:(
I guess it was inevitable really but now she has done it officially...
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/1/newsr...?ContentID=2045

i cant believe it . im that upset i cant even find my cry emoticon. please come to the bbc and commentate so we san see you again monica

:bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/7246195.stm

This is just a blow for me.I really loved Monica and will forever love her.I have some classic matches of her on DVD from the early 90's with her doing battle with Steffi including her Wimbledon final loss.She is without a doubt a great of the sport,a huge giant of the game.I thank her for giving me so many memories and so many great matches.

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

Well done to Monica for her achievements! Happy retirement. Surely more young people will look up to her and do well like she did! What a fighting spirit she had!

It's been a long time coming, but it's still a little sad :(

Nothing but praise can be given to Monica. The single greatest inspiring player ever in tennis :bow:

Have a happy retirement Monica :hug:

It has been a long time coming but I still held out hope she could make a return, especially as there was a little talk about a possible comeback in Miami.. :(

She looks so fit and in shape these days, even more so than when she was on the tour..
I guess her injury is just not going to let her play competitively again :(

Shame we won't get to see her play on the tour again but all the best Monica and thanks :ok: :bow:

I'm quite sad :(

All the very very best Monica

What can I say? I switched the computer on this afternoon, and saw it. I literally cried for about half an hour. Monica is my favourite player of all time, man or woman, and she is nothing short of a true inspiration, role model and hero.

Monica, from the late 1980's til the early 1990's, ypu dominated women's tennis, winning an amazing 8 out of 11 Slams at one stage. Unfortunately, your peak was stolen by a deranged lunatic. Your love for the game has awlays been clear, and the fact that you were able to overcome fear and depression, to not only come back to the tour, but to win your fist event back, and reach the next two Slam finals, winning the latter, is outstanding, and a true testamanet to your nature. You were always so ferocious on the court, but lovely off it, win or lose. You never wanted to be in the spot-light, and were always modest, you played tennis because you loved it. You also faced family tragedy in 1998, with your beloved father dying from cancer.

A second comeback would have been nice for you and your fans, but it was not to be. As you said in your autobiography, the world is not always smiles and rainbows(re-worded). Thankyou for inspiring not onloy fans like me to start playing, but also being such a role model for other palyers, eg Ana Ivanovic and Serena Williams. You are amazing, and your fans, and the tennis world will never forget you.

May you get every bit of good luck that falls your way in your career after tennis. May you find happiness, and enjoy life. Nobody deserves it more than you. Tnaks for the memories Monica, you will long be remembered.

I hope she's serious this time-nothing irritates me more than players who retire, then come out of retirement, then retire again :angry: Sadly all I remember about Monica was her groaning and the attack by the crazy fan. Judging from what I've read here she must have been pretty good. :)

:yikes: :shrug:

She is one of the all time greats.
And of course the most robbed tennis player ever-who know's how many other slams she would have won had she not been stabbed.
Has Graf ever acknowledged this? it wasn't Graf's fault but i dont' remember her ever commenting on the subject.

so does that mean any player who wins a Slam when other players got injured need to acknowledge they shouldn't have won? :shrug:

no, i meant i don't remember Graf commenting on the stabbing-did she denounce the act itself?

well yeah...course she did...

Wasnt Graf one of the players who openly stated that Seles shouldnt keep her ranking at the secure until she recovered? In fact only one or two of the top ten at the time said she should keep her ranking

I dunno but even if she did that hardly means she was condoning the stabbing... :shrug:

That's interesting Liam,
i don't know much about that period-, but i read somewhere recently that Graf behaved badly regarding the whole incident-i'm not saying that's true, but just wondered if anyone had heard any comments by Graf etc regarding the stabbing of Seles.
Must admit i was surprised to hear that when i read it.

Didnt Graf actually advocate the whole idea of the joint ranking system? Graf was extremely generous to Seles i believe after the stabbing, visiting her in the hospital etc.

It was other players who felt that Monica should be released of the number 1 ranking :rolleyes:

Yeah I thought that. Folks forget It put Steffi in a very awkward and embarrassing position - imagien how you'd feell if one of your fans stabbed an opponent.

Anyway I must admit I wasn't a fan of Seles, she annoyed me immensely. I didn't see much of her playing though, because around 1990 I didn't see much tennis as I was at Uni and never had my own TV. And back then we onyl had Wimby televised. Would be interested to track back and see what I think now in hidnsight.

Here's a clip of Monica playing Navratilova at Wimby in 92. A great match :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR3nuFIVO-Y

No of course personally Graf was devastated by the incident, but professionally, but im sure she voted against the ranking. I will look it up when i finish work (and probably prove myself wrong lol)

Thanks dl :hug:

Yeha I do recall that one, I was realyl pissed off with Monica for beating Martina :lol: It was GREAT to see two such competititve players in action though and so many great winners. :bow: They realyl got on with it and both players attacked it. I'd rather watch that than soem fo the matches today. It doesn't look dated or slow at all in my mind.

I see, i'm glad to hear that, must admit i was a bit surprised when i read on another site that Graf had behaved badly (though admittedly now details were given)

Re previous post i meant 'no details were given'

Immediately after the stabbing, the top ten players were asked to vote if Seles should be allowed to keep her ranking while she recovered. Everyone voted "no" ... and only the gracious Gaby Sabatini abstained from the vote.

Sanchez Vicario's reply was "There's not only one player on the tour" or something like that. Ironically, I think Seles and Sanchez Vicario have become friends.

I'll definitely miss my Monica! May she find happiness!!!

Yeah, and Martina was in such great condition still too. 35 and still in a Wimbledon semi was pretty amazing :ok:

Monica's only chance to win Wimbledon but was outplayed by Graf in the final 6-2 6-1 :(

thats right. im not sure if its behaving badly or not. im a big softie though and would have voted yes, but how does the mind of top athlete work?

Uhhh Choka, My post was not intended as an insult.

sorry it just came across as a criticism of Monica that she wasn't taking this decision seriously. She has been out of the game for nearly 5 years, it's not as if she hasn't had time to think it over... :shrug:

Methinks I'm not following the news very carefully-didn't know that she hasn't been playing. Thanks for this info. I wish Ms. Seles the best in whatever she decides to do. :)

She did say she was against the joint ranking thing I am sure... well, 90%
I know there were only a few players who were for it, Nav being one of them.

TBH, I don't think Graf was all that gracious, didn't it take her ages to go visit her? As if finally her PR people gave her a push saying come on, think this has gotta be done etc..

And there was no mention of Monica in her acceptance speech when she won th FO that year?

I'm not fully sure of these facts but am pretty certain..

Hmmm, there seems to be an awful lot of 'ifs, buts, whys and maybes' in this whole debate... :shrug:

and.....

well it's just there doesn't seem to be a hell of alot of evidence for what people are saying here about the whole Steffi-Monica debate. :shrug:

'I think this maybe true/I may have read this somewhere once' etc etc doesn't really seem to be adding very much... :shrug:

well if your that interested look it up yourself :shrug:

well I'm not that bothered, it all happened such a while ago, I don't understand why there is such a hoo-ha about it... :shrug: :wacko:
especially when no one seems to have a clue what actually happened or didn't happen and now I'm so confused I don't know what my name is or where I come from... :yikes:
roflmao

I remember it because i was a big Seles fan at the time. Because this is one of sports biggest incidents, people will always be interested. I finish work at 2am so i will try and find some news bulletins and quotes about it from the time when i get home

Article from the New York Times 1993

cheers Liam and Jo... :)