Monica Seles spotted in the stands as she makes rare appearance at Indian Wells during Taylor Fritz, Carlos Alcaraz matches

Monica Seles was recently spotted in Indian Wells as she attended the Round of 16 matches featuring Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz. The 51-year-old retired from tennis several years and does not make too many public appearances in tournaments.

Seles is one of the greatest players of all time, who won nine Grand Slam singles titles during her career, eight of them as a teenager. The Yugoslavia-born suffered a major career setback in 1993 as she was stabbed during a match in Hamburg. While she was not as dominant following her return, she managed to win the Australian Open in 1996.

Following retirement, Monica Seles has managed to maintain a rather low profile compared to other tennis legends, who frequent tournaments. The former World No. 1 made a rare appearance in Indian Wells as she was in the crowd, watching Taylor Fritz's match against Jack Draper, and Carlos Alcaraz's fixture against Grigor Dimitrov.

Carlos Alcaraz got a step closer to winning his third successive title in Indian Wells as he beat Grigor Dimitrov 6-1, 6-1 to book his place in the quarterfinals. Taylor Fritz, on the other hand, lost 5-7, 4-6 to Jack Draper to end his run at the Masters 1000 event.

Back in 2023, Monica Seles was in attendance at Indian Wells, watching the quarterfinal between Carlos Alcaraz and Felix Auger-Aliassime. The Spaniard beat the Canadian and went on to win the tournament and the one in 2024, beating Daniil Medvedev in both finals.

Monica Seles won eight matches in Indian Wells during her career

Monica Seles in Miami in 2022 (Image Source: Getty)

Monica Seles played 12 matches in Indian Wells during her career, winning eight of them. Her first appearance at the event came in 1999, when it was called the Evert Cup, and she suffered a third-round exit at the hands of Henrieta Nagyova.

She produced a better performance in 2000, reaching the quarterfinals after beating Silvia Farina, Patty Schnyder and Sabine Appelmans. Here, the then-26-year-old lost 3-6, 1-6 to eventual runner-up Martina Hingis. Seles suffered a disastrous second-round exit at the tournament in 2001 after losing 6-7(6), 6-3, 4-6 to Tatiana Garbin.

The former World No. 1's best performance in Indian Wells came in 2002, when she beat a 14-year-old Maria Sharapova, Martina Sucha, Ai Sugiyama and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario to reach the semifinals. Here, she lost 3-6, 2-6, to Martina Hingis and it turned out to ber her last match in Indian Wells.