"I'd have liked Steffi Graf here, but Steffi played lot of Slams when I wasn't there" - When Monica Seles won the Australian Open post-stabbing

Monica Seles is among the most decorated tennis players of all time, with nine Grand Slam singles titles and 53 tour-level titles in her trophy cabinet.

Seles had won eight Major titles until April 1993, when a stabbing incident derailed her progress and forced her to miss the tour for two years. During her quarter-final match at the 1993 Hamburg Open, a fan of Seles' rival Steffi Graf invaded the court and stabbed the American between her shoulder blades.

Seles was quickly taken to the hospital, and over the next few weeks, she physically recovered from the injury. However, Seles decided not to play for two years as she was still dealing with the mental trauma of the incident. She eventually returned to action in August 1995, after obtaining US citizenship.

In her first Grand Slam since her comeback, Seles was defeated by Graf in the 1995 US Open title contest. The American then played and won the 1996 Australian Open, a tournament she had earlier won three years in a row (1991, 1992, and 1993).

Seles was the top seed in 1996 and she defeated Iva Majoli, Chanda Rubin, and Anke Huber en route to her title. This was her last triumph at a Grand Slam.

During her post-match press conference after the final, Seles said she would have also liked to see Graf at the competition. The German skipped the tournament that year due to injury.

Seles went on to say, however, that Graf had played a lot of Majors while she was away from the tour.

"I definitely would have liked to have had Steffi here, but Steffi played a lot of Grand Slams when I wasn't there," Seles said. "I think we'll play a lot in the future."

Interestingly, Steffi Graf was the only player to defeat Monica Seles at a Grand Slam since the latter lost to Italy's Linda Ferrando in the third round of the 1990 US Open.

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A look into Monica Seles and Steffi Graf's rivalry

Monica Seles

During their playing days, Monica Seles and Steffi Graf forged one of the fiercest rivalries in tennis history. The two women, with a combined 31 Grand Slam singles titles, faced each other on the WTA tour 15 times.

Their first encounter came in the semi-finals of the 1989 Roland Garros, which the German won. After that, they competed in every Grand Slam and also in other important tournaments, with Graf winning 10 matches and Seles coming out on top in five.

After Seles' stabbing incident, she faced Graf five times. The German won four of these contests: the 1995 and 1996 US Open final, the 1998 WTA Tour Championships quarter-finals, and the 1999 Roland Garros semi-finals. Seles won the 1999 Australian Open quarter-final against Graf.