"I'm going to get emotional when I talk about him...without him, I would have never nurtured my tennis"- When Monica Seles remembered her late father

Monica Seles once expressed deep gratitude for her late father, admitting that her tennis career wouldn't have flourished without his support.

Seles was a force to be reckoned with during her playing days. The American powerhouse won a whopping 53 career titles, which included nine Grand Slam singles.

Her reign as World No. 1 lasted for 178 weeks, placing her behind only legends Steffi Graf (377), Martina Navratilova (332), Serena Williams (319), Chris Evert (260) and Martina Hingis (209).

One of the driving forces behind Seles' success was her father, Karolj, who coached her from a young age. However, tragedy struck in 1988 when her father passed away at the age of 64 after battling cancer for five years.

Monica Seles, who was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2009, paid tribute to her father's contribution to her tennis career during a press conference prior to the event.

"I'm know I'm going to get very emotional when I will talk about him in July," Seles said. "But really, without him, I would have never nurtured my tennis. He and my brother were the first to really introduce me to the sport. But without my dad's love for the game and really just making it fun, he never made it for me like it was something I had to do. It was just something fun."

The 50-year-old not only expressed gratitude towards her father but also to her mother, Eszter and brother, Zoltan.

"I think that's what helped me stay in the game so long and also I think to keep my sanity. Really, I mean, I know my tennis career, a huge portion, if not all of the portion, goes to my dad. My mom and brother in the background, but without their support also," Seles said.

"When you see a top player out on the center court, you see just that person, but there is a lot of people behind who took them to that, really to those heights. In my case, it was really my family, and really my father deserves the biggest credit," she added.

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A detailed look into Monica Seles' Grand Slam titles

Monica Seles pictured at the Citi Taste Of Tennis Miami 2022

Monica Seles won a whopping nine Grand Slam singles titles, eight of which came when she was just a teenager.

Seles' most successful Major was the Australian Open, where she triumphed four times, consecutively from 1991 to 1993 and then again in 1996. This is followed by three French Open titles (1990, 1991, 1992).

The Yugoslav-American lifted the US Open trophy twice, in 1991 and 1992. She also reached the Wimbledon final in 1992, where she lost to defending champion Steffi Graf in straight sets.