"How lucky I was the knife wasn't an inch over into my spine" - When Monica Seles opened up about 'dark' period after controversial stabbing incident

Monica Seles saw her awe-inspiring career almost end due to a fan stabbing her at the age of 19. The Yugoslav-turned-American survived the attack, but it traumatized her for several years according to her own admission in September 1995.

Seles was the most dominant player on the WTA Tour at the turn of the 1990s. Having turned pro in 1989, she replaced Steffi Graf as World No. 1 by March 1991. The lefty went on to monopolize women's tennis, winning the Australian Open, the French Open and the US Open in 1991-92.

Monica Seles carried her rich vein of form into 1993, triumphing in Melbourne for the third consecutive time. However, her run was short-lived, as an unfortunate incident at the Citizen Cup in April put her out of action for two years.

During her last-eight encounter against Bulgaria's Magdalena Maleeva, a Steffi Graf fan invaded the court and stabbed the then-World No. 1 with a kitchen knife between her shoulder blades. While her injury healed in a few weeks, the teen had severe qualms about playing competitive tennis.

Monica Seles finally made her much-awaited return to pro tennis at the 1995 Canadian Open. To the fans' great surprise, she was just as good as ever, winning the tournament for the loss of just 19 games. Speaking to New York City-based magazine Newsweek following her title victory, she recalled how jarring the knife incident had been for her.

"Everything was so dark for a long time. I thought about how lucky I was the knife wasn't an inch over into my spine," Monica Seles told Newsweek in 1995. "I think I've grown up a lot in two and a half years. Lying in the hospital I thought about my life a lot. I didn't even think that one day I'd be back playing tennis."

Furthermore, the then-21-year-old came clean about not only her eating disorder from before her comeback, but how she took to window-shopping during her downtime from tennis, as well.

"In my sadness I substituted food. I didn't eat bad, just lots," Seles said. "I still like to shop, but it's mostly just window shopping now."

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Monica Seles - "Everything happened so young that maybe I didn't appreciate it enough"

Monica Seles poses with the 1991 US Open trophy

Monica Seles' perspective on her tennis career changed dramatically following her comeback. She admittedly looked forward to enjoying her tournament campaigns more, as she believed her past triumphs weren't that memorable to her in hindsight.

"When I looked at it that way, I said, 'Monica, you've had such a great career already.' But everything happened so young that maybe I didn't appreciate it enough. Looking back, I also thought of all the tournaments I played: how many did I really enjoy, how many did I have strong memories of?" she said via Newsweek. "And there weren't that many. I wanted to change that. When I came back, I wanted to make sure I had more fun. Just be grateful, do the best I can and enjoy myself."

Although Seles still had flashbacks from 1993, the then-eight-time Major winner was headstrong enough to bring herself back to the present moment.

"I'd say to myself, 'Monica, loosen up. Don't be so hard on yourself.' On long points I start thinking. There are flashbacks. I backtrack," she added. "Then I tell myself, 'You can't do this. You're in a match. Just go out and play great tennis.'"

Monica Seles subsequently reached the final of the US Open a few weeks later in 1995, falling short against her archrival Steffi Graf. That loss, however, didn't deter her from winning her final Major title at the Australian Open the following year.

Seles made two more finals at the 1996 US Open and the 1998 French Open, following which she exited before the championship match in the majority of her Grand Slam outings. The American retired from pro tennis at the 2003 French Open after losing in the first round to Russia's Nadia Petrova.