According to the Associated Press on Tuesday, former tennis superstar Monica Seles has been diagnosed with myasthenia gravis. The disease is neuromuscular, and can create double vision, problems with swallowing, and problems with walking.
Seles, who is currently 51, was born in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia, and represented Yugoslavia for seven years from 1988 to 1994. She then represented the United States starting in 1994 after becoming an American citizen.
Seles’s nine grand slam titles are the eighth most of all-time. She won four Australian Open titles (1991, 1992, 1993 and 1996), three French Opens (1990, 1991 and 1992), and two United States Open titles (1991 and 1992).
Seles may be best remembered for an incident that happened at the 1993 Citizen Cup in Hamburg, Germany. During her quarterfinal match against Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria, Seles was stabbed in the back while she was sitting in her chair during a break in the action. The attack was conducted by a German who was reportedly obsessed with Steffi Graf, and was trying to help Graf return to number one in the world. At the time of the attack, Seles was ranked first in the world. She would leave tennis for two years, and suffered mental depression as a result of the incident. It would not take long after the attack for Graf to return to world number one.
Over the last decade, Seles has been married to Tom Golisano of Rochester, New York. A billionaire, Golisano was the founder of Paychex, and later owned the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League and the Buffalo Bandits of the National Lacrosse League. Golisano then sold the Sabres to Buffalo Bills current owner Terry Pegula in 2011.
