Monica Seles Inducted into International Tennis Hall of Fame

August / September 2009

Former World number one and longtime Yonex Tour Professional, Monica Seles was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island on Saturday July 11th.

The left-handed Seles, known for her aggressive two-handed from both sides style of play as well as her trademark grunt won a total of nine career grand slam titles, 53 career titles and held the world No. 1 ranking for a total of 178 weeks.

The road to stardom for Monica started in 1989 when she won her first WTA tournament at the age of 15. Monica went on to reach the semifinals of the 1989 French Open, losing to then world No. 1 Steffi Graf. In 1990, Seles became the youngest player ever to win the French Open, when at 16 years old she defeated Steffi Graf in three sets.

Monica's 1990 French Open victory marked the beginning of her world wide domination of the tennis world. She won the French Open three straight years, she "3-peated" at the Australian
Open and also won "back to back" US Open titles.

After 2 1/2 years away for the WTA tour, Monica returned in 1995 and was victorious in her first tournament back when she won the Tour's Canadian Open. She went on to reach the final of the 1995 US Open, narrowly losing to rival Steffi Graf 6-7. 6-0, 3-6.

In 1996, Seles went on to win the Australian Open title and also finished runner-up at the US Open.

During the induction ceremony, Seles thanked her parents and family as well as Yonex.

"The entire Yonex team has supported me from day one when I was a 16 year old girl winning my first grand slam and staying with me through the difficult years" Monica said. "Your support of me through the highs and lows of my career, I can't tell you how much it means to me. I will never forget that."
Seles went on to say "To the entire team at Yonex, I know how much hard work goes into making everyone of my racquets, thats why you have never seen me crack a racquet throughout my entire career. After Mr. Yoneyama took me to the Yonex factory in Japan, I realized how much hard work went into every single one of my racquets, even the ones that I strung at 103 pounds, yes you heard me correctly, 103 pounds."

Yonex President, Mr. Ben Yoneyama was in attendance of Monica's Hall of Fame induction and presented her with a special golden Yonex racquet that read, "From everyone at Yonex". The racquet features nine stars, one for every Grand Slam title that Monica won using a Yonex racquet.

Monica's Career Grand Slam Titles
4-time Australian Open Champion ('91, '92, '93, '96)
3-time French Open Champion ('90, '91, '92)
2-time US Open Champion ('91, '92)