Chris' pop culture stupidity sense for intellect one-on-one. The last thing I fear is stupidity. MANY athletes, in all sports, do well for some years then they descend. It happens and Monica was no exception. This is but one of many points against her mindless thinking. STEFFI GRAF had mental things to deal with and a knee surgery through her career. Had she not, she would have won more slams than anyone. Seles' wins did NOT come overall against Steffi but against others. Steffi had a winning record against Seles h2h before the cut and after. There is no opinion here but facts and evidence. Chris is just like those who say The Beatles are the best band/artists ever when they are obviously Not. Pop culture stupidity is killing the world.

You mean one of the greatest, not the greatest.

@@ig6894 nope greatest...

Monica is known by many in the sporting world as being the greatest competitor on a court ..it’s not one of those “out there” comments that a fan would make to support their player

@@davehill121 the greatest..periodt!

Which one are you referring to? I can't even tell as that could easily apply to both.

I don't think they is another person to do so.

She's the Greatest

@@jamesdavidkmoss there is actually. Maureen Connolly won 9 when she was still a teenager. From 1951 to 54 every slam she entered she won and then a horse riding accident finished her career at 19. Different era of course but still a phenomenal achievement ( opponents would say it was like trying to beat a brick wall - the ball ALWAYS came back)

Probably she was about to make 3 GS per year

At that rate she would of had 20+ by 25 years old she would of dominated the 90s

Warrior is a good description. I put her right there with Nadal when it comes to heart and willingness to chase down every ball.

We´ll never know.

Agree she won 8 GS as a bloody kid , imagine if Hamburg didn't happen ? i guess she would won close to 30 GS if things were going normal routine .....but that is just my opinion , i could be wrong of course but that girl had Steffi in her pocket before stabbing

@@halidmujkanovic9783 She didn't, actually. H2h was 6-4 in Steffi's favor, who had completely destroyed her in their next-to-last match at Wimbledon. Not easy to see how Monica could have turned that around.

@@fundhund62 difficult to say but i think Monika has the power to become greatest of all time ....we will never know ......

@@fundhund62 of course she did. Steffi's fan didnt stab her for free you know. She had won 7 out of 8 consecutive GS she played beating Steffi in 2 of them.

I agree completely. Beyond the power she had all of those crazy angles and could drag her opponent beyond the doubles alley trying to retrieve her shots. When she would get into trouble she would hit the ball even harder. She was not afraid to play to a player's strength.

@@jm7804 No question. She was better than Steffi Graf because she would punish Steffi on the backhand exchanges and could get in control of the points the sooner. The stabbing and Monica's mid career weight issues really changed history. She should have more Grand Slams than Steffi

@@seanjenkins331 Saddens me so much, every time I think of it. That monster who killed her career, only got 2 years. Should have been 20! Btw (forgive my shallow thought), drop dead gorgeous woman, now, too.

@@dandecastro51 She lost the weight but u can also tell she feels good about herself too

Amen

But she didn't win eight straight. What are you talking about?

Markus E I never said 8 straight you imbosole lol I know she never won Wimbledon 🤪

@@markuse3472They didn’t say consecutive. Take a reading comprehension course.

lol me too

That was actually really nice of Monica because Graf HATES being called “Steffi”

@@iwantafennec9577 oh wow I never knew that!

@@rgncajun21 She said once since she started at the age of 13 everybody used the term "Steffi", but she never used the name when answering the phone or else. After her career and especially now in her 50s she does not like the name. Andre always calls her "Stefanie", even already in 2006 when he introduces her to the Hall Of Fame

@@likuidtalent4818 nothing to lol about

I’m from England. If Monica Seles had been British and suffered that stabbing in Germany then England would have gone CRAZY!!!! The British tabloids would have started calling the Germans ‘Nazis’ again and the relationship between the two countries would have suffered greatly.

Chris Evert is human, prone to bias, prejudice, hate. Again: she is human, prone to lies and deceit. Saying that, her statement "Had you not had your injury, I believe without doubt you would have been the greatest player ever" comes from those tendencies. I would humiliate Chris' pop culture stupidity sense for intellect one-on-one. The last thing I fear is stupidity. MANY athletes, in all sports, do well for some years then they descend. It happens and Monica was no exception. This is but one of many points against her mindless thinking. STEFFI GRAF had mental things to deal with and a knee surgery through her career. Had she not, she would have won more slams than anyone. Seles' wins did NOT come overall against Steffi but against others. Steffi had a winning record against Seles h2h before the cut and after. There is no opinion here but facts and evidence. Chris is just like those who say The Beatles are the best band/artists ever when they are obviously Not. Pop culture stupidity is killing the world.

She was rather one-dimensional, though. Difficult to call her the GOAT. But for some time, she was the only one able to compete with Steffi Graf. Which is an accomplishment in and of itself.

@@fundhund62 Put it this way she is up there with the best of them.

@@fundhund62 She didn't compete with Graf. She surpassed Graf and won almost every important final they played for 3 years. Graf's record has a great big asterisk next to it because of Monica's stabbing.

@@jondavwal13 That's nonsense, and you know it. Graf led the h2h 6-4 prior to the stabbing, and had won three out of their last five matches.

I'm a big Serena William and Novak Djokovic fan, nevertheless, I think Monica Seles was even greater than Federer, Laver, or Margaret C, Graff or Serena. Why? Because in addition of living in a sexist society, she had to endure a personal attack, blocking her success. You have to be the greatest to be violently stopped, because they knew she was going to continue winning titles. Serena and Venus dealed with sexism and racism, that's why both are greater than Graff in my view, but not greater than Seles. Besides, Slams being a teenager? That's unbelievable!

Како ко?! Неко јој није заборавио америчко држављанство.

And she wasn't even in her prime when she was unbeatable. Her prime was after 1993 but she was stabbed and she couldn't recover that same form.

Btw, she looks like she's sick here. I hope she is OK, health wise.

Monica’s biggest strength was her mental strength she played the bigger points the best ..yes she anticipated very well and developed by 93 a really solid serve and hit the heck out of the ball but her mental ability is what got her to the top and kept her there for three years before Hamburg ..what a great interview

We don't really know. Without a doubt it was awful what happened to her. But she was even prior to that showing mental/burn out issues. It's hard to say how long she could have kept it up.

@@johniii8147 Well said

She had a 55-1 record in Grand Slams in 1991, 1992, and 1993 before the stabbing. The only loss was to Graf in the Wimbledon final in 1992.

@@805Bruin No one is disputing her record at the time which was amazing. It's just always uncertain how long you can keep it up until you do. Injuries, burn out other life goals, mental issues etc can supersede continuing. It's a very rare athlete that can continue long enough to establish the records that puts you in the best of all time discussion.

I too started playing tennis after seeing her play. I never watched or knew about tennis until then. That all changed and picked up the game. I always thought she could beat the guys but after I started watching more of the ATP players I realized I was way off that mindset. The gap is too big as far as their abilities comparatively speaking.

@@ConkySTi funny story, in one of Nick Bollettiere's Books he talks about many of his pupils and how he also learned from them. In one part he discusses The Seles Years, in which he had seen her as a Skinny Scrawny lil Girl with toothpick legs and a GRUNT. When she moved to his academy (full scholarship) he was In Awe of her Ability of Focus and How she would Repeat the same shot until she mastered it. Also that she would Spend endless hours hitting ,so much that the girls didn't want to hit with her and eventually he had to get Jim Courier and Agassi hit with her, They both eventually told Bollettiere that they were also done with her, because she would never get tired , would hit hard and so Close to the lines, that she had them running on the court like Rag Dolls 🤣🤣🤣

@@dvus1977 lol yea I heard Nick saying that in an interview that’s why I was certain she could hang with the guys in ATP. Being in the states I remember with difficulty trying to watch some of her matches over a dial up modem lan line. Oh that sucked. Just as the internet got better she started to wind down her game. I missed out on so many of her matches. Oh well I wish her happiness. She would have made a great mother if she opted to have kids of her own.

We don’t know whether the stabbing changed her career.

​@@carrerau7138what are you even doing on this video? You have already been exposed that you absolutely hate Monica, think she was ugly, and think she would never have won anything if it wasn't for Graf's slump. You purposely came here just to make sure that no one is saying anything nice about Monica, And to make sure that no one is saying anything negative towards Graf. You truly are a psychotic person.

Fool

​@@carrerau7138of course changed the course of history, shw won 8 G.S. before her 20's..before the standing she won the A.O., and R.G. and U.O. was an already seen movie.. maybe only wimbledon could be a different challenge..but it was just a matter of time.

@@criotermic What has winning 8 slams in 3 years to do with what would have transpired in the next 3 years? Do you have any empirical evidence?

I'd say Novak is mentally the toughest player who ever played, but Monika is right behind him. And, guess, what, they are both coming from the same country, from two biggest cities in Serbia (her from beautiful Novi Sad and him from Belgrade), 100 kilometers apart. There's something over there than makes people mentally tough.

Agree,it's our mentality,nobody teach us to be mentaly strong,we born that way.I'm also from Belgrade and allways loved and love Monika.I'm great fan she is the biggest one,like a person and wta player.She never give up every single point,even after all bad things that happend in her life,she come back,and win other gran slam and several tournaments.Hwo will do that?I think no one.Love you Monika so mutch

@@musiciansdice You also gotta think that Monica’s also Hungarian. I remember when Ana Ivanonic first started, she said her inspiration was Monica.

@@jpman2173 Monica was born and raised in Serbia. Nobody calls Zverev a Russian, or Petkovic a Serb, or Bencic a Slovak,...etc. And many of them were not even born in countries they are playing for.

you could never do a series of champions and not include Monica

@@tuneaddicted of course not, but that doesn’t mean Seles agreed to be part of this series.

she wasn't afraid of her forehand. What is more is she would often go to it

@@valentinodelpiero4861 It was actually stupid to play Graf's backhand all the time since her favorite and best forehand was the inside out forehand, and playing the backhand consistently she eventually always found a way to set up her patterns with that shot, no matter how strongly you were hitting the ball. Only the players who did go to her forehand some to eliminate that pattern, had any success.

So true. Sabatini, Chris, Martina etc. were all fantastic players but Graf's strength just overpowered them. Seles, however, was able to match Graf's power and hit back. In addition, she was much more fluid on the court than Graf was and more unorthodox in the her style of play. This unpredictable nature would put Graf on her heels and often left her confused as to how to respond to it. It's a great shame what happened to Seles as she was never the same after the stabbing incident. It reminds me a lot of Mike Tyson who looked so invincible in the early part of his career by overpowering people but once Buster Douglas came around in 1990 and gave people the blueprint to beat Tyson, he was never able to adjust and regain that supreme form of the 1980s.

Hi. Everything you said is summed up in their last meeting. Aussie Open Final 1993 Seles just wears Graf down mentally in 3 sets. Graf even said post match ‘I’m a mess’.

Never. Seles-Graf rivalry not entertaining at all. Never.

From my understanding, she talked about how healthy she had to become after getting rid of the weight. I guess the thinness we see is because of her diet.