"Little about my career has gone to plan" - When Monica Seles made frank admission about her unconventional tennis life

Monica Seles once opened up about how her career or her life had not gone as planned. A teenage prodigy in the 1990s, Seles' career was derailed due to one of the most unfortunate and unsafe incidents in tennis history.

When a 16-year-old Seles began winning tournaments back-to-back in 1990, she was considered a threat to even the most experienced and top players on the WTA Tour. The teenager went on to play nine Grand Slam finals from 1990 to 1993 and won eight of them. Out of those, she had won three against German great Steffi Graf.

In 1993, Seles began the season on a high, winning the Australian Open by defeating Graf in the final. She was again looking at winning multiple Majors in the year. However, in April of that year, her life and career took a drastic turn.

In Hamburg, during a quarterfinal, an obsessed Graf fan ran onto the court from the crowd and stabbed Seles between her shoulder blades. She could not compete for over two years.

In 2005, during Christmas time, she was interviewed by The Sunday Times and admitted life had been unpredictable.

"I guess you could say that mine has not been a conventional career," Monica Seles said. "Little about my career has gone to plan. Little of my life, perhaps."

However, she refused to be regarded as a victim.

"I don’t feel like a victim and I don’t want to be regarded as a victim," Seles added.

In 2008, Seles officially announced her retirement from the sport after being away from competition for years.

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When Monica Seles revealed how the stabbing incident left aftereffects on her body

Monica Seles at the French Open 1998 - Source: Getty

Monica Seles returned to competitive tennis over two years after her stabbing incident. In the first Grand Slam event she played after her return, the US Open, she reached the final but lost to Graf. The Serbian-American won the Australian Open in 1997 but could not win another Major title.

In the Sunday Times interview from 2005, Seles opened up about the aftereffects on her body due to the stabbing. She used to get migraines that caused her immense pain.

"They’re not like normal headaches — it’s this pain that makes you think your head will explode. I had to go to bed for days sometimes, just to escape them. There were times when I was tempted to quit a match because of them, but I never did. I always go through somehow," Seles said.

Seles played her final professional match at the French Open in 2003 but continued to play exhibition matches until officially retiring in 2008. A year later, she was inducted into the Hall of Fame.