"It's not something I like to think about or influence"- When Monica Seles spoke about the mark left on her by the stabbing incident

Monica Seles said that the stabbing incident she faced isn't something she likes to think about.

The nine-time Grand Slam champion was arguably the best player in the world during the early 1990s and had already won eight Majors before turning 20 years old. However, her career came to a halt after being stabbed by Gunter Parche, a fan of Steffi Graf's, in 1993 while competing in Hamburg.

She was out of action for two years and when she returned to the court, she wasn't her old dominant self. The former World No. 1 was asked about the mark the stabbing incident left on her in an interview in 2003.

She responded by saying that the incident took away some of the best years of her career but did not leave any other marks.

"On my record, because it took away some of the best years of my tennis career, that's for sure. I don't think it left many others. To tell the truth, it's still very strange to me. I'm the only person in sports that this ever happened to. But I don't want to revisit Hamburg in my head. It was not a happy thing, nor was it a happy time," Seles said.

She also said that while the attack made her more sympathetic to the public, it isn't something some liked to think about.

"Just a year before I came back, my father was diagnosed with prostate cancer, then stomach cancer. The attack also seemed to make me more sympathetic to the public. The incident reached a lot of people who never cared about tennis. During my comeback, it was like, 'This is that poor girl who got stabbed and now she's coming back, how wonderful is that?' But I have no idea what nerve I hit or why I hit it. And it's not something I like to think about or influence," she stated.

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"We went on different paths since that date"- Monica Seles on her relationship with Steffi Graf

Monica Seles at the 2015 Canadian Open

Monica Seles was also asked about her relationship with Steffi Graf, who she felt was callous to her stabbing incident. The Yugoslav-born player said that the two went on different paths since the incident and that they still talk when they meet.

"I don't want to go back into that. Her tennis career has been amazing. What can I say there? We're always going to be linked together because of that incident. Her career changed because of it, and mine changed because of it. We went on different paths since that date," Monica Seles said.

"But the relationship didn't really end in ruins. When I see her, we speak, even if we don't talk that deep. I'm happy to see her happy with Andre and their baby," she added.