Monica Seles was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame during a ceremony on Newport’s grass courts. Get US Open tennis tickets and see your favorite tennis player at the U.S. Open. The 35-year-old was the number one women’s player for 178 weeks overall and a winner of nine Grand Slam single titles. Many remember Seles’ on-court stabbing 16 years ago. At a news conference, the Hall of Famer said she talks about the stabbing openly. She continued to say it was an unfortunate part of her career. The attack happened on April 30, 1993. Seles was the No. 1 player, three-time defending champion of the French Open and back-to-back winner at both the U.S. and Australian open. During a changeover, at a match in Hamburg, Germany, the tennis star was stabbed between the shoulder blades by a crazed fan.

Seles would miss the next two and a half years before coming back to play professional tennis. Her first tournament since the injury was held in Toronto. Seles told the press she viewed her career in two phases, before the stabbing and after the stabbing. The nine time Grand Slam Champion revealed that the reception she got in Toronto reinforced her decision to return. She went on to win that tournament, the Canadian open (a total of 53 times in her career), including the 1996 Australian open. Donald Dell, who was also inducted into the Hall of Fame, said Seles won eight grand slams before she was stabbed and believes she would have won another nine if it wasn’t for that unbalanced man who stabbed her.

Seles was enshrined in a 90-minute ceremony along with master’s player Andres Gimeno, the oldest player to win the French at 34 years, 10 months. Dr. Robert Johnson was inducted posthumously. During the ceremony, Seles addressed her fans, tennis analysts, and others who watched her passionately play the game she was great at. She thanked all her tennis fans who supported her from day one, when she was No. 1, through her stabbing, and when she made her comeback. The tennis star spoke to the crowd dressed in white slacks with a lavender blouse. Johnson, introduced by Jeanne Ashe, wife of the late Hall of Famer Arthur Ashe, helped desegregate the sport. Dell, a U.S. Davis Cup, later helped promote and market the sport.

The crowd laughed when Seles playfully gave one more grunt. She couldn’t resist and she told the audience she had to do it just for old, good time sakes. But Gimeno brought the biggest laughter from the crowd when he recalled his only major title at Roland Garros. He was introduced by 1987 Hall of Famer Stan Smith. Gimeno told the audience he was going to leave the game without winning a big one. Then he added that he thinks god said, “Let the poor guy win one.” If Seles was not stabbed in 1993, would she have challenged Steffi Graf and won more titles like Dell suggested? Winning another nine Grand Slam Championships seems a bit much, but there is no question that Seles would have won more titles and left an even bigger mark in women’s professional tennis.

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