Their first heroes: A look at tennis’s most famous dads

3.) Karoly Seles:

Another feel-good story that makes this list is the one of Karoly Seles and his daughter Monica. Seles was a professional cartoonist in Yugoslavia and made good use of that, drawing cartoons on tennis balls in order to stir the 5 year-old Monica’s interest in the game. Described by Monica as the architect and coach of her game, Karoly developed in Monica that unique double-handed backhand which was to prove so deadly in the years to come. Karoly was adored by Monica both as a father and a coach , and in 1986, moved the family to the United States and to the Nick Bolletieri Academy.

Seles soared through the ranks and won her first French Open title in 1990, the youngest ever winner at the age of 16. Seven more Grand Slam titles followed in just three years as Monica Seles started to seriously threaten Steffi Graf and her building legacy. This intense competition was sadly too much to take for one of Graf’s fans, Gunter Parche. Parche, who was clearly mentally unstable, invaded the court during a tournament in Hamburg in 1993 and stabbed Seles between her shoulder blades, forever changing her career and life. While Seles ultimately did return to tour and did win another Grand Slam, the stabbing along with the death of her beloved father in 1996 meant that she would never be the same player again.