Former world number one Monica Seles has announced her official retirement from tennis.
The 34-year-old won nine Grand Slam singles titles in her career, but has not played competitively since June 2003 because of a foot injury.
Seles won her first Grand Slam title in 1990 at the age of just 17 and topped the world rankings the following year.
In a horrifying event in April 1993 she was stabbed on court in Germany and spent 28 months away from the sport.
After returning in 1995 Seles managed to win just one more Grand Slam title, the Australian Open in 1996, finishing with a major haul of four Australian, three French and two US Open titles.
“Monica Seles is one of the great champions in the history of the WTA Tour,” said Larry Scott, chief executive of the WTA Tour.
“She is an inspiration and role model for millions of fans throughout the world.”
The native Yugoslav became an American citizen in 1994 and talked of a comeback just last year after spending over four years out of the sport.
“I certainly would not ever be able to do a full schedule again, because of the foot,” she said.
“But I’m thinking about the slams and about some of the better tournaments that lead into them.”
Source: Seles calls time on tennis career
