Comeback Queen: Revisiting Monica Seles’…

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Monica Seles is one of, if not THE biggest “What If” in tennis history. That’s a wild statement considering all she managed to accomplish in her short career.

The Serbian-turned-American won nine Grand Slam singles titles and was ranked No. 1 for 178 weeks, the sixth most all-time.

Eight of her majors came before she turned 20. From the 1990 French Open through the 1993 Australian Open, she won eight of the 11 Grand Slam events she entered, while also reaching the final at Wimbledon in 1992. From 1990 through April 1993, she went 215-19.

Given how dominant she was at such a young age, it is easy to assume that Seles would have re-written the record books. But we will never know just how much she could have accomplished.

On April 30, 1993, Seles was the victim of the most infamous moment in tennis history. Most tennis fans, and even lots of casual sports fans, probably already know the story. During a match in Hamburg, Seles was stabbed by a deranged fan during a changeover. The 19-year-old would not play another sanctioned match for over two years.

2025 marks the 30-year anniversary of Seles’ return to the WTA Tour, which took place in Toronto. And what a comeback it was. Let’s revisit Monica Seles spectacular return to tennis at the 1995 National Bank Open.

Seles came into the tournament in a strange position, as the joint No. 1 player and top seed. At the time of the stabbing, the then-Serbian had held the top stop in the rankings and while they did not freeze her ranking at the time, the decision was made to re-institute the now-American as a joint world No. 1 with Steffi Graf when she returned to the tour in August 1995.

With two No. 1 seeds, Seles was placed at the bottom of the draw in spot traditionally occupied by the No. 2 seed. With the way the draw ultimately unfolded, it did not make a huge difference for Seles as the seeds largely held and being in the top or bottom half of the draw would have been similarly challenging. Graf may disagree, though, as she lost her opening match to Amanda Coetzer.

In an interesting twist, Seles ultimately ended up meeting the same player who would have been her first opponent, Coetzer, had she occupied the top line in the draw.

Instead, Seles played her first competitive match in two years and three months against lucky loser Kimberly Po. Despite the layoff, the eight-time major champion did not look like she missed a beat, claiming the opening set 6-0 on her way to a routine straight-set win.

Coming back at a smaller tournament may have made more sense in theory after such a long time away. By returning in Canada, a Tier I WTA event, Seles was facing off with the best of the best and there would no easing back in.

In theory.

In round three, she faced 12th seed Natalie Tauziat and put away the Frenchwoman 6-2, 6-2. Next up was an even bigger test in the form of world No. 10 Anke Huber. Seles passed with flying colours, advancing to the semifinals with a 6-3, 6-2 win.

Things should have gotten even tougher in the semis against world No. 8 Gabriela Sabatini, who had just reached the quarter-finals of Roland-Garros and Wimbledon. Instead, Seles got even better, demolishing the former US Open champion with the loss of just a single game.

Just like that, after over two years away from the tour, Seles was back in a final. Across the net stood Coetzer, who backed up her shocking second-round win over Graf with two more wins over Top 5 seeds to reach what was the biggest final of her career to-date.

One win over a world No. 1 was impressive, but Seles was not interested in letting Coetzer get a second in the same tournament. The American dominated the final, winning 6-0, 6-1 to complete the dream comeback. It was her 33rd career title and first since February 1993.

She lost a mere 14 games in the tournament. That still stands as a record for fewest games lost in a title run at the National Bank Open and, given the 2025 expansion of the tournament, is unlikely to ever be broken.

Seles went on to reach the US Open final a few weeks later but lost in three sets to Graf.

In January of the following year, Seles was a champion again, defeating Huber to win her ninth Grand Slam singles title, and first since the stabbing, at the 1996 Australian Open. It was Seles first major since winning in Melbourne three years earlier, three months before Hamburg.

Despite her incredible return to the sport in the summer of 1995 and major triumph in 1996, Seles was never able to re-establish herself as the dominant force she had been in the early 1990s before the stabbing.

Her victory at the 1996 Australian Open was her last Grand Slam title. She reached two more finals but lost them both, at the 1996 US Open again to Graf and at the 1998 French Open to Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.

She and Graf jointly held the No. 1 ranking from Seles’ return on Aug. 15, 1995 until Nov. 3, 1996, and again for a week from Nov. 18 to 24, 1996, but Seles never held the top spot solo again after April 1993.

However, Canada remained Seles’ personal playground for the rest of the decade. Her 1995 victory kicked off a run of four consecutive titles at the National Bank Open. She nearly made it five when she reached the 1999 final but Martina Hingis managed to put an end to her domination.

Overall, Seles reached the final in her first six appearances in Canada, having made the final in 1992, her lone pre-layoff appearance, and never failed to reach the semis in her seven total trips to the Great White North. She is the only player in the Open Era, male or female, to win in Canada four consecutive years and her four titles are tied with Chris Evert for the most women’s singles titles at the event since 1968.

The WTA's best return to Montreal this summer for the National Bank Open presented by Rogers July 26 to Aug. 7, 2025 at IGA Stadium. 2025 Tickets are on sale. Get your tickets today!

Feature Photo: Richard Lautens/Toronto Star