Monica Seles

Just to clarify: Monica Seles was born in 1973 in Novi Sad, which was then in Yugoslavia and is now in Serbia. The city has a long history of Hungarian influence, and was briefly part of the Kingdom of Hungary during the Second World War.

Seles won eight Grand Slam titles during her teenage years: the first was the French Open in 1990, aged 16, and the eighth was the Australian Open in 1993. But in April 1993 she was stabbed in the back by Gunter Parche, a fan of her German rival Steffi Graf. She subsequently took two years out of the game, during which time she became a US citizen. She returned to the tour in August 1995, and won the Australian Open for a fourth time the following January. But this was to be her last Grand Slam title, as she struggled to recapture her best form on a consistent basis. She consistently reached quarterfinals and semifinals, and was a fixture in the WTA Tour's top 10; but after suffering a foot injury in 2003 she never played another official tour match. She announced her retirement in 2008.

Her best performance at Wimbledon was in 1992, when she lost the final to Steffi Graf. This was the only Grand Slam match she lost in that year.

Her career was greatly affected by the stabbing incident. Various commentators have suggested that had it not occurred, she might have become the greatest player of all time. Shortly after her retirement, Sports Illustrated writer Jon Wertheim summed up her later career: "transformed from champion to tragedienne, Seles became far more popular than she was while winning all those titles. It became impossible to root against her. At first, out of sympathy. Then, because she revealed herself to be so thoroughly thoughtful, graceful, dignified. When she quietly announced her retirement last week at age 34, she exited as perhaps the most adored figure in the sport's history."